Monday, March 10, 2008

Tall exhibit banners: the Norton does it; why don't most other Shreveport museums and galleries do it?

A drive by the front of the RW Norton Art Gallery offers the public a tasteful graphic reminder of the latest exhibit. The tall banners announcing the current show, the Hudson River School of painters, present a title, a vibe and a calendar.

The Norton has entrance panels that may have made it fairly easy to mount the announcement banners. But I must say I can imagine similar banners at the front of museums and galleries across the city.

What if the MultiCultural Center of the South, Southern University Museum of Art Shreveport, Artspace and Robinson Film Center had banners? What if the banners intruded a bit into the sidewalk space along the street? Of a sudden Texas St would be transformed into Art St.

When I think of Meadows Museum of Art and the across-the-street Turner Art Center, I think of two almost-hidden gems of painting and sculpture in Shreveport. What if there were banners on Centenary Blvd announcing thieir latest exhibits? And if a banner were added to Karpeles Manuscript Museum on Centenary - other side of King's Hwy - we would get a companion flash of colorful info.

All the present-day restraint and subtlety on the part of our major art centers may be old-school laudable. But given the examples of upbeat museum signage found in major cities, isn't it reasonable to to consider investing in the armatures and stantions necessary to offer graphic reminders of the visual feasts being presented by the hardworking curators of the city?

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