The Press Storm Surrounding Michelangelo

Dear readers,

What a crazy month. Now that we've got the blog up and running, I wanted to provide you with information and links from the media storm that has been brewing since our Michelangelo show has been on view. With less than a month left until it closes, we've seen a snowball effect with our visitors and we could not be more pleased!

Just this morning, we discovered that reviewers on the website www.tripadvisor.com have posted some glowing testimonies to our shows. Some memorable quotes here:

"It's not every day that Americans can walk into a small museum in Virginia to see such an impressive show of works on paper by the Renaissance master. While I'm not certain how William and Mary pulled this show off, I'm grateful to the powers that be for arranging this exhibition. I had never been to the Muscarelle before and might not have even put it on my radar if they hadn't put together a show that the Metropolitan Museum, the Morgan, the Getty, or the National Gallery would all be jealous of."

- username ProfessorCharles, Top Contributor 

"I had the good fortune to visit the Muscarelle Museum of Art on the campus of William and Mary. It is an excellent, small art museum. The opportunity to see original Michelangelo drawings in such an intimate setting was an opportunity that I could not pass up. Being able to see the raw work of one the most brilliant artists ever to live was a thrill. There was also a very nice exhibition of works by 17th Century artist Mattia Preti."

- username KwajTom, Top Contributor 

"We went to Williamsburg specifically to see Michaelangelo's work on display and we were rewarded with the Mattia Preti exhibit as well. The colors and the way everything was displayed was first class. Thank you!" 

- username rsmead13 

To read more from TripAdvisor, click here.

NPR recently aired an interview with our Director, Dr. Aaron De Groft, our Chief Curator, Dr. John T. Spike, and Director of the Casa Buonarroti, Pina Ragionieri on their With Good Reason segment. It lasted February 23-March 4, and discussed all things Michelangelo. Airing on stations throughout Washington, D.C., Virginia, Maryland, Tennessee, Ohio, Georgia, Colorado, Alaska, California and Michigan, we hope you were able to catch it! If not, check it out here.

The New York Times featured the exhibition on their In Transit blog and in their Sunday Travel section! To read, click here. The Times also broke the story in the fall about the exhibition, so a twofer with this news giant has been a treat for the museum. 

Of course, we can't forget the Associate Press's feature the day before the exhibition opened. Featuring beautiful photos of Pina Ragionieri and Dr. Spike's interview in the gallery, the AP knew how to get the ball rolling for the media. For the fully story, click here. 

The AP also ran coverage to the HuffPost Arts & Culture section, found here. 

In addition to these major highlights, the story was picked up nationally, hitting such websites as the Washington Post, ABC News, and San Francisco Chronicle. USA Today featured the exhibition in their statewide news updates!

Regional news ran the story from the Virginian Pilot to the Daily Press and everywhere in between. Student publications including the DoG Street Journal and the Flat Hat featured the story in their pages.

To read the full article from William and Mary News about media coverage for the exhibits, click here!

Phew... we could go on and on. We've been honored with many accolades and much praise from the national and international arts communities. What a whirlwind. 

That about does it for this post. Hope to see you around the museum soon! 

Courtney
Social Media Manager at the Muscarelle Museum of Art
Advancement and Curatorial Intern 

Out with the old, in with the new

Dear readers, 

Welcome to the new and improved blog of the DEN at the Muscarelle Museum of Art!  After some much needed re-vamping, the blog's got a whole new look and a whole new feel. But don't fret, the old site has been archived, and a link is available in our About Me section if you're curious.

To our devoted readers, thanks for sticking with us. It's been a great time of transition and change for the museum, all pointing this dynamic institution in the up and forward directions. To our new readers, we hope you become regulars and are entertained and/or informed by what we have to say. And, in case you weren't totally sure, DEN stands for Development, Education, and New Media. Now you know!

On this blog, you can expect weekly behind-the-scenes updates from Muscarelle interns and students in our ARTH330: Curating, Collecting, and Connoisseurship class, detailing our personal ambitions, project progress, art-based initiatives, and our forays into the art world. It promises to be an exciting journey, peppered with stories of both successes and setbacks, challenges and triumphs. Most importantly, these blog poses will indicate the huge honor and great inspiration that we all feel working and studying at "pound for pound, the best university art museum in the nation."

This is an especially amazing time for the Muscarelle, with two major exhibitions here for the spring. "Michelangelo: Sacred and Profane Masterpiece Drawings from the Casa Buonarroti" features 25 drawings by the master, most never or rarely seen in the United States, being hailed as the most significant exhibition by the artist in the United States in over 30 years. Additionally, "Mattia Preti: A Brush with Passion" celebrates the 400th birthday of the last great follower of Caravaggio, and helped seal the Muscarelle's attainment of Cultural Partner status for 2013: The Year of Italian Culture in the United States. The Italian Ambassador himself even wrote introductory letters for our two exhibition catalogs--pretty cool if you ask me!

I could go on and on, but you'll hear from me again soon. In the mean time, we here at the DEN will continue our busy day-to-day shuffle, living and loving the work that keeps us around the best art in the world.

See you soon!

Courtney Raterman
Social Media Manager at the Muscarelle Museum of Art
Advancement and Curatorial Intern