Study for "The Wealth of the Nation" by Seymour Fogel, Independence Avenue Lobby, Social Security Building, Washington, D.C., 1938. Produced under the auspices of the Section, installed 1942. Tempera on paper.

 

The Wolfsonian

Culture Comes to South Beach

By Judith B. Gura

MIAMI, FLA. -- Only a few years ago, the words "Miami Beach" and "culture" might have seemed mutually exclusive. Not any longer. In addition to the flashy hotels and restaurants that have made it an international vacation playground, the much-maligned city now boasts cultural attractions that draw local audiences as well as tourists.

By far the most interesting of these is The Wolfsonian, a unique decorative arts museum just steps away from trendy South Beach. Its stylish locale may be an unlikely one for a serious institution, but The Wolfsonian is definitely that, with a provocative concept and a unique collection of fascinating objects. Last year, the museum and its collections became part of Florida International University, a young and aggressive, state-funded institution with a focus on the creative arts. From all indications, it is the proverbial match made in heaven.

In addition to pursuing a challenging exhibition schedule, the revived institution, under new director Cathy Leff, has set new goals, which include integrating the museum's facilities and staff into the university's curriculum, and broadening its outreach into the community and the Miami school system.

Meanwhile, "Designing Modernity: The Arts of Reform and Persuasion, 1885-1945," the groundbreaking inaugural exhibition mounted in 1995 with selections from the museum's holdings, has traveled to Los Angeles, Seattle, Pittsburgh, and Indianapolis. It will go on to Australia and New Zealand to help build an international identity for The Wolfsonian, and the university. The publication accompanying the exhibition, edited by associate director Wendy Kaplan, has already been accepted as an important work of scholarship.

Housed in a converted 1927 warehouse on Washington Avenue, The Wolfsonian began as the impulse of an unconventional collector. Shortly after World War II, Mickey Wolfson, a Miami native and the compulsively-acquisitive scion of a theater-empire family, focused his attention on the use of design to reflect culture, politics and technology during the first part of the Twentieth Century. It was an offbeat area that had not been explored by other museums or collectors, and in some three decades of peripatetic travels and enthusiastic buying, Wolfson assembled an idiosyncratic collection of more than 70,000 objects as well as an extraordinarily rich library.

Primarily from American and European sources, the collection includes furniture, decorative art objects, industrial design, costumes, paintings, sculpture and architectural models as well as works on paper, and concentrates on the period from 1885 to 1945, documenting the cultural, political and technological developments emerging in the half-century or so preceding World War II.

After purchasing a warehouse to hold his acquisitions, Wolfson founded the museum in 1986, and began the state-of-the-art renovation that culminated in the opening to the public of The Wolfsonian, subtitled "The Museum of Decorative and Propaganda Art," three years ago. Almost immediately, however the institution was plagued by financial difficulties, resulting in abrupt staff reductions and a summer-long closing. Its survival is due equally to Wolfson's commitment and generosity, and to the vision of city and state officials who helped it make the transition from a floundering upstart to a stable institution with a promising future.

With trustee Charles Cowles acting as matchmaker, FIU was approached. An affiliation was suggested that would relieve the museum of its unwieldy operating costs while providing the university with an important resource for its arts and humanities departments.

On December 16 of last year, Florida International University announced the celebration of its 25th anniversary with the acquisition of The Wolfsonian, which Wolfson donated lock, stock and barrel, including the library as well as the collections. At an estimated value of $75 million, the gift was the largest ever to a Florida state university and the fifth largest to a public university nationwide. With a $2 million annual allocation from the State of Florida, the organization's future is now secure.

The powers at FIU know a good thing when they see it, and have wisely not made any changes to the museum's impressive facilities. A visit to its galleries is as intellectually stimulating as it is visually rewarding - indeed, Wolfson has been quoted as saying, "This is not an art museum. It is a museum of ideas."

The current exhibitions, "Pioneers of Modern Graphic Design," and "Public Works," both organized by curator Marianne Lamonaca, use the museum's own comprehensive holdings to examine particular types of design as expressions of political concepts.

"Pioneers of Modern Graphic Design" includes a wide range of exhibits illustrating the development of graphic design from the latter Nineteenth through the mid-Twentieth Century. With the advent of technology that brought color and sophistication to printed materials, mass-produced graphics evolved from "visual litter" into important documents of popular culture. The exhibit includes ephemera, such as postcards and stationery, as well as posters, books and magazine illustrations. It shows the role played by graphic design in such avant-garde movements as the Futurists in Italy, the Constructivists in Russia and the Bauhaus in Germany. These works promoted the aesthetics of Modernism to an audience well beyond the ivory-tower walls of the groups that conceived it.

"Public Works," presented in collaboration with The Drawing Center of New York City, examines the history and the significance of public art in the United States. It draws on the museum's holdings of Works Progress Administration/Federal Art Project materials, which are among the most extensive in the country, and shows more than 60 works reflecting the most important themes of these New Deal projects.

They include studies for some of the extraordinary murals commissioned for federal and state buildings during the Depression, both as employment for struggling artists and as a way to enhance everyday life with art that was accessible to all.

Many such pieces were subsequently painted over, or destroyed along with the sites that housed them. They are now recognized not only as important realist works in themselves, but also as historic documents of our society. Counterpointing the period works is a contemporary mural in realist style by artist Nicole Eisenman, created as part of an ongoing collaborative program in public art sponsored with the Miami Arts Project and The Drawing Center.

In May, the museum will open "Drawing the Future: Design Drawings for the 1939 World's Fair," an exhibition based on a touring show from the Museum of the City of New York, supplementing the illustrations with objects from The Wolfsonian's own extensive collection of World's Fair materials and objects. And an exhibition on the British Arts and Crafts Movement is on the agenda for Fall.

In addition to the changing exhibitions, The Wolfsonian maintains an ongoing exhibit of some 300 objects from its permanent collection. Entitled "Art and Design in the Machine Age," it reflects the themes of design reform, propaganda, advertising, labor, transportation and the world's fairs, providing a tantalizing taste of the museum's considerable treasures.

Free of financial pressures, The Wolfsonian is also pursuing its activities on several other fronts. It continues to produce The Journal of Decorative and Propaganda Arts, the widely-praised annual (since 1986) publication of The Wolfson Foundation of Decorative and Propaganda Arts. The brand-new issue, just published, focuses appropriately on the state of Florida, as a case-study in the art of self-promotion, and was guest-edited by architectural critic Beth Dunlop. Issues of the journal are $25 each, plus $5 shipping and handling, and may be ordered from The Wolfsonian, 1001 Washington Avenue, Miami Beach, Fla. 33139 by mail, or fax 305/531-2133.

A fellowship program initiated in 1993 awards six scholars from the United States and abroad expense-paid grants for study at the museum on subjects related to the institution's period of specialization. A comprehensive program of lectures, performances, films and symposia accompany and complement the exhibitions, and innovative school programs and family activities are helping make the institution a more important part of the surrounding community.

According to Cathy Leff, The Wolfsonian will expand next year onto the Internet, and expects to become a broad-based cultural resource with visibility well beyond its city, state and national borders. Meanwhile, behind the scenes, Mickey Wolfson, named to Florida International University's board of trustees, continues eagerly seeking more treasures to add to the museum's already rich collections.

Altogether, a visit to The Wolfsonian is well worth a detour from the Florida sunshine or the attractions of South Beach. For those who have previously disdained Miami, it's one reason to reconsider. When other museums are mounting extravagant displays to compete with amusement parks, the idea of one that seeks to challenge the mind while pleasing the senses is very appealing, and increasingly rare.