The drop-in art making area of Star Studio starts each show looking pretty spare…white walls, gray cabinets, gray tables, overhead fluorescent lights…very clean and very empty. Once each show opens the same thing invariably happens…an impromptu visitor-generated installation begins to form in the space. Visitors stop in, make works of art, and ask to display them. We tape the work to the wall, or arrange it on the counters and watch the space change over the run of the show.
Don’t get me wrong, the majority of artwork that visitors make goes home with them, but a percentage always gets donated. Often visitors will make more than one piece, so that they have one to take home and one to add to the collection. We didn’t start out asking people to leave their work, but it always happened. Now, we build it into the consideration of the activities that will be offered in the space. It isn’t really like the formal artist-displaying-work model that is in evidence throughout the museum…the work is typically anonymous and individual pieces aren’t highlighted.
