Recently on a visit to the John Natsulas Gallery in downtown Davis I took notice of a lot of things I wouldn't normally thinking of when visiting a museum. For one, there was a small coffee shop up front and they made great cappuccino. So that might not be completely unheard of but I was surprised w
hen the ba
rista behind the counter urged me to take the cappuccino on into the gallery. I thought there might be some sort of issue with bringing in potentially staining drinks and food. Happy to carried my cappuccino everywhere throughout the museum.
While checking out paintings and other items I noticed a sign on the wall that indicated the museum had a free wi-fi signal and and comfortable couches and various floors. I asked the attendant about it and she said that they had been encouraging students and other community members to come in and just “hang out”. The idea being that if you had homework to do or a paper to finish for work why not come in and do it in a relaxing environment surrounded by art and listening to relaxing classical or jazz music?
In a town where coffee shop owners were constantly battling it out with students over whether they were just clogging up the tables doing their homework or actually spending money this by contrast was a vastly different approach - actually encouraging them to come in and do it along with a free wireless signal so they could browse the internet to their heart's content.
Other programs included a demonstration and music night on Thursdays where local artists would come in and work on their pieces in the studio so the public could view and be a part of the process with live music playing in the background.
Rooftop Sculpture Garden – making smart use of the entire building the roof top sculpture
garden offers a collection of outdoor sculptures by local and international artists. Visitors can get a view of the surrounding city that they might otherwise never see.
I asked one of the curators about their process of designing the museum. She said they originally had a much smaller museum that was more traditional in nature with the standard simple gallery. When they designed the new museum they made it a point to bring two main concepts into the process: First - to consider other art forms such as writings, music and poetry and bring them in to the museum to make the experience “more complete”. Second – to constantly re-evaluate what role art could
play in our daily lives and bring it to us in new and more creative ways.
Does this approach work? I'd say so, I couldn't wait to go back with my homework....
The John Natsulas Gallery is located at 521 First Street in Davis. Hours of operation are Wed-Thurs: 11:00am - 5:00pm, Fri: 11:00am - 10:00pm, Sat - Sun: 12:00pm - 5:00pm
Photo Courtesy of John Natsulas Gallery
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