What Belongs in a Museum?

Meredith Diamond '23 is a computer science major and Cunningham Center Assistant. Join her as she talks about a surprising series in the SCMA Collection.

What belongs in a museum? I have been adding more and more to the list as I work in the Cunningham Center. Although I love photography and occasionally consider myself an artist, I am primarily a Computer Science major. This year I have been introduced to how vast the art world is. My first day working at the Cunningham Center I pulled Goya prints and framed 19th century Japanese photographs. I have been given the opportunity to see drawings from famous artists such as Matisse and Degas. Our photographs by Roy De Carava leave me breathless. But there is one collection that intrigues me more than most.

The SCMA has a surprisingly large collection of psychedelic posters. As a huge music lover, I was immediately drawn to these works. The Grateful Dead, The Doors, The Byrds, the list goes on and on. The posters call out to you from across the room due to their aggressively bright colors. With text that floats over your vision, the viewer must take time to fully absorb the art in front of them.

My introduction to psychedelic art was the Beatles’ Yellow Submarine movie filled with abstract characters and constantly shifting surroundings. The memories of Blue Meanies lay dormant until the day I literally opened a box of psychedelic history. Suddenly, I was transported to “Eleanor Rigby.”  We have posters designed by some of the more famous designers like Wes Wilson or Victor Moscoso and some by lesser known artists such as John Thompson. The longer I looked, the more bands I recognized and more songs played through my mind.

Eventually, I drifted between posters as a playlist of the bands they advertise filled the empty room. I wish I could have seen these posters hanging on bulletin boards and lampposts. However, I am incredibly grateful that they could be preserved in this setting. They serve as a reminder that museums are not exclusive to classical art. Art is not defined to one category, medium, or concept. 

Sometimes as I work in storage looking through boxes of prints from the 18th century, I listen to the Grateful Dead and Chuck Berry. I like to be reminded of how vast our collection is. On rainy spring days, I can easily brighten my day with the rainbows in these posters. Blue Cheer always enthralls me with its hidden details and flowering text.