Today we are exploring the Mennello Museum of American Art. It’s a small museum, which seems to be a theme in Orlando. Coming from New York City, where museums tend to be more like labyrinths where you need days to be able to see everything they hold, you can definitely spend one day in a Orlando museum and get to everything. It’s the pros and the cons of living in….well Florida basically, which is much more theme park and water park based than anything else. In my opinion. Native Floridians will fight me on this, but Florida isn’t totally urban like back home in NYC or even Pennsylvania, or Boston…I can’t think of anywhere else. But it’s a different type of urban, and outsiders will understand me on this. The location is actually ideal as it is part of the Loch Haven Cultural Park. It’s also part of the Orlando Urban Trail – a walking and bike trail you can go on, and you can walk across a bridge onto the Lake Formosa Neighborhood as you walk past the sculpture garden that anyone can walk through freely. Lake Formosa is just a very pretty, very old neighborhood with brick roads and such. Even the sign that says Lake Formosa Neighborhood is very picturesque with Spanish moss hanging around it. And there’s tons of places for you to go eat afterwards.

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The Mennello is fairly recent as it was founded in 1998. The museum is actually rooted in showcasing Earl Cunningham artwork that the Mennello family was very fond of. So just like I mentioned in the first episode, this museum has this one person that really believed in Cunningham’s artwork and said we need to find as many as I can and I’m going to showcase it in my home. And then from there it grew into having a formal gallery for the pieces which turned into expanding it into what it is today, the Museum of American Art. There is a full room dedicated to his work. I’m not crazy about his paintings, but I think I’m generally picky on my paintings. He paints a lot of landscapes and water-based scenes and boats. The man was from Maine and lived in a fisherman’s shack for a while, so he knew a thing or two about boats and such. The Mennello is a public museum – so it’s a museum that is manned by City government employees. It still has all of the funding issues all other museums go through, but they have a good local government backing so to say. As you walk in and go past the security guard room, the permanent exhibition is located to your left-hand side. You get to see a statue of Mrs. Mennello, which personally I think they could have done a better job of.

I have a little bone to pick with Museum Attendants – everywhere. Please take a minute to explain to your visitor the flow of the exhibit. Ensure that the guest knows where they need to start so that they can keep up throughout the whole exhibit, and they avoid feeling out of place. It’s happened to me several times in multiple museums across the years. So, from one museum attendant to another, please explain the setup of the exhibit. Moving on! This was an incredibly exciting exhibit for me. It is photography based which I absolutely adore! I have a thing for photography (I have several of the cameras and have to continually stop myself from purchasing more).

Now going back to the exhibit…Everyone pay your entrance ticket and turn to your right-hand side and start reading from the wall ON your right side. There is an app that you MUST download because this will bring the exhibit to life for you – literally!! They have a QR code posted that makes it super simple to download the app. The reason for this? There are select photos that you can use the app with that will…get a load of THIS…make the photos move and talk!!

*Photo of photoprint by Edward Sherrif Curtis on display at the Mennello Museum of American Art in Orlando, FL.

I had just gone through one portion of the exhibit when I kept looking at one photo by WIlson and thinking, “Man! If only it could talk or move.” And then I found out about the app, got super excited, downloaded it, and literally ran back to where I started so I could find the pictures that I could use the app with. I know the attendant had a chuckle. I literally said “oh this is exciting” – it’s a very small exhibit space and my voice carries regardless of where I am. We are talking about presentation, and colors are important here. There’s a color used for WIlson photos and another color for Curtis which is great, because eventually you just cognitively pick up on the fact that this photo is by so and so, you keep up with the different perspectives. Remember, of the two photographers WIlson is part of the Navajo nation. The exhibition is called “In Conversation” and the color scheme and altering photographer work placement really drives this point across. It’s a photographic conversation between two perspectives – but with the inclusion of the app, it actually amplifies it.

Which leads me to my final tidbit for today. If you are in Orlando, Florida Nomadic Photo Ark is in town! They are this fabulous duo that created a mobile dark room, and they are going everywhere taking photo portraits and listening to people’s stories. Check them out! They are only here until about mid-January 2023, and they are awesome. I got to walk into their mobile darkroom and got all sorts of excited because I’ve always wanted to create my own darkroom after taking an elective class in conjunction with NYU back in high school. Old school camera, and I mean the one that they used to have to use the black curtain over themselves and it looks like an accordion – which by the way, you can totally try one of those out at the Mennello for the exhibit so bring a friend!

Thank you for your patience while I was ill. I got to work on this episode as soon as I was back on my feet. I can’t wait to see you guys’ next month!