Introducing Guest Services and Welcome Centers

Dear friends,

The next time you visit the museum, you’ll notice that we’ve recently renamed our lobbies as the Lancaster Street and Salisbury Street Welcome Centers. We’ve also taken this opportunity to change the Visitor Services Department to our Guest Services Department.

The next time you visit, stop at our admissions desks in either of our Welcome Centers and ask a member of Guest Services why we renamed them. Their answer—and mine—is that the most important transaction that takes place upon entering or exiting the museum is the welcoming experience.

How important is it for you to be warmly greeted and welcomed to the museum? Our customer service begins with hello, but quickly can become an answer to your important question, directions to a specific work of art, or timing for a program or other offering. We hope to create a welcoming experience and what we hope will be a transformative museum visit.

When we think of the word, guests, we think of a loved one or a friend who is coming from out of town and visiting.How do you prepare your home for your guests; what might you do differently? Being our guest signifies your role as a member of our community, of well acquainted neighbors and friends, not just someone who stops by.

While changing what we call our lobbies and services does not dramatically alter the museum, hopefully it signifies a step in our commitment to you as our guests. Our goal is to continually make the museum a better place for you.

Warmly,

Adam R. Rozan
Director of Audience Engagement

Art + Market Returns!

We are excited to announce that Art + Market will return to the Worcester Art Museum for its third summer. The freshest local fruits and vegetables will be available on Saturdays, starting August 6 and running through September 24, 2016. Exclusively featuring Dick’s Market Garden of Lunenberg, MA, Art + Market will be located in the Museum’s Salisbury Street parking lot, adjacent to our Access Bridge.

Saturdays, August 6 - September 24, 2016 10am- 1pm

More on Dick’s Market Garden 
More on Art + Market

- Katrina Stacy, Associate Curator of Education

Hello Families—We’ve Got Two Spaces For You!

In most cities, parking is a constant conversation; a never-ending problem with no immediate solutions in sight. Parking at most museums is also something that’s often challenging, and can even be the ruin of what should be a positive outing.

The Worcester Art Museum continues to provide free guest parking, which we know is a great benefit in visiting the institution. On our busy days, we recognize that even our 3 free parking lots fill quickly, with the closest spaces filling immediately. To help provide better customer service for families, we’ve added two reserved parking spaces: one spot in our Salisbury Street parking lot and another in the Tuckerman parking lot. We have received feedback from families with young children and expecting mothers who particularly struggle with the complex floorplan of our facility; we hope that this will be of special benefit to you.

Best, and happy parking!

Click here to view our Kids + Family page

- Adam Rozan,  Director of Audience Engagement

The Book of Horsemanship

I was thrilled today to receive copies of my latest book, The Book of Horsemanship by Duarte I of Portugal. I began translating Duarte’s early fifteenth-century treatise nearly a decade ago, when I was curator at the Higgins Armory. It’s a remarkable and utterly unique document describing the definitive physical skill of the medieval knight: in almost every European language, the word for “knight” actually means “horseman.” The book not only covers training and techniques of horsemanship, but provides extensive information about saddles and spurs, jousting and hunting. Duarte tells us a lot about how medieval arms and armor was actually used—he even offers helpful hints about how to get your lance into the lance-rest without getting it caught on your armor. In fact, the illustrations to this book include three objects from WAM’s collection—but you’ll have to get a copy to find out which ones!

Learn more and purchase The Book of Horsemanship
Browse Arms and Armor in our Collection Highlights

—Jeffrey L. Forgeng, Curator of Arms & Armor and Medieval Art

WPI Student Project: The Art of Combat

Hello, we’re five students from Worcester Polytechnic Institute and we’ve spent the last seven weeks conducting research in collaboration with WAM's Arms and Armor Curator, Jeffrey Forgeng. You may have seen us surveying in the [remastered] or Knights! gallery lately—we've been researching how to make the technology in these exhibits as user-friendly and enticing as possible. You’ll be able to see our work on the iPads in the upcoming The Art of Combat exhibition, opening May 28. You can also learn a few things about the The Art of Combat (in a rather less serious setting) from the video we developed, with our personal touch, about WAM's plans for arms and armor.



Learn more about Jeppson Idea Lab: The Art of Combat

- Ian Converse, Kevin O’Hara, Patrick Long, Anthony Ratte, Julia Szemiot

Join us for these great upcoming tours!

Have you ever been on one of the museum’s Public Tours? A public tour is a great introduction to the museum and a great way to learn more about the Museum, if you have never been before. Our amazing volunteer docents spend a lot of time researching and preparing for their tours and are excited to share what they have learned with the public.

There are a variety of public tours depending on your schedule or your interest.

Tour of the Month

First & Third Saturday of each month at 2pm

If you’re in the mood for a more in depth tour, consider one of our Tours of the Month. 

Each month, a Museum Docent picks a topic of special interest and creates a tour through the Museum based on that subject matter. This is an opportunity for visitors to glean more in depth knowledge about the collection. Don't miss out! Free with Museum admission.

Our docents are leading the following interesting tours over the next few months:

May 7 and 21 at 2pm – Precolumbian Art
Worcester’s wonderful collection of Precolumbian art is the result of Stephen Salisbury III’s keen interest in the Mesoamerican cultures long before he founded the Worcester Art Museum. Join us to learn about Worcester’s fascinating connection to the area and to view our Ballgame sculpture, one of only a few in existence.

June 4 and 18, 2pm - Man’s Best Friend: The Cat
Cats have a special place in people’s hearts, and that special relationship has been depicted in art for centuries. This tour will delight and tickle the whiskers of art and cat lovers alike, focusing on cats in the permanent collection and in the special exhibition, Meow.

July 2nd and 16, 2pm – The Evolution of Modern Art
This tour will trace the major developments in art, starting with Classical Art, through Modern Art movements and ending with Postmodern Art. We will cover Impressionism, Post-Impressionism, Fauvism, Expressionism, Surrealism, Abstract Expressionism, and Pop Art, following changes in the use of color, forms and subjects to understand the evolution of art.

Kneeling Bench

The next time you are in the Museum, check out the kneeling bench, now on display in the 14th-15th century gallery. Part of ongoing experiments with seating, this kneeling bench offers a way to experience the spiritual dimension of art in this gallery. The kneeling bench was loaned to the museum by the United Congregational Church, UCC. It dates from the early twentieth century and was used by couples kneeling for a blessing at the end of their wedding ceremony. The kneeler is similar to a traditional prie dieu, which is used for personal prayer and devotions. We invite you to try the kneeler yourself to experience how viewers/worshipers in centuries past may have experienced this powerful art.

Browse European Art in our Collection Highlights

- Marcia Lagerwey, Curator of Education