Behind the Scenes with Debussy's Paris

In this post, guest blogger Kelly Holbert, SCMA Exhibition Coordinator explains the process of mounting our new exhibition, Debussy's Paris.

Debussy’s Paris: Art, Music, and Sounds of the City (February 3 – June 10, 2012) is an exhibition that celebrates the life and culture of Paris around 1900, the era of the composer Claude Debussy. Of the 60 works on view, 35 are works on paper from SCMA’s own collection.

The planning process began with the curator selecting the works of art and placing them within the thematic sections of the show (Dance; Correspondences: Art and Music; and Noise and Popular Music), both conceptually in the catalogue and physically in the design of the gallery’s layout. Guest essayists and curatorial consultants also contributed to the catalogue.

The installation itself took about 3 weeks, starting with moving the gallery’s partitions and painting the color bands on the walls. Loans arrived and were unpacked by the registrar, Louise Laplante. Bill Myers and Stephanie Sullivan installed the art and worked on the lighting. David Dempsey fabricated the housings for the ambient music and listening stations, which were installed by RBH Multimedia. Last to go up were the title, wall texts, and labels.

It takes several years to plan and mount an exhibition, involving staff from Education, Membership and Marketing, and other Museum departments, so be sure to come by and enjoy a little piece of Paris in Northampton!

^{Bill Myers hangs an aquatint and etching by Jacques Villon}

^{David Dempsey installs the support for the touchscreen station while Claude Debussy looks on}

^{Adam Guerrin, from Visionsignworks, adheres the vinyl title to the wall}