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Visitors Vote on Scumak to Add to NAMA's Collection

Museum visitors Joan Newell, Jennifer Baxter, and Rachel Newell after voting for their favorite Scumaks.
photo: Laura Spencer/KCUR
Museum visitors Joan Newell, Jennifer Baxter, and Rachel Newell after voting for their favorite Scumaks.

Acquiring new art for a museum's permanent collection can be a complex, and sometimes political process. When the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art found out they'd be able to keep three of New York-based artist Roxy Paine's Scumak sculptures, they decided to open up the decision to the public.

By Laura Spencer

http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/national/local-national-983390.mp3

Kansas City, Mo. – Acquiring new art for a museum's permanent collection can be a complex, and sometimes political process.

When the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art found out they'd be able to keep three of New York-based artist Roxy Paine's Scumak sculptures from a current exhibition, they decided to open up the decision to the public. Note: the sculptures were donated by Paine and James Cohan Gallery.

The board of trustees, the museum's staff and volunteers, and the public (at a ballot box at the museum and on the Star's website) voted on the three Scumaks to add to the collection. And the winners are:

"Roxy Paine: Scumaks and Dendroids" in the Bloch Building lobby, opened April 29 and runs through August 28, 2011. The exhibition opened in conjunction with a new addition to the Kansas City Sculpture Park, Paine's "Ferment," a 56-foot tall stainless steel tree.

Laura Spencer is staff writer/editor at the Kansas City Public Library and a former arts reporter at KCUR.
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