On September 11, 2019 I had the privilege of joining the staff of the Denver Art Museum Hamilton gift shop to train for this once in a lifetime exhibit. I was to experience in the exit shop for the Monet exhibit a record breaking achievement in sales that was unprecedented. The entire five months we were in contact with 3,500 people per day from all over the world and our country as well. I am happy to say that I loved the exhibit, the DAM staff and the shop. I had the opportunity to view the exhibit four times and grew attached to many pieces, some are shown in the photos above. I am grateful to have been a part of something so moving and quite phenomenal, and I thank my cousin, Marilyn, for suggesting that I apply for the position. I also thank my four managers for training me and leading us in a really friendly, positive manner.
The Denver Art Museum is a nonprofit organization and one of the largest art museums between the West Coast and Chicago. It is known for its' collection of American Indian Art and its' other collections of more than 70,000 diverse works from across the centuries and world. What I believe sets this museum apart from many others is the interactive aspect of the DAM. Individuals under 18 years of age are free to visit and hundreds of school students attend daily. There are interactive art areas throughout the museum, often hosted by notable artists. There are so many programs from staff yoga classes to adult Art History classes, to docent development trainings on a daily basis.The level of community involvement is astounding, with 450 volunteers. I was unaware of the number of employees when I began (I like to know everyone's name) and there are also 450 staff as well. I must say, the organization is a class act, and the all staff meetings are awesome.
This exhibit was curated by Angelica Daneo and Christoph Heinrich and others over the course of at least two years. It was formed by the collaboration of many museums and private collectors from all over the world. Their personal connections made this exhibit a once in a lifetime experience and Denver was so fortunate to have their efforts come to fruition here. Claude Monet painted around 2,500 paintings over his lifetime, so prolific. We had 124 Monet pieces in the exhibit and two of Eugene Boudin's and a couple from one of Monet's contemporaries. I was not aware of the variety of subjects in Monet's works until this exhibit. He was well traveled and the design of the exhibit grouped the paintings by geography as well as subject areas. I was impressed by each and every room, I especially loved the Winter scenes, and the South of Italy. I appreciate and love maps and the rooms were amazing in their arrangement and color too. The catalog for the exhibit was the number one seller in the exit shop, and for good reason. All the painting from the exhibit can be found in the catalog, Claude Monet The Truth of Nature. We sold out, but Amazon still carried them toward the end of the show. I learned so much from this exhibit and from working in the shop. It was a marathon daily, for sure, but I absolutely loved it!
The paintings were reminiscent of places I have visited and people I have met, and they evoke such strong emotions, many of us were brought to tears more than once while looking at a particular piece. Monet was not only a master of light and painting, but of the human condition, and many of his paintings speak to our emotions and our connection to the earth as well as others. He represented the beauty that surrounds us as we navigate through life.
I thank Angelina for designing this post and I will forever remember the people I met over the course of this experience. I am so pleased that I was a part of something so wonderful, it has been a chance of a lifetime for me. -Mona
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