I met you at the TCE, after the first artist-scientist exchange in the morning, and it’s great to see your work, very thoughtful and sensitive. Thanks for the card!

Cybele

Hello, my name is Tiffany York. We met at the Gardner yesterday when you came on the tour and you gave me your card. I don’t see an email so I am writing here to invite you and your friend (whose name I did not write down) to take part in a project by artist Lee Mingwei at the Museum – hosting our Living Room. Since the launch of our new and renovated spaces in January 2012, over 120 people from all facets of the community have come to share their stories, collections, and personal objects with our visitors.

This project first began in 2000 as a special exhibition by Lee, titled The Living Room, and was the inspiration for our unique and much-loved orientation space in our new wing. Here Museum Volunteers welcome and orient visitors to the museum, its history, and programs. But on two days a week, volunteers are joined by a guest host. Hosts bring objects of personal significance, sets them up in our Living Room and talks with visitors about why we collect, what our collections say about us, and the personal stories that are attached to objects. The conversations are spontaneous and can lead down many paths. Past hosts have shared everything from favorite books, musical instruments and works of art, to objects collected from around the globe, to postcards and beach glass that were given away.

Hosting is simple and fun. I hear time and time again how much guest hosts have enjoyed and gained from the experience of connecting with people and being part of this experiment in hospitality. My hope is that I have piqued your interested in this opportunity as well. Before signing up to be a host we ask that you attend one orientation session to meet Lee Mingwei, to find out more about his work, to get details about hosting and to have the chance to ask questions. These will be at the Gardner Museum on Friday October 18 and on Saturday October 19 from 9:30am -11:00am. Following the session, you can sign up to host starting in December for either a Friday or a Saturday from 1pm -3pm.

Let me know if you are able to attend one of the or if you have any questions.
I hope you have enjoyed the conference!

Sincerely,
Tiffany