Week 10 Blog

The Butler Institute of American Art is the first museum in the country to house American artwork and is traditionally referred to as “America’s Museum.” A typical day at the museum varies from day to day. Sometimes, it’s bursting with students during the school year as they walk through various galleries examining the paintings, prints, etc. Ages of students range from elementary age to college and beyond. A large number of visitors are senior citizens from the surrounding Youngstown area. Some individuals take the gem that The Butler is for granted: a massive collection of more than 22,000 works in our collection. On the other hand, some visitors from the Youngstown area aren’t familiar with The Butler, but when they travel to the museum, they are in awe of what there is to offer. The Mahoning County, Trumbull County, and Columbiana County areas surrounding The Butler are comprised largely of a high white population. However, there are also pockets of Hispanics, Asians, and African Americans as well.

During the school year, one of the largest initiatives The Butler hosts is the Good Neighbor program. This is comprised of various school districts from Mahoning and Trumbull County for students who don’t receive the opportunity to experience art as often in a museum setting, and docents also visit each school several times a year to describe basic art concepts to students. This is comprised of a workbook, along with a docent presentation, so when students visit The Butler, they will be able to locate various genres as well as elements of art and principles of design.

There are two buildings owned by the museum; the main building is the museum itself, while the other is the education wing directly behind The Butler. The education wing consists of various offices, art classrooms, and storage. The Butler’s main building offers a wide array of gallery space, a library, gift shop, and also, a café.

Over the past decades, The Butler has experienced growth with numerous changes along the way. After the museum’s founding, visitors would arrive to see works in the collection, but in the early 1900s, there were few works and very little educational programming for the general public. Artists in The Butler’s collection at that time were predominantly male. One aspect, however, which has remained constant, is that it is free admission for anyone who enters. The founding of this museum began with a wealthy Youngstown native, Joseph Butler, who had a passion for collecting works of art and wished to create a space to display them. The Butler’s collection first began with paintings of Native Americans, as well as the most famous painting, Homer’s “Snap The Whip”. It wasn’t until the 1960s that an Education Department was established, and a greater focus was placed on bringing a larger percentage of visitors. Programs initially began with only a few docents taking children and adults around the museum, but the docent’s sole focus at that time was giving a history of each of the works, rather than using the Socratic Method of Questioning.

The Butler’s building space is designed both for visitors and employees. Butler North, the church next door, which is the Education Wing, is used by employees in a majority of cases. However, as I mentioned previously, there are art classrooms within the church as well. Prior to the pandemic, large numbers of students and adults would take these classes. When full, the class could hold between 15-20 students, and ages for each class are between 14 years old and adults. Children’s classes are offered as well. This allows multiple age groups to participate.

The museum itself, on the hand, offers educational opportunities including docent training, tours for students, adults, and senior citizens. Beecher Court, which is a wide open space dedicated in the 1980s and is used for special events including artist receptions and much more. The white walls lining the gallery contain signage, names of the galleries, and a placard next to each of the works. However, the signage, at this time is solely available in print not Braille or through digital files, therefore limiting accessibility and diversity, equity, and inclusion for all visitors. The accessibility story goes back much earlier to a time when there wasn’t an elevator whatsoever and generally, persons with disabilities didn’t have the opportunity to enter. Upon entering the museum, there are several wide steps someone must climb in order to enter, and to make matters worse, no elevator or ramp existed. Wheelchair users and other individuals with mobility challenges couldn’t enter America’s Museum.

Over time as my job continues to evolve, I will continue to play a key role in the accessibility and user experience for everyone, since this is where The Butler is lacking currently. When I began at The Butler last November, my first goal was to implement the Aira technology I use and explained previously, but this isn’t solely for myself as an accommodation: it is for anyone (blind, sighted, or anyone else with or without a disability) who would find it helpful. Also, there needs to be Braille and large print signage throughout the museum, as well as tactile representations, closed captioning during art lectures, ASL interpreters during special events, and quiet hours for those with autism, etc. However, it’s not only an issue concerning accessibility, but also, challenges arise to promote persons from various minority groups into the museum to become enticed, engaged, and challenged by the visual arts. A gap exists in which Hispanics, Asians, and African Americans should visit the museum. The diversity of artists in the collection have vastly increased, but there is still more work to be done in this area, such as signage in Spanish to encompass the entire permanent collection, guided tours in Spanish—these occur every so often, since there are a few Spanish speaking docents, but more is left to be desired.

            This past month, however, The Butler widely expanded the Hispanic Heritage Month initiative through showcasing Rainier Llanes, a Cuban American painter’s works for the entire month. Over a four day time period as he spent time at the museum giving a lecture regarding his work to a plethora of individuals, he also conducted a workshop for young elementary school students, and a large majority from the Campbell Elementary district, are Hispanic. Seeing Llanes work displayed prominently in one of the galleries brought a sense of pride and satisfaction to the local Hispanic community and even those who aren’t fluent in Spanish whatsoever. I created signage for the event in Spanish, so that everyone walking through the gallery could appreciate reading the names of his paintings in either Spanish or English. There must continue to be a mission to expand the array of programming at The Butler for persons in a wide array of minority groups, and most significantly, expand the works in the collection to underscore a true cross section of the Youngstown community.

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