Sketching in galleries and museums?! The nerve!

[Occhidiangela]

This first link is about the Royal Ontario Museum and the British Museum.

http://artblog.net/index.php?name=2004-0...44-drawing

  The second is about an art gallery in Baltimore.

http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/news/010705_...tcher.html

  (Talk about courage, that museum guard\amateur copyright lawyer deserves a medal for confronting that vicious 6 year old.)
  I was just visiting the Art Gallery of Ontario today, to catch a special exhibit on a painter named Modigliani.  I'm a graphic artist, so obviously I brought my sketchbook.  When I was about to start sketching one piece I liked, a guard came up and told me I could not sketch in this area, but there are other areas where I could.  I asked is this policy new, he replied it has always been like this.  Sounds like BS to me.

  However at that point I was still too bewildered to fully comprehend what he was talking about, so I moved to the area where I thought he pointed at.  So there I was attempting to sketch a second time, when a second guard told me there's no sketching -period- in this special exhibit.

  So now I'm even more bewildered, and I'm starting to look for signs of "Candid Camera".  Or maybe Aston Kutcher was taping a special edition of 'Punk'd : Gallery style!"  I couldn't spot a celebrity nearby though, so maybe they're just rehearsing their prank on me.

  I browsed what I could, and went to ask some questions from the lady at the information desk.  I asked them is this 'no sketching' policy new, since I was here before for another special exhibit before and no one stopped me from sketching.  The lady replied well sketching with a pencil is ok, pens are prohibited in case of spills.  I can understand that concern, though I don't quite agree with it.  I was using a pretty spill resistant ballpoint pen anyway.   

  Then she added it's also the last week for this exhibit, maybe that's why they've stopped me.  The implication being there was more people visiting, and I was impeding traffic.  Now I definitely smell some BS.  Last time I was at another special exhibit, it was the last -day- of showing.  And there was a hell of a lot more people then, but I was able to sketch away.  If anything I'm guessing because of a heavy snowfall today, there was less people visiting.  So spotting someone attempting to sketch a piece might be easier.

  The lady then said something that's pretty funny in more than one level, " It's best to check with that head guard over there, since we at Information are usually the last one to be told about these things."

  I checked with the head guard, and yes she confirmed in that special exhibit, there is no sketching of the pieces allowed at all.  Now the funnier thing is, you can write notes, you can sketch the people or furniture around the pieces, you can stare for a long time at a piece, you can probably take a nap in the special exhibit.  But as soon as you sketch a piece, you are now impeding traffic.  (*edited rant addition:  Impeding traffic?  If they're serious about it, why not put up a sign 'No wheelchairs, crutches, old or slow walkers, and narcileptics allowed at this point'.)

  I suspect what some of these people's ideal version of a trip to the gallery is this:  Pay the ticket price, go in, enjoy the pieces for however long you want within reasons, (we highly recommend 15 seconds) move to the next line, exit to the convenient gift shoppe where you can buy a DVD of the exhibit, T-shirts, coffee mugs, and assorted officially endorsed glo-sticks.

  Now to end my ranting.  Some people might say who cares, these things are not life and death, paintings schmaintings, if getting hassled at a howty towty gallery is your biggest problem then you have no problem at all.

  What worries me and pisses me off is the larger implication.  Should I expect to be lectured on intellectual property at a concert if I'm whistling Bethovens 5th symphony during intermission?  Maybe next time I go to a library, I should also expect a sign saying 'Please do NOT read or TAKE NOTES in the library, that's what bookstores are for." 

  Most of all it amazes me that this might be the same people who laments the general public are 'neglecting' museums and galleries and always cries out for a public handout, arguing that museums and galleries are an important part of culture and history.

  A picture might be worth a thousand words, now if only there's a way to charge people a dollar a word for looking at it.
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This appears to be a classic case of "policies" that folks don't think through, and the problem the worker bees have of exercising their "powers" and feeling that they are doing something right.

It's also a damned shame.

Occhi