Looking ahead to 2008 and beyond!

When you're looking at an exhibition, do you ever wonder about how it was organized? For instance, William Wegman: Funney/Strange opened at the Addison on Saturday April 7th, which is the fourth stop in its touring schedule, but it took years of preparation!! I am not exaggerating.

While the Addison's prep staff is busy painting walls, framing art and installing it for current exhibitions, the curatorial department is already focusing on future exhibitions. That's right, we're looking ahead as far as 2011! Curators prepare checklists of artworks to be included in the exhibition, conduct endless hours of research, and talk with artists and/or other scholars. Discussions between other institutions occur and sometimes these museums will become stops on the exhibition's tour similar to Wegman's schedule. Once the exhibition is finalized, then it is time to organize the accompanying publication. Not only do curators write the essays for the exhibition catalogue, but they're thoroughly involved in the process from beginning to end. The Addison's curators have ongoing conversations with editors and designers to produce the highest quality publication. The next time you're reading an exhibition catalogue take a moment to think about the fact that it took at least a year to produce.

The Addison has added a new feature on its website that has information about our future exhibitions and their availability. Check out what the Addison's curatorial department is working on for the next four years by browsing through these future exhibition proposals.