Hi Eugene,

The article I linked below tells you how many people attended the
exhibition in Baltimore (you would need to contact them to find out what
there average attendance at that time was), as well as names a few other
institutions that put on similar exhibitions with Wilson (However, I
believe that there are more than that).

https://www.msu.edu/course/ha/452/wilsoninterview.htm

Other museums continue to play off the success of this exhibition in
less direct ways. For example, the Museum of Glass in Tacoma Washington
had an exhibition called Mining Glass (2008) that included a work by
Fred Wilson (executed during his residency there). Though there was no
explicit connection made by the guest curator, Juli Cho Bailer, it seems
likely that there was some intent to capitalize on the fame of the
earlier exhibition.

As far as legacy goes, Mining the Museum is still talked about in the
art history community. Prominent scholars, such as Kobena Mercer,
continue to talk about the relevancy of Wilson's work and the impact it
had. It has influenced scholarship in regards to a greater understanding
of how objects are detached from their original context and the stories
that go untold by museum display. Wilson's legacy is not just as an
"outsider" curator, but a shift in museum interpretation as well. We no
longer simply ask, "Who made this silver platter?" and "Who made it?",
but "Who carried it?" and "How do we tell their story?" as well.

All the best,
Kate Albert

-----Original Message-----
From: Museum discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On
Behalf Of Eugene Dillenburg
Sent: Tuesday, January 12, 2010 2:43 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [MUSEUM-L] Mining the Museum, 1992

A new semester began today, and in class we were talking about "Mining
the Museum," Fred Wilson's exhibit at the Maryland Historical Society in
1992.  The students came up with a couple good questions that I couldn't
fully answer, so I thought I'd pose them here.

1) The exhibit was certainly a critical success, and is still talked
about in museum circles.  But was it a popular success?  Did it draw
crowds?

2) What, if anything, has been the legacy of this exhibit?  I don't
recall seeing or hearing about anything this subversive or this
personal, certainly not to the extent that you would call a "trend."  I
suppose the greater willingness to include "outsider," non-museum voices
in exhibits might be traced at least in part to this show, but I
couldn't say for sure.

Any thoughts?

Eugene Dillenburg
Exhibit Developer

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