{"id":320,"date":"2012-11-12T14:50:08","date_gmt":"2012-11-12T19:50:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/?p=320"},"modified":"2012-11-12T20:05:20","modified_gmt":"2012-11-13T01:05:20","slug":"dayton-art-institute-fail","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/2012\/11\/dayton-art-institute-fail\/","title":{"rendered":"Dayton Art Institute\u2014Fail"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Dayton Art Institute is handsomely situated on a hill above the Great Miami River.\u00a0 The museum\u2019s beautiful Italianate main wing provides a remarkable view of the Dayton skyline.\u00a0 Travelers along I-75 passing beneath the museum\u2019s imposing\u00a0facade can’t help but be intrigued by the marvelous piece of architecture.<\/p>\n

The museum\u2019s collection, while not as large as in-state rivals Cleveland and Cincinnati, is significant.\u00a0 I am originally from Dayton and have visited the museum many, many times over the years.\u00a0 Whenever I return, it\u2019s like visiting family members who have been part of my entire life.\u00a0 \u201cHi, Auntie, how are you? You are looking great!\u201d\u00a0 And no matter how often I visit, I always discover new things.<\/p>\n

But, recent discoveries are not encouraging.\u00a0 Like many modern museums, the Art Institute seems always under construction; vast areas are fenced-off.\u00a0 A restaurant is being built next to the museum shop \u2014or is it the reverse?\u00a0 In addition, the staff\u00a0doesn’t\u00a0seem to know what to do with the space\u2014generous space\u2014it has. \u00a0Parts are empty and other parts a jumbled mess. \u00a0The impression is one of confusion.<\/p>\n

In its desire to find an identity that makes it relevant, the museum seems indifferent to its collection.\u00a0 Relevance is the sine qua non of museums these days.\u00a0 \u2018Being relevant\u2019 means relevant to the general\u2014non museum-going\u2014public.\u00a0 The thirst for relevance usually translates into a never-ending calendar of events and performances.\u00a0 Walking through the museum, one must carefully pick one\u2019s way through old performances that are being dismantled and new ones being set up. \u00a0The permanent collection\u00a0is almost hidden, like a drunken uncle with a somewhat shameful past.<\/p>\n

Finally arriving at the permanent collection (don’t give up, visitor, the collection can still be found scattered about!), I discover that the paintings have been grouped to conform to the thinnest, politically correct, pasted-on themes imaginable.\u00a0 All stupendously relevant\u2014no doubt.<\/p>\n

Anyway, I plunge in among my old friends\u2014Rubens<\/a>, Murillo<\/a>, Robert Smith\u2014and all is well.<\/p>\n

After my visit, I attempted to use the Art Institute\u2019s web site.\u00a0 The animated monstrosity is unusable.\u00a0 Attempting to access their permanent collection is an exercise in frustration.\u00a0 Searching for \u2018Robert Smith\u2019 produces nothing, yet this painting<\/a> is in their permanent collection and is on display (as discussed in this post<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Fail.<\/p>\n

Here is the link to their web site<\/a>. Use it if you dare.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Dayton Art Institute is handsomely situated on a hill above the Great Miami River.\u00a0 The museum\u2019s beautiful Italianate main wing provides a remarkable view of the Dayton skyline.\u00a0 Travelers along I-75 passing beneath the museum\u2019s imposing\u00a0facade can’t help but be intrigued by the marvelous piece of architecture. The museum\u2019s collection, while not as large […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":61,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[17,5,6,1],"tags":[67,70,72,66,71],"class_list":["post-320","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-art-museum","category-artists","category-paintings","category-uncategorized","tag-dayton-art-institute","tag-dayton-oh","tag-murillo","tag-robert-smith","tag-rubens"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":14044,"url":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/2025\/11\/the-good-and-bad-my-experience-at-the-dayton-art-institute\/","url_meta":{"origin":320,"position":0},"title":"The Good and Bad: My Experience at the Dayton Art Institute","author":"Tom Hudson","date":"November 29, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"The last time I visited the Dayton Art Institute was an unpleasant experience. 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After rambling about, I always went to the library to read and study. Haunting libraries was a habit I developed from\u00a0my earliest days. Anyway, above the entrance to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Art Museums"","block_context":{"text":"Art Museums","link":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/category\/art-museum\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/Kop-DAI.jpg?fit=427%2C479&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1052,"url":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/2013\/02\/gaertner-at-the-cleveland-museum-of-art\/","url_meta":{"origin":320,"position":2},"title":"Gaertner at the Cleveland Museum of Art","author":"Tom Hudson","date":"February 12, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"I'm an idiot, but you already knew that. After writing about discovering Frederick Gaertner in this post, I belatedly realized I had seen--on numerous\u00a0occasions, no less--one of his paintings at the Cleveland Museum of Art. \u00a0For some reason, I never connected that Gaertner with my Gaertner discovered at the Bonfoey\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Art Museums"","block_context":{"text":"Art Museums","link":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/category\/art-museum\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"The Furnace by Gaertner ","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/gaertner-cai.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/gaertner-cai.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/gaertner-cai.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":307,"url":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/2012\/11\/robert-smith\/","url_meta":{"origin":320,"position":3},"title":"Robert Smith","author":"Tom Hudson","date":"November 12, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Robert Smith was an American artist who died in 1985.\u00a0 When I knew him, he already was an elderly man.\u00a0 He lived with his teenage son in Kettering, Ohio in a French chateau-type building that seemed the height of romance to a high school kid, which was what I was\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Art Museums"","block_context":{"text":"Art Museums","link":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/category\/art-museum\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"robert_smith","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/robert_smith.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":832,"url":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/2013\/01\/carl-gaertner\/","url_meta":{"origin":320,"position":4},"title":"Carl Gaertner","author":"Tom Hudson","date":"January 21, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday was a lucky day--I discovered an artist new to me: Carl Gaertner\u00a0(1898-1952). \u00a0Gaertner's reputation is almost entirely local \u00a0to Cleveland, as \u00a0Robert Smith's is confined to\u00a0Dayton. Gaertner was born in Cleveland and lived in and around there until his death. \u00a0He taught for many years at the Cleveland Institute\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Artists"","block_context":{"text":"Artists","link":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/category\/artists\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Gaertner: oil","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/gaertner-winter.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/gaertner-winter.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/gaertner-winter.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":536,"url":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/2012\/12\/mother-nursing-infant\/","url_meta":{"origin":320,"position":5},"title":"Painting: Mother Nursing Infant","author":"Tom Hudson","date":"December 14, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"This is an older painting from the gallery. 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