WMA Reinvigorates Collection with Spanish Language and Photo Labels

WMA has recently launched a new initiative to make its Permanent Collection more accessible for its visitors. Labels for Permanent Collection objects, located in its Entrance Galleries and on long term display, now have added interpreted text in Spanish, and have provided photos of the artists whose works are displayed.

These labels allow visitors and residents whose primary language is Spanish to experience the artworks’ interpretive and contextual information in a clear and direct way. In Houston County, Spanish is the language most frequently spoken by non-English speakers. These labels will assist Spanish-speaking ESL students on field trips, and will be a benefit to visitors and residents who are learning the language. WMA partnered with local Spanish language professional Patricia DeVane to translate and interpret the labels.

Photos of the artists on labels provide additional historical context, giving museum visitors a sense of the artists’ background and, often, their personality. “WMA’s permanent collection belongs to the public, and as such, we are excited to offer expanded access and additional methods of engagement in order to be more inclusive and to reach our entire community,” said Dana-Marie Lemmer, WMA’s executive director and curator.

This reinvigoration of the museum’s Permanent Collection was supported through a $25,000 grant from The Henry Luce Foundation, which provided funding for collections-based exhibitions and artist programming in 2021. Supported exhibitions currently on view, in addition to those on longer-term display in the Entrance Galleries, include, ‘For Keeps: Selections from the Permanent Collection’ and ‘Self-Taught’, which will run through September 25th. ‘Alice Mason: Prints from the Permanent Collection’ will be on view through December 31st.

More information about the museum’s collections and exhibitions can be found at https://www.wiregrassmuseum.org/.