In a separate event, curators demonstrated to viewers how to restore a painting without physically altering it. The conversation put participants in dialog with curators who were studying how faded Mark Rothko paintings might be non-invasively restored through light projections. The seminar’s images are still available online on the 3D Digital Lightbox Gallery app, where a host of past projects are also linked.

For those who cannot come to the institution in person, or for those who seek a more kinesthetic approach, the Museums have also produced a medley of online resources. Their website features digital tours, including one called “Hotspots” that focuses in on individual objects. One Hotspot page hosts a video of the Bauhaus sculpture Light Prop for an Electric Stage in motion. On another page, visitors can use the digital tour of a Rothko print to see the extent of the “light” restoration curators worked on earlier in the year.

In addition to short-term programming and online projects, the Museums have pursued projects that promote student and curator collaboration over longer periods of time. Ethan Lasser, head of division of European and American Art, has been working on the “Exhibition of Progress,” which reassembles an interdisciplinary collection known as the “Philosophy Chamber” that was dispersed in 1822 to six different collections. In spring 2017, the Harvard Art Museums building will house those objects. Lasser’s job is to assemble the specialists and foster dialogue. “To have six voices from different specialties talk about one object is pretty exciting for me as an art historian,” he says. “It is also grounded in history in this case, because these conversations were happening a long time ago.” Lasser has brought together around 15 graduate and undergraduate work study students, research assistants, and catalog authors to work on the project, in addition to the semesterly interns he employs.

With regard to the rest of the building’s galleries, Lasser believes that the renovation process allowed for a well-reasoned shift in curation. In the years of “deadtime” when the museum building was undergoing its intense makeover, a similar restructuring was taking place within departments as the staff reorganized the gallery spaces. “We took people that, in some way, spoke different languages, and put them together for three weeks,” Lasser says. The galleries are now organized by chronology and theme rather than culture or media. “We tried to do it differently than other museums, which tend to be more culturally bound,” he says.

PUTTING THE INTIMACY BACK INTO ART

New spaces at the Museums allow students and public patrons to get a closer look at objects. Based on former study centers at the Fogg and Busch-Reisinger, the Art Study Center features slatted walls that house a rotating array the 90,000 objects unable to fit in the physical galleries. The full collection is constantly accessible by online reservation. Lasser stressed the value of spending a great deal of time with pieces in the Center. “Most curators don’t have that opportunity,” he says. “We gave the best real estate in the building to it, with the natural views. I think that shows how important we feel that is to the study of art—not just standing up in a gallery.”

Using this space, HAA 173g, a seminar led by professor Ewa Lajer-Burcharth, enables students to curate their own art exhibitions. “Drawings on Exhibition,” which will open in the spring on the second floor, will feature wall cards authored by the students themselves after spending a full semester investigating the pieces at close range in the Art Study Center. Michelle L. Kim ’18, one of the students in the class, marveled at the class’s unique intimacy. “We can get really, really close to [the pieces], we have magnifying glasses,” she says. “The professional there will lift the paper up to show us, I don’t know, a stain on the backside of the paper. Something that you can’t do when you’re casually walking through a museum.”

Laura Muir, research curator for Academic and Public Programs, emphasizes the events that occur within this space outside of course visits. Programs this semester focus on a variety of topics ranging from ancient coins and Islamic manuscripts to 19th century French drawings and prints. On Oct. 13, for example, Richard Tuttle, one of the most significant living postminimalist artists, gave a visiting talk at the GSD on his own works in the collection and American art at large. After the talk, Tuttle spoke further at a seminar in the Art Study Center where, alongside him, GSD students could examine a number of his works on display. Muir wants to continue this kind of programming in the spring. “It’s really drawing on curators and conservators and contemporary artists in informal conversations, but in that space with those objects,” she says. “We do really want to make students aware of those opportunities.”

CANVAS OF THE FUTURE

Every four years, a new student body will interact with the Harvard Art Museums. This is both a blessing and a challenge. As for events for these new generations, Martinez indicates that she is interested in crafting more film and performance events to diversify programming. One such performance, initiated last year by Northington and two student directors, was the premiere of John Logan’s play “Red,” inspired by the life of Mark Rothko. In addition to exploring the potential of digital resources, Martinez also would like to expand the variety of event programming. She indicated that the open spaces of the Museums are clearly able to support larger performance pieces. As the institution builds its programming, the staff seeks to expand its offerings for future generations of students. “We typically feel like we’re doing things right when we partner with a student group or a faculty member. Or a research center,” Martinez says. “That kind of collaborative work is really at the core of our planning process.”

As an institution within an ever-changing patron pool, the Harvard Art Museums must constantly keep abreast of the Harvard community. In Bobby Fitzpatrick’s opinion, the groundwork laid by this past year is only the beginning, and innovation of the existing spaces seems to be key. “I can’t wait to see what happens in five, 10 years from now, given what we’ve done in one year,” he says. “How many ways can we turn an art museum into a Swiss army knife that will be in the pocket of students?”

This article has been revised to reflect the following corrections:

CORRECTION: November 25, 2015

An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that the museums that are now part of the Harvard Arts Museums were closed from 2008 to 2014. In fact, one of those museums, the Arthur M. Sackler, was open through 2013. An earlier version of this article also misquoted Erin Northington. In fact, Northington referred to the student baord as her“mentors,” not her “mentees.”