When the Covid-19 Pandemic began, and quarantines were enforced across the country, galleries and museums suddenly needed new ways to show their exhibitions and permanent collections to their audience. Gene Downs talks with Kristie Swink Benson, Director of Communications for the High Museum Atlanta, about those challenges and how they’ve overcome them. 

Gene Downs: How has the COVID pandemic changed the High’s mission?

Kristie Swink Benson: I don’t think it has changed our mission, but it has definitely made it more apparent that people need the arts during difficult times. The arts are a place of respite for people, a place where people can escape, to some degree. As we think about the mental health challenges that come from being isolated, about people not being able to connect with their community as they normally would, it’s very clear that the arts are needed now more than ever.

GD: In what ways has COVID created opportunities for the High?

KSB: It’s given us an opportunity to expand both our audience and the way we think about the museum as a resource. The most freeing thing was recognizing that this was an opportunity to jump into the pool. There was no dipping our toes in. We realized: We need to continue to serve and reach new audiences, so let’s not be paralyzed by fear; let’s figure how to do it and execute.

For example, after the museum closed on March 13, we immediately created a virtual tour of our exhibitions so people could still experience them. We also have a program called Conversation Pieces where people spend 30 minutes looking very closely at one piece of art. As an in-gallery experience, this took place during lunch hour, and it was difficult for many working people to participate. By transitioning it to an online experience, we were able to lengthen the program to one hour, and we doubled ― and tripled, in some cases ― our attendance. That was awesome.

We started to create short videos with snippets of artwork, set them to music, and put them on our YouTube channel and other social media. The engagement was just amazing. We started to do trivia on Tuesdays, featuring pieces from our collection on Instagram Stories. We started “Inside the Artist’s Studio,” where artists in the community could record videos and talk about their work. We edited and posted those on YouTube. We’ve seen a tremendous amount of engagement from those, and they also helped us create bridges to the artistic community.

 

GD: How has COVID affected the High financially?

KSB: Like with most organizations, it’s tough. Rand Suffolk, Director of the High, always says, “We have a missionary component and a mercenary component.” We don’t get to be this wonderful organization if we don’t mind the business. Fortunately, we have great leadership, and that has helped us to be creative and continue doing this work.

 

GD: How has the High used this moment to collaborate with other organizations?

KSB: One thing I love about the museum industry is that it’s very collegial, and that has not changed during this time. As institutions across the country have reopened, we’ve shared our different opportunities and challenges. We’re all interconnected, and we’ve had to be nimble and gracious and understanding.

The High has also fostered relationships with other Atlanta attractions. One result of that is Field Trip Fridays, where all these organizations ― the High, the Atlanta Botanical Garden, the Children’s Museum of Atlanta, the College Football Hall of Fame and others ― pooled their resources so audiences could take field trips virtually. There has also been a lot of sharing of data and experiences and insights among the different metro attractions.

There’s always some good that comes out of tragedy. Maybe it’s hard to see it in the beginning, but I take the position that there’s always some silver lining. The things I’ve mentioned have definitely been silver linings of COVID and made our organization better.

 

GD: Looking ahead to the spring: What exhibitions are you excited about?

KSB: “Bestowing Beauty: Masterpieces from Persian Lands” will continue until April 18. This is a beautiful exhibition and our first exhibit of Persian art in recent years.

Mahmud Muzahhib, The Severity of a Teacher Is Better than the Love of a Father, folio from a Gulistan of Saʿdi, Uzbekistan, Bukhara, ca. 1545–1560, ink, opaque watercolor, and gold on paper, the Hossein Afshar Collection at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
Pear, Iran, 19th century, steel, overlaid with gold, the Hossein Afshar Collection at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.
Kai Khusrau Flees from Turan to Iran and Crosses the River Jaihun with Giv and Farangis, folio from a Shahnama of Firdausi, Iran, Shiraz, 1341, ink, opaque watercolor, and gold on paper, the Hossein Afshar Collection at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.

“David Driskell: Icons of Nature and History” is a show we started working on before the artist passed away in April 2020. We’re happy to see this come to fruition and honor our longstanding relationship with him and his legacy as an amazing artist.

David C. Driskell (American, 1931–2020), Two Pines #2, 1964 Oil on canvas High Museum of Art, Atlanta, gift of David C. and Thelma G. Driskell, 2000.203 © Estate of David C. Driskell, courtesy of DC Moore Gallery, New York.
David C. Driskell (American, 1931–2020), David C. Driskell (American, 1931–2020), David C. Driskell (American, 1931–2020), Purchased by the David C. Driskell Center at the University of Maryland, College Untitled, 1958 Ink and charcoal on paper Park, from the David C. Driskell Collection, 2009.18.042 Image courtesy of the David C. Driskell Center at the University of Maryland, College Park. Photography by Gregory R. Staley. Photograph © David C. Driskell Center, 2017. © Estate of David C. Driskell, courtesy of DC Moore Gallery, New York.
David C. Driskell (American, 1931–2020), David C. Driskell (American, 1931–2020), David C. Driskell (American, 1931–2020), David C. Driskell (American, 1931–2020), Moore Gallery, New York. Memories of a Distant Past, 1975, egg tempera, gouache, and collage on paper, collection of Joseph and Lynne Horning, Washington, D.C. © Estate of David C. Driskell, courtesy of DC Moore Gallery, New York. Shaker Chair and Quilt, 1988, encaustic and collage on paper, Bowdoin College Museum of Art, Brunswick, Maine, Museum Purchase, George Otis

“Underexposed: Women Photographers from the High Museum” will open on April 17 [confirm]. This will feature women photographers from the High’s collection who may have been underrepresented in previous photography exhibitions.

Ilse Bing (American, born Germany, 1899-1998), Self-Portrait in Mirrors, Paris, 1931, printed ca. 1941, gelatin silver print, High Museum of Art, Atlanta, purchase with funds from Georgia-Pacific Corporation, 1987.14
Mickalene Thomas (American, born 1971), Les Trois Femmes Deux, 2018, dye coupler print, High Museum of Art, Atlanta, purchase with funds from the Friends of Photography, 2018.214
Imogen Cunningham (American, 1883-1976), Magnolia Blossom, 1975, gelatin silver print, 10 ¼ x 13 inches, purchase with funds from a Friend of the Museum, © The Imogen Cunningham Trust

 

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