Three Decades of Bringing Art to South Florida. An Interview with Jorge Hilker Santis

Museum of Art | Fort Lauderdale, Nova Southeastern University. Photo: Robin Hill

The Museum of Art | Fort Lauderdale excels as an institution that has brought to South Florida important exhibitions such as: “Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs,” “American Chronicles: The Art of Norman Rockwell,” and most recently “Offering of the Angels,” which gathered masterpieces from the Uffizi Gallery. Additionally, the museum boasts the largest collection of CoBrA art in the Western Hemisphere. ARTDISTRICTS spoke with Jorge Hilker Santis, Chief Curator and Head of Collection Research, about his professional trajectory, the museum’s cultural contribution to the community, its eclectic art collection, and the exhibitions program that visitors will be able to enjoy in the upcoming months.

By Othón Castañeda

Othón Castañeda - You have been a recognized curator at the Museum of Art | Fort Lauderdale for many years. Can you tell us more about your professional background and your expertise?

Jorge Santis - My professional background is a mixed bag. To begin with, I am a frustrated actor who became a Spanish teacher and ended up as a museum curator. Believe it or not, I look at every exhibition as a theatrical presentation, where the works of art are the actors and I am the playwright, the editor and the creative director; therefore, my present job fulfills my earlier aspirations.

When I started at the Museum of Art | Fort Lauderdale 32 years ago, I was a novice with two degrees. At Hunter College in New York City, I earned a B.A. in Spanish literature and an M.A. in art history. The degrees opened doors but did not teach me the craft. Therefore, my basic training happened on the job by observing the professionals around me. I was promoted step-by-step, from assistant curator of education to registrar to what I am today: a curator. It took 12 years to get to my present level.

Jorge Hilker Santis, Chief Curator and Head of Collection Research at the Museum of Art | Fort Lauderdale.

O.C. - In 2008, the Museum started an alliance with Nova Southeastern University. What does this collaboration brings to the Museum and the University?

J.S. - MoA’s partnership with Nova Southeastern University has been heaven sent, benefiting both participants. It has added prestige to the University, while helping the Museum stay financially stable during these troublesome times.

O.C. - You have performed a key role at the Museum by increasing its permanent collection and creating an important Latin American art collection in it. Can you share with us the process of building it? What is the role of this collection within the cultural community in which the Museum is located?

J.S. - The most important asset of any museum is its permanent collection. It provides a distinctive profile as well as an inner structure on which to build. Most museums have an acquisitions budget, but unfortunately, ours did not for decades. Former trustees felt that it was unwise and counterproductive to pay for acquisitions while having a substantial unpaid mortgage. The birth of our Contemporary Cuban Collection in such an environment was short of miraculous.  Without a purchasing budget, the Cuban holdings soon became a grassroots project, creating a domino effect that became unstoppable.

Success came from a combination of location, timing and my relentless stubbornness. Miami, at that time, was too ideologically fractured to embrace such a task. Notable artists, who had recently arrived in the United States, wanted to fit in and be recognized by an established American institution, outside of Dade County. They embraced a place that they did not see as a continuation of the island they had left behind. Last, but not least, I did not take ‘no’ for an answer. I tried every method known to man to get the donations: from peer pressure to well-intentioned one-artist exhibitions. To my joy and amazement, the approach worked.

Guillermo Kuitca, Untitled, from the Siete últimas canciones series (Seven Last Songs), 1987, acrylic on canvas. Collection of the Museum of Art | Fort Lauderdale. Gift of Helen Marie Grodich

O.C. - What does the Museum collection consist of, and what are some of its most important pieces or highlights?

J.S. - The Museum of Art’s permanent collection can best be described as eclectic. There are over 6,000 works of art with an emphasis on 19th and 20th century European and American art. Within those boundaries, it features several outstanding individual collections. The most important among them are the Glackens and CoBrA collections. The former not only boasts a large and comprehensive cachet of major works by American Impressionist painter William Glackens but also includes fine examples by a handful of his colleagues and contemporaries, like John Sloan and Maurice Prendergast. The CoBrA collection, consisting of more than 1,200 works, was given to us by the late Miami Beach-based collectors Dr. Meyer and Golda Marks. Significantly, it is the largest collection of CoBrA art in the Western Hemisphere. Among the post-World War II, northern European artists represented are Asger Jorn, Karel Appel and Pierre Alechinsky. Also in the museum’s vaults are a significant number of Oceanic and African sculptures, as well as a fine collection of Picasso ceramics.

William Glackens, Outside the Guttenberg Race Track, 1897, Oil on canvas. Collection of the Museum of Art | Fort Lauderdale, Nova Southeastern University. Gift of the Sansom Foundation

In 1993, our Museum began to actively acquire contemporary Cuban art. Today, we own about 250 works created by 127 Cuban-born artists residing on either the island or scattered in exile. Recently, our focus has expanded to acquire Latin American and Caribbean art. The aim is to collect and display art that is relevant to our steadily growing Hispanic-born and/or second-generation audience. To my knowledge, their numbers in Broward County have increased to more than 22 percent in the last few years. The growth and dissemination of this collection will encourage better understanding between all of the different components of our citizenry.

O.C. - Does the Museum have an active acquisitions program? How does it work? Is it focused on contemporary art?

J.S. - So far, our goal is to strengthen the present individual collections by acquiring works that add depth to what we already own. Currently, most of the works that we accession are gifts from artists and collectors.

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O.C. - The Museum of Art | Fort Lauderdale has hosted important exhibitions such as “The Golden Age of the Pharaohs,” “American Chronicles: The Art of Norman Rockwell,“ and “Offering of the Angels,“ which includes highlights from the Uffizi Gallery from Florence, Italy. Can you tell us how the Museum has established links and partnerships with these and other important American and Europeans art institutions?

J.S. - In the museum world, networking is a fine art. Knowing the right people opens all sorts of doors and makes available endless opportunities. Establishing a track record with art dealers and collectors can prove very rewarding. Our executive director, Irvin Lippman, has proven himself to be very astute and skillful at engaging for the Museum one blockbuster exhibition after another.

Our first major exhibition to receive national attention was “Palace of Gold & Light: Treasures from the Topkapi, Istanbul,” mounted in 2000 and shared with the Corcoran Gallery in Washington, D.C., and the San Diego Museum of Art in California. It demonstrated our ability to handle, house and promote large-scale shows. The Islamic extravaganza opened the door for our first Vatican show, which was followed by the Princess Diana exhibition, and subsequently, by the King Tut show and the second Vatican exhibition. “Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs” brought 750,000 visitors to our Museum, making us the most visited fine-art venue in South Florida.

O.C. - I noticed that the Museum has established and developed exhibitions with private local collections. Tell us how these collections have been included in the Museum‘s exhibitions program and how these private collectors contribute to the museum‘s content development.

J.S. - In the past, our museum has wisely borrowed from significant private regional collections to further enhance some of our in-house exhibitions. Two years ago, we had the honor and pleasure of installing the Latin American art collection of Dr. Stanley and Pearl Goodman. This Fort Lauderdale-based couple, who began buying art over 20 years ago, today owns a highly reputable collection, best known for its strength in the School of the South holdings. The exhibition of this collection in conjunction with our “Recent Acquisitions from the Museum’s Latin American Collection” provided the latter with a much needed historical context. It allowed museum visitors to witness the birth and follow the roots of different trends in contemporary art in South America.

Carlos Betancourt, Sunday Afternoon in El Yunque, 2008, metallic Lambda print. Collection of the Museum of Art | Fort Lauderdale. Gift of Myrna Leal.

O.C. - What will be the next projects that include works from private collections? Does the Museum have a loan program?

J.S. - Our success with the Goodman exhibition has inspired us to organize more exhibitions featuring other notable private collections. As might be expected, loans are a two-way street, and in the last few years our exhibition “Unbroken Ties: Dialogues in Cuban Art” traveled to the Museum of Latin American Art in Long Beach, California, and to the Flint Institute of Arts in Michigan.

O.C. - The Museum of Art | Fort Lauderdale develops an extensive educational program focused on give access to local schools and the whole community to its collection and exhibitions. Can you tell us more about this program and how the resources that you have created interact with the public? How, as a curator, do you design the curatorial contents with the public in mind?

J.S. - The Museum of Art | Fort Lauderdale sees itself first and foremost as an educational institution dedicated to the better understanding of visual art. After our merger with Nova Southeastern University, a nationally recognized center of higher learning, that role has intensified. Under the leadership of Deputy Director Anthony Lauro, MoA has instituted an Academy of Art & Design, where disciplines-from drawing to ceramics-are taught to children as well as adults. Besides these hands-on programs, the Museum’s education department organizes a series of lectures, symposia and cultural events that are open to members and visitors alike. Although most of our programming is related to our exhibitions, an effort is made to keep programs as topical and varied as possible.

O.C. - Does the Museum give opportunities to local curators to present independent projects? Are you planning any exhibition programs including proposals by guest curators?

J.S. - Our Executive Director, Irvin Lippman, believes having guest curators keeps the focus of our exhibitions fresh and unpredictable. Some of the most recent guest curators have been artists, including Carlos Luna and Edouard Duval-Carrié, as well as art historian Gary Monroe. Our next guest curator will be the noted art expert and scholar Avis Berman. She is currently organizing an eagerly awaited retrospective of the work of William Glackens. The exhibition is scheduled to premiere in February 2014 at the Museum of Art and then travel to the Parrish Art Museum in Southampton, New York, and then to the newly relocated Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia.

William Glackens, Cape Cod Pier, 1908, oil on canvas, 26” x 32”. Ira Glackens Bequest

O.C. - Art fairs and biennials are some of the key players in the art scene today, as well as the art museums. It is well known that some of the most valuable artists in terms of market participate in important exhibitions at institutions such as biennials and museums, and this phenomenon occurs vice versa. How would you describe this relationship between art market and institutions? Do you consider that we are witnessing a contemporary art scene dominated by the power of those organizations (biennials, museums, art fairs, private collections, foundations, etc.) that shapes even the contemporary artistic practices?

J.S. - Years ago, the main role of a creditable museum was to honor and safeguard the artistic accomplishment of earlier times. More recently, with the increasing popularity of contemporary art, that old-fashioned emphasis has dwindled, and most museums have embraced today’s art with relish. This change of gears demonstrates a desire to remain relevant to more intrepid and technologically savvy generations. The days of dogma are basically over. Young people today, more than ever, tend to embrace adventure and change. To them, rules are made to be broken, and personal gratification has become paramount. Thus, less rigid environments, like biennials and art fairs, have gained popularity. The increased desire for artistic freedom and independence has given rise to a wave of private museums that are highly specialized and possess extremely focused agendas. Their emergence has energized regional art centers all over the country and brought to the forefront countless new concepts.

O.C. - What would be the role of the curator and the museum in this new reality? In which direction should they focus their efforts?

J.S. - The role of the curator is to advise collectors and to act as a bridge between the different important players in the art scene. In order to fulfill his or her role as mediator, a curator must keep abreast of what’s taking place both locally and internationally.

O.C. - In your career as curator, what are the fundamental principles and critical responsibilities that define your curatorial work? Can we consider a code of ethics for curators? Do you think curators have a social and educational role that have effects on what the public can consider as art today?

J.S. - One of the biggest challenges that I face on a daily basis is to remain objective regarding my professional assessments. At all costs, I must prevent my personal likes and dislikes from clouding my professional judgment. Furthermore, I seek to approach my job without any pre-conceived ideas or declared agendas. No financial or political gain can derail my unbiased goals. Curators, as the term implies, are teachers. Therefore, their main goal should be to make the artist’s intensions more accessible and palatable to the average museum visitor. The curator should at all times respect the integrity of the work and never try to manipulate or distort the artist’s basic message.

O.C. - Tell me about the exhibitions and curatorial projects that you are working on at the moment? What would be your ideal exhibition program for the Museum of Art | Fort Lauderdale/Nova Southeastern University?

J.S. - This coming October I will curate a show called “Return to the Ashcan” that features works by American realist painters Robert Henri, John Sloan and George Luks. These painters captured the grit and bustle of New York and Philadelphia during America’s great building boom as the 19th century turned into the 20th. The exhibition features significant loans from many important museums, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City and the Wadsworth Atheneum in Connecticut. Also this fall, we will host “Warhol and Cars: American Icons,” an exhibition organized the Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

The Museum of Art | Fort Lauderdale is located at One East Las Olas Boulevard. Fort Lauderdale, 33301 Phone 954 525 5500 / www.moafl.org

Othón Castañeda is an artist, architect, and art fair producer based in Miami.