Cover art: Pink Bunny 2023 by Humberto Cruz @iscreamcolour
the intersection and relationship between art museums and the retail stores within them
FEATURES
6 The Art Museum Store
An experienced group of buying experts shares the passion behind creating the perfect merchandise assortment for the art museum store.
12 Off The Walls
When the work of an artist gets translated into merchandise, a collaboration begins. Product development expert Jaime Lynn talks about that relationship.
17 Q/A
Where there's a Will...
Will Sullivan reflects on his nearly 30 years at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and his new role at the Children’s Museum of Manhattan.
24 S|L: ARTIST SPOTLIGHT
Christina Ramberg
Artist Christina Ramberg is the subject of a new touring exhibition.
26 Designing with Frank
How would Frank Lloyd Wright design a museum gift shop? Store designer Adam Nelson had to answer that question in one of his most challenging projects.
36 Be Kind to your Mind
His is a name you will know soon enough. Artist, Humberto Cruz shares his challenging journey from Instagram star to soughtafter artist.
ADDITIONAL
33 1ST PERSON
Discovering Self-Care in Art
Wendy Brown shares the fateful way she found her Smithsonian Museum store career and the art piece that brought her comfort.
22 1ST PERSON
Debrief Through the Gift Shop
Store director and buyer Kristin Rae reveals the unexpected role her store team plays as guests process their Guggenheim experience.
STAFF
Editor-in-Chief
Michael McCrory
Creative Director Bart Herrman
MUSE editorial team
Jane Casanta Staff Writer
Jessica Van Dyke Staff Writer
Rodney Takashima Staff Writer
CONTRIBUTORS
Adam Nelson Experiential Retail Design
Corey Folster Visual Merchandising, Photography
Jacob Lopez Visual Merchandising, Photography
Hali Mangano Books & Publications Buyer, Writer
Kristin Rae General Manager, Guggenheim Museum Store, Writer
Wendy Brown Store Director, Smithsonian American Art Museum and National Portrait Gallery, Writer
Hello, and welcome!
My first visit to an art museum was on a 4th-grade school field trip. I don’t recall what we saw or the exact reason for the visit. I do remember strolling through one of the galleries pretending to be an art expert. An art snob would be more accurate; striking an affected pose in front of a piece, hands clasped behind my back studiously adjusting invisible glasses on my nose. I would gaze distantly at the canvas before commenting in a faux-British accent, “Truly, one of his best works.” In my defense, I was responding to what many people feel when they enter an art museum; that they somehow aren’t smart enough or sophisticated enough to appreciate the art they’re seeing.
I recall a very similar experience years later wandering into the Bergdorf Goodman store on Fifth Avenue in New York City. The high-end apparel, handbags, and jewelry displayed in pools of amber light were like unattainable trophies. This time, I involuntarily clasped my hands behind my back and began looking for the nearest exit. This store felt like it wasn’t for me.
Fortunately, things have changed significantly in both the art museum world and the retail industry. Both have come a long way in making visitors feel more welcome, balancing the exclusivity and prestige of their brands with meaningful strategies aimed at reaching more guests and appealing to a more diverse group of visitors. Nowhere is the balancing act between the guest-centric environment of retail and the indelible brand reputation of the art museum more profoundly displayed than within the museum gift shop.
That is what MUSE art+retail magazine is all about; the intersection and relationship between art museums and the retail stores within them.
In this issue, MUSE spoke to merchandise buyers about their purchasing philosophy for art museum stores. We spoke to Will Sullivan, whose nearly 30-year tenure at the Metropolitan Museum of Art taught him what makes a museum gift shop connect to visitors. We also met the extraordinary artist, Humberto Cruz, who shared with us how social media provided him the platform to share his work and the opportunity to transform that work into a product you might find at Bergdorf Goodman… or a museum store.
Finally, throughout this issue, we ponder the power of the ‘tangible memory’ - that special item a guest will purchase to remind them of the experience they had at the museum and the connection they made with a special work of art.
Art is always a way to start a conversation. With MUSE, we hope to start one with you.
MUSE Art+Retail Magazine
inspiration & interpretation
theART MUSEUM STORE
by rodney takashima
In late January, at a gathering of some of the most creative museum store buyers in the country, I was granted access to an invite-only trade show at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in La Jolla, just a few miles north of San Diego. In attendance were buyers and product developers who work with institutions like the Guggenheim and the National Gallery of Art as well as The Henry Ford Museum of Innovation, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park, and the forthcoming Obama Presidential Center.
I was there to meet Ben Blakley, who has an extensive background in purchasing products for a wide range of cultural attractions. He oversees a team of buyers and product developers to create bespoke merchandise assortments for world renowned cultural attractions and art museums across the country.
His team’s focus is on using the retail store as a vehicle for communicating the mission and brand of each of the institutions with whom he works.
The mood in the room was energetic and celebratory, but admittedly, a little chaotic as many of these purchasing experts had just received shipments of new products for the Spring and Summer seasons. These items were making their debut here before being sent directly to museum stores across the country- just in time for peak season. I watched as several buyers unboxed and inspected new products- ceramics, jewelry, apparel, scarves, collectibles, and hand-painted ornamentsbefore thoughtfully displaying them at each of their feature tables. One wondered if the paint had ample time to dry before this official presentation.
As Ben and I made our rounds, I got to speak to many of the buyers about their philosophy around purchasing merchandise for the discerning guests who frequent the museum stores that they represent.
A common theme that emerged almost immediately was how much research each of them did before presenting a new product assortment to museum curators and leadership team members for approval. “One of the most valuable things that art museum buyers learn is the importance of really understanding the true meaning of the art and what the artist is trying to represent,” said Ben. “And then taking that concept and presenting it on an item that the public can take home. Sometimes that's a reprint of a painting, sometimes that's recreating it into a completely different product type. That’s when it gets fun.”
Most of the buyers I spoke to also seemed unified in their thoughts around the important function the museum gift shop plays in elevating the brand of the institution itself. Sometimes people are just in love with the actual brand and so they want to represent it. That can mean simply putting the museum’s logo and brand colors on an apparel or accessory piece, but the museum gift shop also functions as an extension of the art that is on display at the museum. It was suddenly clear to me that art museum store buyers aren't always creating new things; they're often looking at what the curators and educators are doing in the exhibit spaces and then extending those experiences into the store.
When looking at the new products on display at the trade show, it seemed as though the way in which art translated into merchandise fell into three distinct categories: Literal reproductions, thoughtful interpretations, and non-literal inspiration.
At many of these art museum stores, guests can purchase a reproduction of a work of
art, like Vincent van Gogh’s Self-Portrait, and have it delivered on gallery-quality canvas with precise color matching. “Many guests want to have replicas of the piece, anything from a postcard or a matted print to a full canvas or framed artwork,” said Ben, “and then usually we expand that application to other items, things like pens, pencils, sketchbooks, something to inspire creativity within the guest based on the exhibit they just saw. These are all literal representations of the specific pieces on view.”
But then comes the innovative and custom work when aspects of a piece are incorporated into merchandise like a quilt based on elements of the work of Alex Katz that was featured at the Guggenheim Museum Store for the Alex Katz: Gathering exhibition. Here, elements of the featured work from the exhibition are translated into an entirely different application. Liberties are taken with the piece while remaining true to the artist’s intent.
Then I saw an example of the third, nonliteral inspired product type. I saw a large cocktail shaker and an accompanying ice bucket utilizing an elegant circular pattern. The design of these items was not directly inspired by the circular architecture of the
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Guggenheim Museum. This was not a photo, nor a rendering of the structure. Rather, it was a set that gave a similar vibe and feel. All three interpretive styles are valid and are intended to appeal to different guests while still maintaining the brand identity of the institution itself.
“I think the gift shop can often be the approachable space within an art museum,” mentioned Ben. “Many of these museums are works of art themselves. You walk up the steps and into these marble buildings and it feels very formal. And then suddenly you're looking at this famous artwork. Maybe you understand it; often you don't, and that's valid. So, by the time you get into the store, we want it to be very engaging. Most of the museums in the nation are designed specifically for the community, to be an open door for the community. But you don't always feel that comfort level.”
That was another interesting theme that I learned from these buyers. In order to present a store that is accessible to the community, buyers must cater to a wide range of consumer budgets. And there is an ongoing effort to ensure each store has a wide range of price points available.
Vincent van Gogh, Self-Portrait, 1889
Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington*
Manhattan Cocktail Shaker designed by Georg Jensen, courtesy Guggenheim Museum Store
“We get a lot of school groups,” said Ben, “Some of those kids have just a few dollars, so having something they can take home is important.”
“ I've heard stories where kids have literally bought one pencil on a school group trip. They've had it for years and years and then they end up in the art industry decades later. It's not necessarily about the price point or how cool the item is, it’s the meaning behind it. ”
I got to spend some time with a buyer named Hali Mangano who specializes in books and publications which remains one of the cornerstones of any art museum store assortment. She explained to me how art museums each have different areas of focus and experts in that field on their team. “Oftentimes, when you look at a world-class museum, they have the largest collection of something. Sometimes the museum curators are the preeminent experts on an artist’s work or a specific style or period. They've studied that topic for years, maybe their entire career, to produce a publication or an exhibit catalog. With the expertise poured into these publications, it's so important that they are a key part of the collection. People look to museums to be the experts”.
I was learning that creating the perfect product assortment for an art museum store is a seemingly endless process of iterating and then adjusting. It’s a fine balance between many elements. It’s clear the most important piece of it is understanding who the guests are in the museum itself. And then making sure that the merchandise that has been curated for the store is a reflection of the exhibition
content as well as the mission and focus of the institution.
I began to wonder if the leadership teams of some of these iconic institutions fully appreciate the role of the gift shop in maintaining, and ideally elevating, the identity of their institution in the eyes of the public.
“I think that can vary greatly,” Ben told me, “Sometimes the retail store is seen as an amenity: It's nice to have and is a required, expected element of the guest’s journey. Other museum leaders believe that not only does the store need to provide a meaningful revenue stream for the museum, but that the store and the product are an extension of the institution and, if it's not being done well, can negatively affect the brand. So, we work to make sure that the value is there while ensuring the product itself is of a high enough quality to represent the brand appropriately.”
It seemed hard to believe, with the research and creativity poured into the items I had seen at the trade show, that guests wouldn't find themselves having a meaningful connection to the merchandise. Especially after a once-in-a-lifetime visit to see an exhibit or an annual pilgrimage to see a favorite piece. What I truly appreciated after meeting so many buyers was how committed they are to these institutions. They are passionate about art, artists, and the iconic institutions that play such an important role in telling the story of the human experience.
*Photo Credit: Art Resource, NY Artist: Gogh, Vincent van (1853-1890) Description: Self-Portrait. 1889. Oil on canvas, 57.79 × 44.5 cm (22 3/4 × 17 1/2 in.). Collection of Mr. and Mrs. John Hay Whitney (1998.74.5). Location: National Gallery of Art/Washington D.C./U.S.A.
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I am running late for our meeting. Jaime texted me that she had grabbed us a table on the patio at Gertrude’s, one of her favorite restaurants in Phoenix, where she lives. I’m a little thrown off because I hadn’t expected to be visiting an iconic local attraction this afternoon. Still, here I am at the Desert Botanical Garden, soaking in Arizona’s beautiful, “it’s-alwayslike-this” weather. 78 degrees and sunny; you’ve gotta be kidding me. And there is Jaime Lynn, under one of the red umbrellas that dot Gertrude’s Restaurant patio, sipping what I later learn is a ‘Lauro Sparkling Cactus Water.’
the art you live with
Jaime grew up in San Diego and spent a good amount of her early career in the surf and skate, action sports industry. She worked with brands such as Quicksilver and Volcom, and now spends a lot of her time in places like this- botanic gardens and art museums across the country.
“Is there any similarity between working with big fashion brands versus art museums?” I ask her.
“Definitely” she says, “I do feel like there’s a similarity in how they both want to be the best and the most innovative. Both areas are always pushing to be different and cutting edge.”
For the last few years, Jaime has been working one-on-one with artists to create unique lines of merchandise for various types of gift shops in cultural attractions across the country. Her passion these days is amplifying local, diverse artists’ voices by incorporating their work on the custom products featured in locations like the National Gallery of Art, the Renwick Gallery, the National Portrait Gallery, and the Smithsonian American Art Museum. “COVID really changed the landscape,” she says, “More artists are doing freelance work, which is wonderful. I usually will reach out to them and just tell them what I do, and who I work with. I mean, of course, I always want to tell them how great I think their work is and how I think it will fit into our assortments.”
Jaime has the challenging and rewarding role of building collaborative relationships with artists of many diverse backgrounds and skill sets, some of whom already have A-list clients like Chanel and Ugg, some whose work is very local and specific to their community, and others who are
launching exhibits at world-renowned galleries. “But it always starts with our museum partners,” explains Jaime, “that’s who they are designing for. So, I like them to have a really good understanding of the museums, the collections, and the missions.”
“Are any of the artists you work with resistant to having their work put on product?” I ask. “Any hesitancy about their work being featured on, say a mug or a tee shirt?”
“You know what?” Jaime replies matter-of-factly, “I haven’t run into that, yet.
“ There’s nothing like connecting with an artist and saying you will potentially get to work with the Guggenheim or the American Museum of Natural History! That is pretty exciting to most freelance artists. ”
“I try to maintain a good working relationship with artists, and I think I’ve set it up that way strategically. I try not to overdirect them. Instead, I generally say, Hey, give us your vision, and your thoughts, and we’ll go from there.”
“These museum partnerships,” I say, “they must have feedback when they see the work; they must want changes and revisions from time to time.”
Jaime tells me that she sets up the expectation with each artist at the very beginning that part of the process will be feedback and critiques from people at each institution. To get them started on the right path, she provides the artists with the unique brand guidelines for the specific institution for whom they are designing. “We always
Chart showing some of the local vendors, craftspeople, and artists on Jaime's team, courtesy Jaime Lynn
direct them to look at the museum’s website. It’s helpful when an artist is local because then we can provide access to visit the museum in person. That makes a huge difference. They get to look around the museum, experience the exhibits, and even visit the gift shop to see what we have already done and where they can be different. It’s interesting when artists can do that because the partners can see there is a lot of thought put into the work and there doesn’t tend to be a lot of edits.”
“What happens,” I ask, “when the artist you’re working with is the subject of an exhibition?”
“It’s a little different,” says Jaime. “When artists are featured in an art museum,
typically what we’re doing is we are taking their art and making it applicable to products. So, it’s very important that the products that we’re picking tell the same story they were telling with their art. We make sure that we are looking at the art and making sure that it is represented the way the artist intended.”
Jaime notes that the relationships she forges with the artists, or their representatives, are all very unique and that there is a level of trust that has to be built in a relatively short period of time. “They are essentially giving us something very important to them and trusting us to take it to a different place when we’re putting it on product.”
Jaime explains the careful approval process that she goes through with the artist or their representatives. “We’re getting approvals before the show opens and, especially on a lot of the exhibition art, we will share samples with them beforehand. My team and I try to have all the parameters in place and do our due diligence to make sure that there’s a level of quality and taste and detail in what we want to show. We’re taking all those necessary steps.”
As Jaime is talking, I notice a couple sitting at the table just over her shoulder. The gentleman has a Desert Botanical Garden baseball cap on and the woman has a Botanical Garden Tote bag hung over the back of her chair. Both items look well-worn to me. They may very well have been purchased from the gift shop here, but definitely not today and, I would venture to guess, maybe years ago. It got me thinking about how transforming artwork into tangible, take-home objects is kind of an art in and of itself.
Anyone who is a fan of a particular artist or a specific work of art would have an emotional connection to seeing that piece in person. Maybe it’s presented on a canvas, in a gold frame, hanging on a wall, in the exhibit hall of a beautiful gallery, in the middle of New York City, but in the end, they’re not taking that piece home with them. They’re likely taking home that tote bag, or a mug, or a book. Doesn’t that object become an artifact of their experience? And won’t that object bring back those memories of being in the gallery?
“The work in art museums is so wonderful to look at,” agrees Jaime, when I explain to her where my mind just wandered to, “and
it makes you feel something. But, when you’re back at home drinking your coffee… out of your mug, it’s that stuff that makes you feel a little bit of that again. I want to extend that experience from the museum into the store and I want to give guests something that they can take home that represents what they’ve experienced while they were there.”
Tote bag and hat from Desert Botanical Garden, courtesy Jaime Lynn
Q A
where there’s a will…
Will Sullivan has spent more than three decades working with museums. He is currently the Director of Operations at the Children's Museum of Manhattan, but he also spends his time consulting and giving guest experience insights to museum leadership through his company Aspiring Better Human. He was highly influential in his career at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, helping guide that world-renowned institution through a period of significant growth and change. He served as the Met’s General Manager of Retail Operations before becoming General Manager of Visitor Experience and finally spending the final years of his tenure as Head of Visitor Experience. Will sat down with MUSE Magazine to talk about the number-one, most vital function of a museum gift shop and the unexpected downside of hiring art students for guest-facing jobs.
MUSE: Congrats on the new role. Tell me what you’re up to these days!
Will: Thank you. Sure, I am currently the Director of Operations at the Children's Museum of Manhattan. I oversee the entire visitor experience, HR, and really everything that puts the show together here at CMOM. We just celebrated our 50th anniversary last fall! So here I am, on 83rd Street and I'm working full-time in a museum again!
M: Your last museum job was a pretty significant one.
W: Yes. For nearly 30 years, I worked at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and for 25 of those 30 years, I was in the retail merchandise division, running the stores within the museum, plus the airport stores, a store at Rockefeller Center, and a store at Macy's. I feel like this museum world- this museum retailing world made me who I am today.
Will Sullivan, Director of Operations at the Children's Museum of Manhattan, from a recent visit to the Museum of Modern Art in New York
M: But you did start in a more traditional department store retail environment, right?
W: Exactly. My first grown-up job was at B. Altman and Co on 34th and 5th, then I'd gone to Macy's, I'd been at Lord & Taylor, I had been at Charles Jordan, which was part of Henri Bendel. When I look back, I think just how lucky I was to be part of all these New York City icons and brands at these different periods.
M: When you began working in- and later running the retail stores within the Met, were there principles of that traditional background that you found useful?
W: Not so much. I watched over the years as many leaders, buyers, and individuals came into the business believing that they have the secret sauce because they've been successful in retail elsewhere, but it just doesn’t always apply to museums because museums are, in my opinion, very, very different. It isn't about trends. You must ask the question: what's the reason to buy in a museum store?
M: What is that reason? Is there one key function that an art museum store must fulfill to be successful?
W: We are in the memory business. That is what I’ve found in museum stores and even in my personal travels. When you go to the museum store, what is it that you want to take away? How do you bring that experience home? How do you purchase something to share it? It's about a memory. That’s a very different mindset from traditional retail. For me, that's what it's always been about. And that's where I think museum stores do the best.
M: What is the best way to work with a museum buying team?
W: I came to realize early on that sometimes what a buyer thinks will sell is a very different perspective than being on the floor and seeing what sells. That’s why I love
taking that data and working with buying teams. And I think my relationship with the buying teams became pretty strong because I was sharing the data, I could speak their language in terms of the numbers.
M: What about the museum leadership? What data do you think is most important to provide to them?
W: I think, from being inside the museum, what mattered most was how many people saw an exhibition. How many people came through the door and did our publication sales rise to the top? Many leaders want to hear about the finer goods that were sold. They wanted to know about the scholarly items or the reproduction pieces. And don’t get me wrong, we sold expensive things on occasion when it was the right thing, but it was usually related to an exhibition or a gallery opening, something like that.
M: Do these same stakeholders see the store as a way to elevate a museum’s brand?
W: You've got different perspectives and different approaches. You have the curatorial, education, and development teams; they're representing an institution and do not usually like the term “brand.” They're not driven by the KPIs, they're not driven by efficiencies through systems because they're not involved in the day-to-day operation. And you can respect that. They're about education, research, and writing books. They're very much in a different headspace. On the other side you’ve got all the people who run the physical building and work directly with guests, we speak the same language and have the same approach to business.
M: Did you find that there is a difference between what museum teams want to see in their stores versus what visitors purchase?
W: You sometimes feel like you’re either going to please your board and museum
MET Facade courtesy Charles Parker
MET Great Hall courtesy Will Sullivan
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: MET Stairwell courtesy Franklin Naula
”
The entrance into the Great Hall is my favorite spot in the Met. I would stand there and watch thousands of people going through. And I would think, I am just so lucky to be part of something so rare because there are many places where you get the world coming through, not even speaking the same language, but there's an energy there that just would fill me. I can't describe it other than that it just grounded me in purpose.
Will Sullivan
curators or you're going to please the customer and make money. The goal is to strike that balance. I learned that you can't make a store to represent any one thing when you're trying to do all of it.
M: Talk about your team. How do you… for lack of a better word, curate a dedicated team for the gift shops?
W: You need to understand people and understand their energy. For example, you and I could have really good energy together, but maybe the role I’m interviewing you for reports to a person where your energy wouldn't mix well. I learned you must hire someone who is a “people person” first. I realized for myself, that they don't need to have an art history background. They don't need to be an art major or understand the textile world. If you find people who like people and want to help, that’s the secret to success. Find that energy, find someone with curiosity, and teach them all the other stuff.
M: I’m surprised by your comment about not hiring people with an art degree or an art background. I feel like that’s the perfect person to have working in an art museum.
W: I can share with you, one of my biggest learnings was when I'd realized in the recruiting of the cashiers to sell tickets, we kept hiring people who studied art history, or they had an art background, or they wanted to be curators or researchers. They invariably weren’t great with people. They did not want to be bothered with questions like, where's the bathroom? On the other hand, get me somebody who's worked in retail. Get me someone who's worked in a restaurant. Get me someone who's been a barista and they love talking to people. You could teach them. You can bring them on tours of the gallery or the exhibition. You could teach them about art. You can't teach someone who doesn't like people to like people. It’s impossible.
M: When it comes to buying merchandise for a museum store, what makes the perfect assortment?
W: So, I think the first thing you'd have to do is look at what the most popular galleries are. Think about your museum; what is special about what’s here? What pulls people into this building? And that will be different for every location. What do you think of when you think of the MoMA (Museum of Modern Art)? What pulls people into that location? You think of a zoo or a natural history museum and all those kids who want to see the dinosaurs. And then, what you start thinking about is what visitors want to walk away with. And the assortment is built by listening to and understanding the visitor's perspective, not just from a buying plan. It’s got to have a philosophy. And I think the philosophy has to be: OK, what are we known for, what do we want and what kind of memory are we sharing?
M: When it comes to your experience running retail in an art museum store, is there something you've learned that is true for most- if not all of them?
W: Oh wow. I'm gravitating towards the flow of the day. I now know for sure that the majority of your sales are going to happen at the end of the day, not the beginning of the day. How do you create that space? I know for sure this is common human behavior: people don't want to leave something they've enjoyed. Now, figuring out how to extend the store hours can take a monumental effort, but we saw that sometimes that last hour of the day could have been 20% of the day’s revenue.
M: You ended up moving into Visitor Experience. First as General Manager and then as the head of the department. Did your retail expertise help inform your approach to the overall guest experience?
W: Well, I went in thinking, “Of course I know all of this. I've been here, I know the
customer, right? I've been working with them for 25 years.” But I realized I got it all wrong. The “hello” is completely different from the “goodbye.” I’d spent all my time in the “goodbye” encountering visitors who'd already been through the galleries and wanted to buy something. At the front door, visitors were all about: How does this work? Where do I go? I have an hour; can I see everything in the museum? Where does it start? Which is the way?
M: How did you teach yourself to be an expert in the “hello” part of the visitor experience?
W: It took about a month. As part of my learning, I sold tickets in an admissions booth. I wanted to understand what the team went through. I knew what it was like to sell merchandise, I did not know what it was like to sell a ticket. You could see time and time again people were coming into the Met, and they were overwhelmed by it. And unfortunately, I have seen that to be true in many museums. The lesson I learned was that visitors are different versions of themselves in various stages of their journey. If you are in an unfamiliar location, you're tense, and you get more relaxed as you go. I get the relaxed version of you in the store, which goes back to why I don't close the museum store so early.
M: If I asked you to take me to your favorite spot in the museum, where would we go?
W: I'd say to meet me at the front door.
M: Okay.
W: That’s it.
M: You mean the front door?!
W: The entrance into the Great Hall is my favorite spot in the Met. I would stand there and watch thousands of people going through. And I would think, I am just so lucky to be part of something so rare because there are many places where you
get the world coming through, not even speaking the same language, but there's an energy there that just would fill me. I can't describe it other than that it just grounded me in purpose.
M: When you left the Met, you started a leadership and consulting company called, Aspiring Better Human. How did that happen?
W: It took a year of experimenting, really. I created Aspiring Better Human, figuring there has got to be people like me out there who need to have conversations, and who want to know more about leadership. In my career, I have always hired aspiring actors, aspiring lawyers, and aspiring curators. And I thought, OK, I’m an aspiring better human and that's never going to end. I’ve been training teams and developing leaders in the museum realm for three decades, and now with Aspiring Better Human, I'm more enthusiastic about it today than I was before because there’s a need to help a new generation do this. It's not a cut-and-paste training program; it's based on what the client’s challenges are.
M: And that’s how you found yourself back in a museum full-time?
W: Yes, that's how I landed here at the Children’s Museum of Manhattan. I'm so honored to have this position because It’s an amazing organization with what they're doing in this space to help children and communities that are underserved. I feel like I'm part of something that's giving back and that's what I love about this. I just love what they stand for. I mean, I feel like I’m the luckiest guy in Manhattan.
Will Sullivan is Director of Operations at the Children's Museum of Manhattan.
To reserve tickets or learn more visit: https://cmom.org Visit https://aspiringbetterhuman.com to learn more about Will and his Aspiring Better Human leadership training and consulting.
1ST PER
There have always been unexpected comparisons drawn between people working in seemingly unrelated industries; often because of their clients and the relationships that form with people they are in service to. Hair stylists are often lovingly referred to as therapists by their loyal clients due to the trust and longevity of those relationships. Having worked for almost two decades in retail, I’ve often heard customer service representatives compared to a type of negotiator. Sure, you’re helping people decide to buy an item in exchange for money, but managing the expectations of a customer for that item can be challenging and takes a certain type of person to do the job well.
When I chose to move from managing a flagship housewares and furniture store to managing the Guggenheim Museum Store 10 years ago, I expected there to be a lot of differences. I wasn’t shocked by the contrasts in operations, the types of products sold, or the compact teams of people wearing many hats to keep everything running. What did surprise me was something I observed almost immediately. Museum visitors would explore the ramps and galleries, sip their coffee in the café, see some more art, and then finally stroll into the gift shop. Then what often happened next is something I’ve heard described by counselors as debriefing.
Debrief Through the Gift Shop
I watched as guests approached our sales associates, fully expecting them to ask what the mugs were made of or where the exhibition catalogs were located. The actual question would be something along the lines of: “What did I just see?” The sales associates would smile and proceed to talk through the works on view, artists, and exhibitions. They would help connect the dots, fill in the artists’ names and works, or just listen. Listen to guests unwrap their feelings about what they viewed. In the gift shop, feelings of joy, confusion, anger, indifference, curiosity, and excitement all came spilling out. If someone wanted to celebrate their experience at the museum, the associate would then point them in the right direction for products that connected them
Kristin Rae General Manager Guggenheim Museum Store
to a particular experience. Maybe the works on view weren’t the guest’s cup of tea, so the associate would find out what artists or architects they did love and go from there. The lesson I learned was that the museum experience doesn’t end when visitors exit the gallery. It continues right on as they walk through the store and process what they’ve seen. They debrief.
Our staff are not trained art history majors or studio artists. College degrees are not listed as requirements on our job postings. However, we do hire for a good fit. I learned this lesson early on and it formed the foundations of how I manage my museum store. It can feel overwhelming when someone who knows a heck of a lot more about an artist than you, wants to pick through the how and why certain works made it into a show and not others. The easiest and most fun conversations are when a visitor discovers a connection with a work and wants to buy every single reproduction, no matter how big or small. I explain to interviewees that they must love to talk to people and be problem solvers. Once hired, I hand them the collection books and schedule time for them to walk the exhibitions. Our team is eclectic and spirited, full of photographers, philosophy grads, retirees, actors, writers, and above all, listeners.
The type of conversations and connections that take place in the space have also shaped how I buy merchandise for the store. I consider part of my purchasing ethos to be an advocate for our visitors. Long before I started purchasing for the store, I would spend time walking the sales floor and jump in where needed. I lost count of how many times I’d hear customer requests for a souvenir from the smaller gallery exhibitions. I would witness the disappointment visitors would feel if we did not have a postcard or magnet to purchase. While we cannot always be
everything for everyone, I now make a point to advocate with our curators to have something, even if it’s small and inexpensive, for each exhibition. One postcard can turn everything around for someone!
One could say that museum retail has much in common with traditional retail. There is an overlap with vendors, visual displays, and fashion trends. Having sold products in both types of environments, I believe that each experience is meaningful to customers, yet they often just hit different notes. The beauty and uniqueness of the products we sell in museum stores are important to guests, but there is also the allure of supporting the museum with their purchase. Members often share how long they have been members of the museum and their favorite past exhibitions. Their new purchases continue their support of an institution that means something to them.
Museum stores are special, and art museums in particular move people in deep ways, eliciting feelings that echo through the entire building. The exhibitions change, new voices are amplified, and the learning and listening continue. I treasure the moments I get to witness or share in the conversations of visitors as they debrief in the gift shop.
Kristin Rae has worked at the Guggenheim Museum for ten years and the past five years with Event Network. Kristin has worked in retail management since 2007 in Chicago and New York. She is at home in the city and loves theatre, live performances, and visiting museums with her family.
Christina Ramberg
Christina Ramberg had to adjust to moving from place to place. Her father’s military career prevented the family from establishing deep roots in any one location. After living in Japan and Germany, they relocated again to Kansas, then Virginia. The family finally settled down north of Chicago in Highland Park, IL where Christina earned her bachelor’s degree in fine arts. She graduated in 1968 from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. That same year she exhibited her work for the first time in a show called False Image at the Hyde Park Art Center. She was frequently featured in many group shows and exhibitions; in 1972 alone, her work appeared in 5 different exhibitions.
When asked about the inspiration for her work, Ramberg once described watching her mother dress for an evening out and marveling at how the constricting nature of the clothing altered her mother’s figure. “I think that the paintings have a lot to do with this,” Ramberg commented, “with watching and realizing that a lot of these undergarments totally transform a woman’s body. … I thought it was fascinating … in some ways, I thought it was awful.”
The depiction of the female torso became a central subject of her paintings. These stylized works executed in a muted color pallet, often feature the female form shaped, bound, and constrained by lingerie. These paintings sought to challenge what was thought to be “an ideal female form.”
“One thing I’ve always been interested in about clothing,” said Ramberg, “is that it can talk a lot about the body. Whether about the outside or the inside, too.”
(1946 – 1995)
Later in her career, Ramberg began exploring textiles. She took her experience and understanding of the construction of fashion garments and imparted that aesthetic into the creation of elaborate quilts.
It has been nearly 30 years since a comprehensive exhibition of Christina Ramberg’s work has been shown, but the Art Institute of Chicago’s Christina Ramberg: A Retrospective which opened last Spring, aims to remedy that. Featuring works curated from both public and private collections and spanning Ramberg’s entire career, this Retrospective provides a unique window into the work of a largely overlooked artist.
Christina Ramberg: A Retrospective was presented at the Art Institute of Chicago from April 20 – August 11, 2024. It was curated by Thea Liberty Nichols, adjunct curator, and Mark Pascale, Janet and Craig Duchossois Curator, Prints and Drawings. The exhibition travels to the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, October 12–January 5, 2025, and Philadelphia Museum of Art, February 8–June 1, 2025.
PRECEDING PAGE:
Istrian River Lady 1974 Ramberg, Christina, Whitney Museum of American Art/New York, NY/USA*
ABOVE: Parallel Manipulation Ramberg, Christina (1946-1995) The Art Institute of Chicago/ Chicago/USA**
Sources: The Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston 2014: http://www.icaboston.org The Art Institute Chicago 2024: https://www.artic.edu Madison Museum of Contemporary Art 2024: https://www.mmoca.org https://www.artic.edu/exhibitions/9723/christina-ramberg-a-retrospective https://web.archive.org/web/20140323161122/http://www.icaboston.org/exhibitions/exhibit/Christina_Ramberg
Location: The Art Institute of Chicago/Chicago/USA
by Michael McCrory
Designing with FRANK
On a shelf behind Adam’s desk in his Park City office is an antique General Electric “Whiz” fan made of black and bronze metal. It looks like it weighs about as much as a cast iron pan. He swings it around effortlessly enough, showing me how he replaced the original cord with new fabric-wrapped wire, welded and polished the cracked casing, and gave it a fresh coat of paint. He tells me it now works like when it was brand new which would have been sometime between 1929-1934. He found this particular objet d’art many years ago in the attic of a library near his home that the city had planned to demolish. As a college thesis project, Adam proposed an innovative design plan to save the historic library while also updating it, so it better served the community’s modern needs. Yes, Adam has a curious interest in making old things work again.
Adam Nelson Vice President Experiential Retail Design Event Network
Adam Nelson is a retail store designer. He’s been part of the Event Network design team for more than 8 years and says he has created more than 100 unique store environments in the locations where Event Network is the retail provider. He also admits that he no longer keeps track of projects so that number is probably on the low side.
The purpose of our meeting is to talk about an iconic project that he took on last year. I started asking him questions about how the project came about. At first, I can see him searching his memory for the answers, but after a few minutes he’s relaying the story rapidly- the ups and downs- as if it happened last week.
Event Network had been the retail partner at the Guggenheim since November 2019 and the prospect of a comprehensive store remodel had been discussed from the very beginning. The COVID-19 Pandemic put the brakes on the project and incidentally put the brakes on Adam as well, being one of the first in his area to test positive for the virus. Eventually, Adam recovered and so did the project of creating the initial design proposal for the new Guggenheim Retail Store.
The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum opened on October 21, 1959. After 16 years and several hundred sketches, Frank Lloyd Wright delivered the plans for the building. It was considered by most experts to be a radical departure from traditional museum design, and it’s easy to understand why. The exterior was a coiled spiraling structure made from white concrete while the interior exhibition space consisted of a six-story spiral ramp encircling a central atrium lit by a glass and stainless-steel dome. A visitor looking to get some exercise can walk a quarter of a mile along the ramp from the ground floor to the dome. Even before construction was completed, Life Magazine had dubbed the structure, “New York’s Strangest Building.”
As a student of architecture and design, Adam studied Frank Lloyd Wright’s unique and innovative style. “The Guggenheim
is one of the most iconic pieces of architecture in the US,” he says. “Frank Lloyd Wright’s design was revolutionary in rethinking how people access spaces. There are a lot of elements in his original design that were unproven at that time. When this project came up, it was very intimidating.”
Working through a complex design process like this one was never going to be easy, Adam tells me, but an additional challenge was that the space was a New York-certified landmark. “About that…” Adam adds, laughing. “Half of the existing retail store was in a space designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and the other half was in an addition that was built in the 80’s. We discovered that when the building was officially designated as a New York City Landmark in 1990, the Frank Lloyd Wright part of the store was somehow not included in that designation while the newer addition was.”
“It became very clear,” says Adam stoically, “that the process for making changes to the space was going to be an extremely slow and difficult process and if we didn’t get it right, it would be an even harder and longer process for someone to fix later so we had to execute it perfectly.”
In his day, Frank Lloyd Wright was well known for his ability to connect the architecture of his buildings to the specific natural environment where they would be built, always keeping in mind the function they would serve. I suggested that Adam was sort of in the same line of work as Wright, connecting the function of a retail space to the form of an experiential attraction like a zoo, aquarium, museum, or iconic, historic site.
“When we talk about the diversity of our projects, one of the amazing things is how much we learn from adjacent business types,” Adam explains. “There might be something we’ve learned from our hotels or botanic garden locations that could apply to a different kind of store. Those things come into play when considering the functionality of an art museum store design.”
As Adam and his team began the design process, they made several site visits to the Guggenheim as well as reviewing original blueprints and sketches. Interestingly, Adam found that very little of the furniture Wright originally designed for the Guggenheim space had survived. So, much of the
design inspiration had to be taken from the few remaining pieces, a few grainy photos from the museum’s grand opening and referencing other projects from the architect’s career.
“That was an interesting process,” recalls Adam. “It was very much about getting into Wright’s mind. Because, unlike the galleries which continue to operate largely in the way he designed them, there was no concept of a museum gift shop at that time. So, the question we were asking was:
“ If Frank Lloyd Wright lived today, what are the decisions he would have made to make the space into what it needed to be. ”
I started to understand what Adam meant.
As a source of vital revenue for the Guggenheim Museum, the retail store has to be a productive operational space and if they were to design the store solely with the objective of emulating period pieces by Frank Lloyd Wright from several decades ago, that would not be possible.
“That was the biggest challenge,” recalls, Adam. “Fairly early on we were able to figure out the types of wood he used, how
he laid the woodgrain, the types of edges he used, and how he used curves in a specific way. We started to understand the language he was speaking in the design of the building, but it just didn’t translate into an operational store space. It was challenging. How do we make a space that can drive revenue for the museum that still feels like him?”
Adam explains that they took an extra step in bringing on a historical conservation company from Chicago that specializes in the maintenance, renovation, and preservation of Frank Lloyd Wright structures. They were able to offer guidance on key design elements to incorporate and to identify unique hallmarks of Wright’s style to infuse into the store plans. With a completed design proposal in hand, Adam and his team began the complicated approval process.
The proposal was first presented to several neighborhood, community, and architectural advocacy groups to review and offer feedback. Those groups then offered their recommendation to the Historic Landmark Review Board which is operated by the City of New York. The seven-member panel of the Landmark Review Board then reviewed the proposal ultimately voting unanimously in favor of moving forward. The process then moved to the team at the Guggenheim for review. While the Guggenheim is not managed by the Frank Lloyd Wright Group, there were members of the Guggenheim’s approval board who had a passion for maintaining the architectural authenticity of the new space. The Frank Lloyd Wright conservation firm from Chicago was able to share with the Guggenheim board some of the ways Adam’s design fit the necessary aesthetic.
The project was finally given the green light to move forward, and Adam and his team began to schedule and source the vendors and craftspeople to execute the plan. “I was glad the Guggenheim team recognized the care and hard work that went into this design,” says Adam, “At that time, it was the most invested design project I had been a part of for Event Network.”
The new Guggenheim store opened in March of 2023 and the reactions were sometimes emotional as museum members and frequent visitors were able to see, for the first time, genuine elements of Frank Lloyd Wright’s design work, some of which had previously been hidden behind shelving, alongside Adam’s inspired design elements seamlessly merged into an engaging and beautiful shopping experience. Visitors and museum staff alike are stunned by how much brighter and more open the space is, the curved design of the new built-in shelves and tables which echo Wright’s spiral motif, and the symbiotic way one side of the shop flows into the other. The general manager of the gift shop mentioned that even the product she buys for the store looks better and sells better, further highlighting that the balance of form and function Frank Lloyd Wright believed in has remained intact.
“ I’ve learned that every decision you make has an effect. Every decision is going to change the way millions of people interact with your space, ”
says Adam. “But then, if you get hung up on how important every decision you must make is, it can consume you. You have to know when to let some of it go or you’ll never complete the project.”
Images of the remodeled store within the Guggenheim Museum, courtesy Event Network
What’s gotten me- and I get a little choked up about it… having people who have worked in the building for 30, 40 years, who knew the space before it was a store… having them recognize part of the architecture that’s been… freed. Architecture details that they didn’t even notice for 30 or 40 years. That’s incredible. It’s overwhelming.
”
Kristin Rae, General Manager
Guggenheim’s Retail Store, on the Store Remodel
Adam listed off no less than a dozen store design projects that Event Network currently has in progress and added that he’s learned where to spend the most time in his design process so that the greatest impact is felt. And because no two Event Network stores are alike, the opportunities to innovate and grow with each project are what keeps him invested and passionate in his work. “We get to start from scratch every single time,” admits Adam gleefully, “it’s just so much fun!”
I didn’t think I had any more questions, but then I asked: “Adam, as a designer, do you consider yourself to be an artist?” I watch as he takes the longest pause of our entire discussion.
“I don’t know,” he says finally. “I don’t know if I process art in the same way everyone else does. I think I understand patterns. Sometimes art is just seeing and understanding really complex patterns.”
I’m suddenly distracted by the General Electric Whiz fan that’s been sitting next to Adam throughout our conversation… the fan that didn’t work, but he managed to repair it. The fan that he discovered in an old library attic…the library he proposed repairing with a brand-new design. Patterns.
Images of the remodeled store within the Guggenheim Museum, courtesy Event Network
Wendy Brown Store Director Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian American Art Museum & Renwick Gallery.
Discovering
Self-Care in Art
I had been working in retail for close to 40 years; almost all of it in women’s clothing. Women’s retail is very stressful. You feel like you’re a therapist sometimes. You want the customers to feel good about themselves but also trust your opinion. That taught me the principles of honesty and being thoughtful about what you say.
In 2017, the retail shop I had managed for 15 years closed. A lot of things were happening at that time, a lot of upheaval in the economy, and the housing market. It was a little crazy. Earlier that year my only niece had passed away. She had lived a good life and showed what it meant to work through adversity. In a way, it was easy for me to let go of my store because of what she went through. It puts your life in perspective.
While the shop was preparing to close, I was given the choice to either move to another location or take a severance package.
I decided to take the severance. It turned out to be the perfect thing to do. I was able to spend some quality time with my family and practice self-care. When I was going through the grieving of my niece, I did a lot of meditation. I started reading more about mindfulness. So, I spent time in nature, hiking and meditating. I just went with the flow. When I woke up in the morning, I would think: what am I going to do today? I live in Maryland, just 8 miles away from DC and for the first time, I saw the cherry blossoms in bloom. I did things I never had the time or energy to do while working. I visited a few Smithsonian museums, the National Zoo, and other places in the area. I was a tourist in my own city.
One day, I ended up coming to the National Portrait Gallery. I’d been there before but forgotten about it; it is off the beaten path. I walked around and saw the portraits and then I turned a corner, and it was something completely different. I didn’t realize that it was also the Smithsonian American Art Museum.
I decided to start my job search after about 6 months. I was contacted by someone from a company called Event Network. At first, I didn’t think it was a legitimate offer… what was Event Network and why would I want to host events? After several emails, I did some research and was impressed by the company. Event Network runs retail shops inside of museums and other cultural attractions. I thought it could be interesting to work in a gift shop environment.
Following a series of interviews, I was hired as the Store Director overseeing both The Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery, the American Art Museum, and the Renwick Gallery Gift Shops. It had never crossed my mind to explore the possibility of working in a gift shop, especially in a museum. The opportunity was almost like fate. I am one of those people who believes that everything happens the way it’s supposed to, like there is some kind of plan going on.
During the time I was out touring the city, my favorite place was the National Portrait Gallery Building; I felt somehow drawn to it.
I didn’t realize it until I started working here, but construction on the building began in 1836 and completed in 1867. It was used as a hospital during the Civil War, and Lincoln’s inaugural ball was held here. So much has happened in the building and when you practice mindfulness, it’s a place that keeps you present.
The initial few months were quite challenging, hiring a new team, cleaning, organizing, re-merchandising, and learning a large product assortment. When I arrived, there was so much product stacked up that I couldn’t see the floor of the stockroom.
The Healing Machine Emery Blagdon ca. 1955-1986, mixed media, Smithsonian American Art Museum*
So, we just worked on classifying and containing the product on the floor. I always think of merchandising a store like a Rubik’s Cube: If it fits the wrong way then it can fit the right way. There were several days that I wanted to give up; I was stressed and exhausted.
One day I decided to take a stroll through the museum before starting my workday; I realized that I had stopped practicing self-care. So, I took a gratitude walk... I started at the top floor, walking every hallway and staircase. It reminded me of why I was so drawn to the building. The architecture is stunning and at every turn, there is a different style of art. There is a sense of calm in the building. As I got to the first floor, almost to the shop, I stopped and sat on a bench in the self-taught/Folk Art section of the museum. This gallery features art created by people who had no formal training in art.
A lot of the pieces weren’t done for the sake of art; they were done to give voice to the voiceless. I took a moment to breathe and appreciate my surroundings. The installation in front of me was The Healing Machine by Emery Blagdon. He collected things out of nature, and he felt that the energy from these objects had healing powers.
It has been over five years since I took that walk and to this day, at least once a week, I begin my day there in meditation. I sit there and think about the injustices in the world and hope that maybe I can give off energy to the people who pass by. There
are several galleries and artworks in the museum that I love. Both the Portrait Gallery and American Art do an excellent job at speaking truth to power. Many of the exhibits are inclusive and representative of our culture. However, this piece truly speaks to me.
I’ve come to want everyone; my team, and guests alike, to feel and see that this is a special place. I have a weekly and daily to-do list for my team. I’ve incorporated “explore the museum” amongst the tasks of dusting, cleaning the glass, and restocking. Now, everybody on the team has their favorite place in the building, and they feel the same connection. And when guests come into the store and want to talk about how cozy the museum feels or what they saw, I feel like I’m a therapist again. Only it’s different. The visitors are not looking for someone to save them from their jeans not fitting; they’re coming in expressing, “I can’t believe what I just took in.” They want someone to listen to their excitement!
There is a map of the museums for guests to use as a guide. Every time I see someone studying the map, I first offer my assistance. I then tell them to let go of the map and just take in the beauty of the space. Kind of like how I discovered the Gallery when I explored DC. Just walk and you’ll find it. For, if you look down, you will miss the entire experience.
Wendy Brown has been a Store Director for Event Network for close to 6 years and oversees the stores at the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian American Art Museum, and the Renwick Gallery. She has worked in retail for more than 40 years. She lives in Maryland where she likes to jog, walk, read, and dabble in photography, spending much of her spare time in nature.
On June 24th last year, UGG, the iconic fashion brand known the world over for their insanely comfortable sheepskin boots, launched a collection featuring the work of artist Humberto Cruz. It seemed like the limited-edition release became a nearly impossible-to-find collector’s item in a matter of weeks. Incredibly, this was only the latest high-profile splash Cruz had made in recent years.
There was the collaboration with Apple Music and Chanel for which Cruz created several artist playlist cover designs. Then there was the collection created for MTV’s Women History Now featuring avant-garde trans dance artist SOPHIE alongside country music legend Dolly Parton. Humberto Cruz works largely under his Instagram moniker, iscreamcolour which is where most of his work is first seen and where he has made these incredible connections to iconic brands.
Humberto Cruz’s unique style elicits immediate joy. His work is a mischievous explosion of color and life, inspired by everything from pop culture icons to animated characters. He celebrates a diverse freedom of self-expression, innocent exuberance, and the hopeful message that everyone is special. “I feel like my work is very nostalgic,” says Humberto, “It’s very colorful, is quirky, it’s messy, it’s fun. I feel like it’s an open book. Like, yeah, all my thoughts are there.”
When I spoke to Humberto, he had just returned from a trip, creating art for luxury designer brand Zadig&Voltaire at their New York flagship store as well as their 2 locations in Los Angeles. “I was painting on leather purses for the customers,” he tells me, as though that was a common experience for him to create art on the spot. “Yeah, I had to draw very fast and it’s a lot of pressure because they’re watching me the whole time.”
Born in Salinas, California, and raised in Tijuana, Mexico, Cruz and his family relocated to San Diego in 2001 where he has lived ever since. There was hardly a time in his life when he wasn’t drawing. “My first memory is from when I was, like three and a half years old,” he says, “I just remember drawing with my mom in these notebooks.” Like many young illustrators, Cruz gravitated towards Disney animation as well as a fascination with the music and pop culture of the 80s and 90s. “I remember I would play a movie and pause it and
PRECEDING PAGES: Be Kind To Your Mind
Hey! Listen to Your Emotions both by Humberto Cruz, courtesy of the artist
THIS PAGE: Ugg Platform Slipper and Classic Platform Pop Sketch by Humberto Cruz, courtesy of the artist
try to draw it.” He says, “My dream was to work for a magazine, doing photo shoots and graphic design.”
While he did well in art school, he struggled to find a real outlet to express himself. The recession of 2008 took a toll on the job market making it hard for Humberto to find art opportunities after graduating. And with personal struggles within his family creating a sense of uncertainty, Humberto nearly chose an entirely different path for himself. “I thought about joining the military,” he says, “because I just wanted to start over. For a few years, I thought art was not for me.”
Then, in October 2010, Instagram officially went live with one million users joining the platform in the first two months. Humberto Cruz was among them. Drawing inspiration from magazines and music which he plays constantly while he works (“I have to have noise,” he says), he began posting images of his art each day. These early pieces frequently featured images of supermodels, celebrities, and fashion designers. He began to build a following. “I was drawing a lot of [American fashion designer] Jeremy Scott pictures,” Humberto says, “and he was one of the first people that started reposting my work. It was amazing.”
While people began to take notice of his art and his number of fans and followers increased, Humberto also discovered the unpleasant reality of how social media can negatively impact mental health. “A few years ago, I had to take a break because… You know, it’s not good. It wasn’t good for my mental health. When you’re younger,” he says, “you just worry too much about what you read, and you start doubting your talent.”
Humberto Cruz, San Diego-based illustrator, digital designer and creative artist
Here again was a moment when Humberto almost gave up on art. “I was dealing with a lot of stress maybe like 7 years ago,” he says, “That’s when I experienced a panic attack for the first time, and it was very scary because since high school I’ve dealt with anxiety. It was too much.” I asked him how he managed to get himself out of that dark period.
“I used to work in a grocery store and was doing art on the side. After that moment, when that happened, I decided to change my lifestyle. I was spending too much time working, too much time at home and I wasn’t enjoying life.” After making that discovery, he says, “I noticed that my art style started changing, and I started having more fun with my drawings. I was like, ‘I’m going to make mistakes, but it’s OK.’”
Around this time, Humberto’s pieces began to revolve around positive affirmations
seemingly directed at the viewer. They are depicted as words or phrases of encouragement like “I’M HAPPY YOU EXIST” or invitations to slow down and appreciate the world around us like, “TRY TO APPRECIATE HOW TEMPORARY EVERYTHING IS.” He says these pieces resonated with his online audience. “I noticed people really felt a connection with what I was posting. That’s why I’m still doing that.”
Eventually, people started to contact Humberto to create art for specific projects. At first, he contributed work to projects to gain exposure, but then some big names began to seek him out. This led to the collaboration with Ugg. “I thought it was not going to happen because, you know, it took so long,” he says, “I remember I drew a whole page with different doodles, and they picked the ones that they liked. It was pretty fun.”
One of Humberto’s favorite recent collaborations has been with Colombian singer, Karol G. This year, her new album, Mañana Será Bonito won the Grammy for Best Música Urbana Album. The cover of the album features Humberto’s infectious artwork including butterflies, angels, mermaids, and a grinning gathering of happy animals. “I had a meeting with Karol and her sister, we did a video call and she personally asked me if I wanted to do her album cover,” recalls Humberto. “I just said ‘yes’ right away. She couldn’t share a lot about the music but, she told me what the album was going to be like; full of emotions.” Humberto then smiles and says, “The title of the album is Mañana Será Bonito, which means, ‘tomorrow will be beautiful.’ I think that’s all I needed to know.”
Karol G. recently completed a world tour promoting the album. She wrapped up the
US leg in the fall before continuing to South America and Europe ending in Madrid. It was the highest-grossing Latin tour of all time by a female artist. “It’s crazy how, like, my art is going to all these places that I never imagined,” says Humberto, I’ve seen the show probably 6 times!”
And now, a new chapter is beginning for Humberto. Several art museum stores will be featuring his ‘Art is Life’ artwork on products ranging from t-shirts to mugs and scarves. “I’ve seen photos of it, and I really like what they did with my drawings,” he says. “It’s another thing that I never thought I would see; my work in a museum store.”
While Humberto may have never dreamed of having his work showcased in places like Guggenheim or the National Gallery of Art, it seems fitting that this premiere is happening in the museum store rather than
TO THE RIGHT: Mañana Será Bonito album cover
BELOW:
Appreciate How Temporary Everything Is both by
Humberto Cruz, courtesy of the artist
one of the galleries. “I don’t have a lot of patience to be in a museum,” admits Humberto, “I like to move fast and find what I like. Usually, when I go to a museum, the first thing- I always go to the museum store first.
Humberto is currently in the process of moving into a new studio space near his home in San Diego. Art and design is now his full-time job and the new projects and collaborations don’t seem to be slowing down anytime soon. Cruz recently had his work featured in the Wall Street Journal
celebrating Tree Paine, Taylor Swift’s publicist just as the pop icon’s new album dropped.
Partly, Humberto’s success has come from the fact that he has remained true to his style and whimsical outlook, something he learned from the late Éric Pfrunder, image director at Chanel and close associate of Karl Lagerfeld. “I got to meet Éric in person,” remembers Humberto, “he’s one of my biggest inspirations because he believed in me. He told me this: ‘Don’t change your style; that’s who you are.’”
Before Pfrunder’s passing in December 2022, he had expressed interest in doing a show featuring Humberto’s work in the South of France. Humberto still aspires to do that one day. “My goal is to work on bigger pieces and show my work in a gallery. I want to do it for him.”
In the meantime, Humberto Cruz will continue sharing his bright, colorful, and life-affirming art with the world- not to mention a few million museum store guests. When he reflects on the dark periods he endured to get to this point and the words of wisdom he’d share with other artists working to get their art seen, he simply says,
“ Keep doing
it
every day until you find your own style and until you’re happy with what you’re doing. It doesn’t matter if it’s not perfect. For other people, it will be the most beautiful thing. ”
Humberto Cruz's work can be found on his website www.iscreamcolour.com as well as his Instagram page @iscremcolour
His ‘Art is Life’ line of merchandise is currently featured at the Guggenheim, National Gallery of Art, National Portrait Gallery, and Smithsonian American Art Museum, as well as a special ‘Icons’ collection at Greenfield Village at the Henry Ford Museum.
Product Assortment featuring art by Humberto Cruz, courtesy of Event Network
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Event Network is the premier choice for art museums seeking a partnership to enhance their retail operations. Their curation of custom products, often in collaboration with local artisans, ensures a bespoke offering that resonates with collectors, artists, hobbyists, tourists, and members alike. www.eventnetwork.com/partnerships/art
