Reimagining a Museum

Making a space for art...

Articles of Virtu by Bryan Birks

January was a big month. When I started at The Carnegie Center for Arts and History in September, part of my plan was to make space for new exhibitions. The previous iteration of the space was a static music museum, primarily showing a permanent collection of West Tennessee historical music artifacts. The main floor was full of memorabilia, instruments, dozens of framed posters on easels, and items donated to the museum over the years. Many of the best exhibits were difficult to find or hidden behind other cases/objects.

I’m a big fan of efficiency. As an Andrew Carnegie library, our building has a very specific floor plan and architecture. The East Gallery at one time was changed from a gallery space into a film viewing room. Since we have a theatre in the basement with a projector and screen, we could convert the East Gallery back into its original design, giving the museum an entire new room for the permanent music collection.

East Gallery Before and After

The challenge now was timing. Fortunately for the museum, we received a renovation grant from the state and planned to shut down the month of January for repairs. I had four weeks to move, re-curate, and build out two new gallery spaces for 2/3rds of the museum. For the months leading up to January, I made and remade the floor plan dozens of times. I knew I would have to design and build the gallery walls from scratch as prefabricated freestanding walls were way outside of our budget. So on to modeling:

Gallery Walls 3D Models

After the floor plan and gallery wall plans were finalized, we started our four-week sprint to completely change the museum. When I say we, I mean my co-worker Gabrielle Evans and I. Thankfully we did have a little help from city workers moving the largest two cases, along with assistance from several key volunteers, friends, and family members. For the most part though, it was Gabrielle and I with hammer and paintbrush in hand for a solid month.

East Atrium Gallery Build

January’s remodel was the hardest work I’ve done at a job. I have a tremendous amount of respect for construction workers and remodelers. After work each day, I went home to a heating pad for my aching back and ice for my knees. I’m not sure that designing and building a gallery space is technically in my job description as “director,” but it sure was exciting to take an idea to the computer and then into reality on a shoestring budget.

On January 30th at 5:15pm, we completed our goal:

Before

After

Did I leave out the part about scheduling our grand reopening and the exhibition opening of Articles of Virtu by Bryan Birks on Feb.1st? Don’t worry, I thought about Feb. 1st every day of January. There’s nothing quite like an incredibly short deadline to get you moving…

Thankfully, we were ready to open our doors and celebrate this new phase of The Carnegie Center. The atrium filled with community members and friends from around the country. It was amazing to see so many people enjoying Bryan’s work, commenting on the openness of the architecture, and meeting other community members that care about art and culture.

Feb. 1, 2025 - Photos by Lyla Dietz

When I started this journey in September, I honestly had no idea the amount of work it would be. Establishing a community museum with just a handful of staff means that I have to fill a lot of roles. I could be meeting with the mayor on Monday, doing local news interviews on Tuesday, framing out a wall on Wednesday, and writing and filming social media content on Thursday. There’s no telling what Friday might bring…

I will say that if you truly care about creating and encouraging art and culture in your town, you can do it. It may not mean taking over a 120 year old building, but it could mean doing something unconventional that fits within your skillset. I have to believe that all communities deserve access to art and culture, especially “flyover country.”

Thank you to all that came out to the opening. You made all of those long and sometimes painful days truly matter. As always, if you find yourself in Jackson, TN, come by and see me.