What does it take to create an exhibition? When a visitor enters a museum gallery, what they see is the culmination of months or even years of work by museum staff.
Last month, the Washington County Museum of Fine Arts opened Frida Kahlo: Picturing an Icon. This exhibition, featuring over 120 photographs, is a small selection from the approximately 6,000 images that Kahlo amassed throughout her life. These mementos were a cherished possession she kept with her even in the hospital.
As the manager of collections and exhibitions, I am responsible for bringing this exhibition to life visually for our visitors. Typically, I begin work a year before the exhibition opens, and a traveling exhibition usually comes with just the objects. The design and content are for the hosting institution to develop.
Research into Frida Kahlo reveals a fascinating life
Manager of collections exhibitions Sarah Wolfe works to hang photographs for Frida Kahlo: Picturing an Icon at the Washington County Museum of Fine Arts.
Like most people, I was familiar with Frida Kahlo and her art. I was less familiar with her story.
I began by researching her life through books, documentaries and visiting other institutions with exhibitions on the artist. A complete catalog of her art showed the depth and scope of her work.
My first challenging question was how to make a show of primarily black and white photographs, some no more than one inch by two inches, interesting and engaging? Another challenge was how to ensure that when the visitor arrived, they were not disappointed by the fact that none of her art was in the exhibition.
When researching the life of Frida Kahlo, I found a woman who suffered terrible tragedies, but who was strong, charismatic, with a wicked sense of humor, and a joy for life.
Unlike some artists, Kahlo’s life and her work are virtually indistinguishable. André Breton, one of the founders of the Surrealist movement, identified Kahlo as a Surrealist. Still, she refuted this, stating that she painted her reality.
There are many ways to design an exhibition. Each show is unique, and the visitor’s experience is always different for each project. Sometimes I find inspiration from an object, sometimes from the life and environment of the artist.
Our executive director and I met and agreed that we wanted to avoid using the stereotypical bright colors typically associated with exhibitions about Mexican artists. We chose maroon, blue, and green colors that were inspired by a color photograph captured by Nickolas Muray and an image taken of Kahlo for Vogue magazine.
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What visitors will see as they enter exhibit
A large mural of Frida Kahlo in the courtyard of her home in Mexico City, La Casa Azul, greets visitors as they enter the gallery at the Washington County Museum of Fine Arts.
Another essential element of any exhibition is the entrance treatment. I learned that entrances should be dynamic, engaging and inviting, making visitors want to explore what’s inside the gallery. The executive director and I examine dozens of images, ranging from modern photographs of Kahlo’s Mexican home, La Casa Azul (the Blue House), to those featured in the show.
One particular image of Kahlo standing in the courtyard of her home with one of her dogs seemed like an appropriate way to invite our visitors into the gallery. This image is about three by four inches and needs to be enlarged to 16 feet long and 10 feet tall. I used about every upscaling trick I knew to ensure that the image looks as good enlarged as the photograph itself looked.
I selected to build the wall in a curve to add a dynamic element. I either like a challenge or am too eccentric. How do I make a wall that size that I cannot permanently install into the floor or walls?
Exhibition design is both creative and very technical. You have to plan for everything that you can think of that can go wrong, and everything you can’t.
Sometimes, gallery limitations, time or money necessitated creativity. Our most extensive gallery features fabric-covered walls, which do not allow for easy color changes. I tested various materials and found a self-adhesive wallpaper that could be painted, allowing us to change the color of the gallery wall.
Since the images are primarily black and white, I wanted to add more color elements and context. Each label has images of the art that Kahlo was creating at the time the photograph was taken. Large graphics from her illustrated diary were used, and large images, such as her studio in Mexico City, added visual interest.
Another essential element was a video of Kahlo at her home in 1941, taken by famed photographer and her lover of 10 years, Nickolas Muray. These elements, woven together, help provide context for the photographs on the wall. While I have worked in museums for nearly 25 years and installed over 60 exhibitions, I must say that working on this particular installation has been one of my favorites.
Sarah C. Wolfe manages collections and exhibitions for the Washington County Museum of Fine Arts. The museum is open Tuesdays through Sundays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and admission is free. For more information, go to wcmfa.org. Frida Kahlo: Picturing an Icon is on display until Oct. 5, 2025.
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This article originally appeared on The Herald-Mail: Many factors went into designing Frida Kahlo show in Hagerstown
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