THOM 1 | Fall / Winter 2013

4Large,
Lush Color Fields
Backpacked students amble down Call Street past
FSU Museum of Fine Arts and I try to recall if my
alma mater had an art museum on campus. Nope. I
think of how these kids have no idea what they have
as I introduce myself to Viki Thompson Wylder, the
museum’s curator of education. The silver-haired lady
has a motherly mystique about her and I can’t resist
hugging her. She embraces me with a gentle yet firm
squeeze before ushering me through the corridors of
the 16,000-square-foot art space.
Viki loves this place and it shows as she describes
some of the 5,000+ pieces of contemporary Native
American, South American, African and German art
included in the museum’s permanent collection. For
the past 25 years, since the museum’s exhibition of
Judith Chicago’s Dinner Party, Viki has played a huge
role in acquisition and setting the tone for visitors.
She rejects the notion of the museum as some sterile
sanctuary where it’s quiet enough to hear mice pee
on cotton and security guards draw down on any
visitor standing within a foot of the art. Rather, she
believes that art is to be discussed, interacted with
and absorbed into one’s thought process. We high-five
in agreement. Viki continues to show me a Picasso
lithograph, 1970s arpilleras, and a study drawn by her
beloved Judith Chicago.
Before my excursion ends, Viki explains Trevor
Bell’s work. An immigrant from England, Bell was
so impressed with Florida that he stayed on as an
FSU professor. After watching space shuttles blast
off at Cape Canaveral, Bell created Rising Heat and
Light Pillar, two larger than life, trapezoidal color field
paintings in tropical hues of orange, pink, periwinkle,
yellow and green. As Viki recounts this with a sweep of
her arms and laughing eyes, I recognize Tallahassee.
Just like Bell’s rocket depictions, something huge is
taking off here and it’s a beautiful thing to see.
FSU Museum of fine arts
530 West Call Street
Tallahassee, FL
mofa.fsu.edu
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