No. 46: KATHARINE ERICKSON - MUSEUM MANAGER, 21c MUSEUM HOTEL, LEXINGTON

KATHARINE ERICKSON is the Museum Manager at the 21c Museum Hotel in Lexington.  She worked previously as an educator at a number of museums including the National Gallery of Art, the Washington Nati0nal Cathedral, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and for the majority of her prior career, at the Getty Villa in Los Angeles, where she managed the Gallery Teaching program. She joined 21c in her current role in the fall of 2023.The current temporary exhibition installed in November 2024, is titled:Still, Life!  Meaning and Mending in Contemporary Art.As the punctuation suggests, this is a play on the recognized art form of the "still life" genre - flowers and fruits in various stages of ripeness and decay for example, but also a more subtle reference to the fact there is still life post pandemic albeit still with all its turmoil and controversies.   Isolation fosters loneliness and disconnection, but also generates introspection and reflection and many of the works in this show attempt to capture this swing of thoughts and emotions experienced by many during the pandemic.  But they also bear witness to resilience and hope, as for example Valerie Hegarty's monumental and complex work FRESH START would infer.Katharine discusses this new show, shares her thoughts on several of the works and talks about her first 18 months as Museum Manager at 21c Museum Hotel.For more and to connect with us, visit https://www.artsconnectlex.org/art-throb-podcast.html