Have you ever been flummoxed about how to display art and artifacts collections? Ceramics, glass, figurines, baskets, and small paintings all require a well-organized environment for artifact and art display that allows each object to show its individual beauty.
Art and Artifact Collections
These collectables can make dazzling art walls as well as sculptural, stand alone, exhibits that enhance your style and décor. So grab a feather duster and let’s unpack those darlings and find them a special place in your home.
Shelving and Corner Construction
In my last article I talked about utilizing hidden space with border shelving and corner constructions. These areas are the perfect opportunity to showcase your special collections. A corner of Lladro figurines or miniature beaded baskets can make a dull room sparkle. Kitchens can incorporate border artifact and art display shelving to show off exceptional dinnerware. My husband inherited his Grandmother’s Bauer ware (a lot like Fiesta ware) that she collected in the 1930’s. Though we seldom eat off of it, we flaunt the colorful mélange of plates, cups, and creamers on a high shelf above the sliding glass doors that leads out to our kitchen garden.
Art Glass and Art Walls
Art walls can be created with just about anything. We had one in our design studio for years that was made up of all of the used gloves that Craig had worn while making his sculpture and furniture pieces. But perhaps you have something more valuable that you would like to display – like glass. Art glass and art walls are the proverbial match made in heaven. From built-in niches to walls and ceilings covered in it, like Dale Chihuly’s installation at the Bellagio hotel, glass in all its myriad forms is truly spectacular. Glass art has a particularly potent art display advantage for several reasons:
- Glass works with mirrors. Well, mirrors are glass, right? Picture a mirrored wall with display shelves full of art glass. Wow!
- Glass both reflects light and allows it to pass through and therefore glows. Halogen spots in wall niches are a great way to show glass. For a 3D view, light the glass from underneath on a lit pedestal and place it in a spacious location. Voila – art lighting.
- Glass can be both functional and aesthetic. So, like our Bauer ware, you can actually use that punch bowl or flower vase once in a while.
Free Standing Artifact and Art Display
Free standing displays have some special considerations such as space and traffic flow. If you have the open space, and would like to spice it up, here are a few ideas that can work well.
- Create a grouping of small furniture pieces, like end tables or small cabinets (the second hand stores are full of these sorts of mismatched pieces). Make sure that they have different heights for the most interesting artifact and art display.
- Make a room divider out of open work shelves and show your art from two sides.
- Paint crates or boxes and stack them to showcase your larger ceramics or baskets.
Sebastopol Living Magazine/ HAVE YOU EVER/ Creative Interior Design Solutions/ May issue 2018
MARTHA CHANNER is co-owner and artistic director of MC² The Science of Design, an interior design company that specializes in custom design, space planning, and fine art installations. www.mctwodesign.com 619-865-7885 Sebastopol, Ca.
Martha received her BFA in painting and printmaking, with a minor in Art history, from Barat College in Illinois and attended The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, where she studied spatial design, sculpture, and paint applications. She is a performance artist, fine art painter, and choreographer, which she incorporates into her large scale installations and exhibitions. Her work is shown nationally in galleries and museums. www.marthachanner.com
