Beyond Wedgwood Blue Team Interviews
We’re already almost halfway through August somehow – and that means that our special temporary exhibit, Beyond Wedgwood Blue, is about halfway over. That’s not something I’m particularly thrilled about, because this exhibit has been a huge milestone for my career (and life) and I’ll be sad to see it go. (But I’m getting ahead of myself, and if you haven’t seen the exhibit yet, you still have until the end of September to do so. Quick, go see it now. I’ll wait.) I’ve worked alongside some fantastic mentors and have learned a significant amount about exhibit development over this past year. In the museum world, your first exhibit experience may as well be a make-or-break point in your career – I was thrilled to find that not only was I capable of contributing in a meaningful way, but also that I loved every second of it. That’s how you know you’ve found your calling, right?
Well, I could talk for paragraphs upon paragraphs about my personal experiences with the development of this exhibit, but it’s certainly not fair if mine is the only voice that’s heard – I just happen to be the one with the social media platform. So I sat down with each member of the exhibit team and asked them questions about their personal experiences with the exhibit in order to give you a behind-the-scenes insight into what it takes to make something like Beyond Wedgwood Blue. Jennifer Johns (Curator), Joy Olsen (Collections Manager), Bill Firstenberger (Executive Director), and I (Outreach Curator) made up the exhibit team.
Jennifer Johns
Joy Olsen
Bill Firstenberger
Andrea Barbour (Me!)
Question 1: What were your roles and responsibilities in developing Beyond Wedgwood Blue?
Jennifer: Working on finding lenders for our artifacts, trying to gear it towards when we set up the initial outline of what the exhibit was going to be. Then doing a little bit of research on how the pieces would fit into what our scope of the exhibit was, and getting the items here on time for the exhibit. Setting up the cases, putting the artifacts in the cases, creating labels for all the artifacts, mounting them, cutting them. Also with Joy’s help, categorizing the artifacts for each room since we picked a theme for each room.
A room with “Unusual Wares” from Beyond Wedgwood Blue.
Joy: One of the roles was to critique items that were being considered for the collection for us to purchase. I was on that team, to say “yes” or “no.” Then the main part that I really enjoyed was to put displays together and kind of plan it out – because displaying was always in my background, and how it could be inviting for people to see… [I also helped] with the marketing and things like that.
Bill: First was probably an overall vision for the scope and scale of the exhibit. I think that, because it was new territory for us, there was maybe not a strong sense of what the expectations were. I felt like one important role that I played was to try to set some sort of standard or bar for us that we could all follow. Then, more specifically, because the exhibit required a fair amount of procurement, I was in the best position to “have the burden on my shoulders” – I mean, it was fun – but it did require some time commitment….Other than that, just trying to keep the balls in the air and organize [the team] a little bit, and keep things on track timeline wise.
Me: Most of my responsibilities went into the aesthetic and “look and feel” of the exhibit. I was given the task of designing and writing the catalogue, the informational labels, and the narrative panels. So a lot of my work involved extensive research – reading books, watching documentaries, looking at all of the information available about Wedgwood online, etc. With Jennifer and Joy’s guidance, I picked the color scheme we would use in all of our materials and marketing. I even took a mini-course online about Adobe InDesign to learn how to design the catalogue.
Question 2: What was the most challenging part of putting this exhibit together?
Jennifer: Finding enough lenders. We started this during COVID, so during that time many institutions weren’t open. Trying to get a big enough scope of objects to make the exhibit interesting and unique.
Joy: For me, it was finding the time to get it done - it left a lot for Jennifer to do. Just to break away. That would be the most challenging – because everything else with [Andrea], and with Jennifer, when we would meet and talk about it and everything, all seemed to come together. She had the worst part, with getting the connections and things like that. [For me], it was just actually getting hands-on.
A display case featuring green Jasperware from Beyond Wedgwood Blue.
Bill: I really like to develop exhibits, and so the biggest challenge was for me not to get too involved. I didn’t get in [the team’s] way hopefully too much. That was difficult for me because I probably would have structured things a little different. Also in the original design development with Jennifer and Joy, they were the ones who came up with Beyond Wedgwood Blue, and I just said I’d like it to be about Wedgwood and have it be something that we can brag on, the fact that it’s different than another exhibit that’s been put out there. We have a small venue, and it’s a small exhibit by large exhibition standards, so we have to figure out how to make it special. They figured out different themes and ways to do that than I would have gone for, and I had to let that go. In the end, the team put together something bigger and better than I ever dreamed, so it was a good thing I didn’t get very involved.
Me: First, keeping track of everything. When you research for an exhibit – especially if you are going to be writing a catalogue with citations – you have to remember where you get every piece of information. Secondly, cross-referencing information. Sometimes, you find two different dates about the same thing from two different sources. Usually that means you have to find another source to break the tie. Books written at different times can have slightly different information, so it’s important to make sure you have the most up-to-date facts for your research.
Question 3: What was the most fun part of putting this exhibit together?
Jennifer: Actually putting the pieces in the display cases. Making it come to life. We kept looking at it for a year on paper – seeing it put together.
Joy: Looking at all the beautiful pieces and learning more and more about the Wedgwood Company. One of the most fun parts of it was talking with a representative from Wedgwood, which was state-side in New York. Trying to arrange for a representative to come for our grand opening, even though it didn’t work out [because of COVID restrictions in New York at the time], that was exciting to me.
Bill: Buying stuff. The “burden” and the “chore” that was such a terrible burden on my shoulders – I loved doing it every second. Because, it was my way to guide a little bit of the participation, although [Jennifer and Joy] were the ones telling me what they needed and where we were short on things. But then, we see all this other stuff when you’re out looking for those things, like “What about this? Could this play into the exhibit somehow?” So I had a lot of those conversations, trying to sell them new stuff. Jennifer was usually there saying “no.”
One of the labels from Beyond Wedgwood Blue.
Me: I loved designing the catalogue and having something physical to hold at the end of it all, allowing me to say “I made this.” I’m an artistic person, so making all of the aesthetic qualities of the exhibit come together with the catalogue, panels, and labels was very satisfying.
Question 4: What was something you learned while putting together the exhibit?
Jennifer: I learned a little bit more about Wedgwood. I mean, I knew Wedgwood, but not the actual technique and process of making it. I like that aspect of it. And also that Charles Darwin was Josiah’s Wedgwood’s grandson.
Daisy Makeig-Jones Lustreware from Beyond Wedgwood Blue.
Joy: All of the different facets of the company. I loved learning about Daisy Maekig-Jones. That was something very interesting – learning about that era of Wedgwood.
Bill: About the content, a tremendous amount. I had never personally studied Wedgwood with any sense of depth. I learned from an organizational standpoint that this is within our capability. That is the most gratifying thing that we learned. I mean, I knew it, but until you’ve gone through it and you’ve each pushed each other to excel in certain areas, there’s always this thing in the back of your mind – “What’s this going to look like in the end?” When we were buying those exhibit cases, and we ran into all the hurdles we had to cross in order to secure the loans, I thought, “This is going to be a lot of steps. Are we okay with this or are we going to be at each other’s throats at the end of this because of the stress of this?” So that’s the part that I feel like we learned a lot about ourselves as a staff. And also why I don’t think we should try to do it every year – I think every other year feels like the right pace for us to attempt to do something like this.
Me: Well, I had never even heard of Wedgwood before this exhibit, so there’s that. Now, I know the content inside and out, so I’ve learned a lot. But I can also say that I’ve learned a great deal about the process that goes into making an exhibit – securing loans, preparing cases, writing a catalogue, designing the aesthetic, marketing, etc. I’m really impressed with all of the great work that our team did, even with so few people. We were all taking on multiple tasks that would have normally been spread out to more people at a larger museum.
Question 5: What is your favorite piece or type of ware?
Jennifer: My favorite piece that’s in there is the centerpiece – the majolica with the mermaids and the boat. I just like the uniqueness of it and that it’s large, because most of Wedgwood’s things are not.
The majolica centerpiece on loan from the Birmingham Museum of Art
Joy: Any of the blue Jasperware teapots. The soft Jasper, the light blue. I hope to own one someday.
Bill: I’ve never been a giant Wedgwood Jasper fan necessarily, even though that’s what they’re known for. So the fact that the exhibit took a turn of a lot of other types of wares outside of Jasperware, there are a lot of things in the exhibit that I really, really gravitate towards. I really like the social impact and implications of the anti-slavery medallion. It’s such a small piece but it’s so packed with interpretive power. Now, from an aesthetic standpoint, that centerpiece on loan from Birmingham with the mermaids is really striking and highly unusual. Some of my favorite pieces are the ones we bought, though.
Me: I love the lustreware – especially the butterfly bowl. It’s absolutely stunning, and one day I’d love to own a Daisy Makeig-Jones piece. Pictures don’t do those justice, you really have to see them for yourself.
Question 6: Anything else you’d like to share about your exhibit experience?
Joy: My husband and I tried to book a trip to England, which was back in May. One of the stops was going to be the Wedgwood Factory, and I was extremely excited about learning and going to London and going into Wedgwood’s factory – but because of COVID, the trip was dissolved. That was very much a disappointment, but I really felt like I was going to get first-hand knowledge of the Wedgwood and actually view the factory. Hopefully that trip is offered again… If not, hopefully when we go to London we’d be able to see it ourselves.
Bill: My hope and my goal for the exhibit is really that it starts to fulfill the ambitions of the promise that we’ve made to the community. We sold the Fallen Caryatid not just so that we could have financial stability to keep Ruthmere Campus going indefinitely, but to bring new enhanced experiences that otherwise would not be able to happen. This is the first step in fulfilling that goal in a material way. It’s a small step – in my head, I see much bigger and greater things in the future – but it’s a great step. It’s really a great step.
Ruthmere’s Wedgwood Display Case, with my personal collection (the three trinket boxes on the left and the two on the right).
Me: Having gone from a person who had never even heard of Wedgwood, I’ve come a long way – I even collect Wedgwood myself, now, and have a small collection of Jasperware trinket boxes in 5 different colors and shapes so far (they’re on display in our case in Ruthmere’s Game Room). It’s kind of powerful, in a way. Once you find a relatively cheap piece on eBay, it’s hard to turn it down. But there are far worse things to spend your money on!
Come to the Havilah Beardsley House and see Beyond Wedgwood Blue before it ends on September 30th! Learn about the fascinating history of Josiah Wedgwood’s innovative pottery company and see stunning examples of the many types of wares developed by Wedgwood over the centuries.
