Greenland
Barbara Ellington, Senior Gleaner Writer
THE NEW man at the helm of the National Gallery is Jonathan Greenland who has a PhD in art history. Born in Wales, his last assignment was at the Brooklyn Museum of Art where he changed the previously held view that museums were only for the elite.
Arriving in Jamaica just prior to the passage of Hurricane Ivan, Greenland has come to Jamaica at a time when, in his words, "I got a chance to see first-hand how Jamaicans act in a crisis and how it affects the poorest of the poor."
Just two months into the new job and with his recent marriage to a Jamaican woman and a new-born son to occupy his leisure hours, Greenland spoke to The Sunday Gleaner about his impressions of his new home and plans for the gallery.
BE: Downtown must have been a beautiful city when it was built, as you look around you can see remnants of the articheture and derelict facades of the majestic edifices that were the pride of the era. The National Gallery is downtown. What do you see as the greatest need to get people to develop an appreciation for the beautiful landmarks?
JG: Jamaica has a great artistic tradition, the National Gallery belongs to the people. When a child walks into the gallery, I don't think he's aware that this fantastic collection belongs to the people of Jamaica and, by extension, to him. Yes, those problems of awareness and pride need to be addressed, but we're not the first to have these problems. The gallery has a beautiful collection of Jamaican treasures, and Dr. David Boxer is to be commended for putting it all together, but it's in a problematic area. In spite of that, I can't understand why people don't come in droves. It doesn't have a strong connection with the Jamaican people so I'll be following procedures which worked before and implementing some new ideas to get more people coming to appreciate what it has to offer.
BE: How will you tackle the problem of establishing a connection with the people?
JG: You have to use many different strategies and one is to consider the people who are very diverse and from different backgrounds. Many are not used to going to galleries, so we have to start doing things in a visitor-centred way, bringing in families and especially those with young children who want something entertaining, educational and patriotic to do on the weekend. There is no reason they shouldn't enjoy assimilating their own culture and learning about their own artists.
I will be pushing a strong educational programme centred on children from the age of four. People never stop learning. I have noticed that people go to continuing education classes so we need to put in place activities for colleges, universities and high schools. I'd like to see an internship programme here where people can come in and do internships or work experience in return for credits.
I would also like to work with teachers and colleges because art is a great vehicle for teaching ways of using art in the classrooms. At the start of the school year when teachers are looking at plans for the children, we want them to start scheduling class trips to the gallery.
Many people feel that art galleries are intimidating and boring and I want to change that perception because I feel that they should be places where people enjoy learning. It should be an engaging, not a passive experience. So I'm looking to including educational programmes that make their critical faculties work.
With us all working together, I am looking forward to having families and educators come down for social and informal activities that encourage young professionals to relax and listen to music, meet new friends, talk and look at the exhibits.
BE: Do you have plans for an artist in residence programme, would that be a good idea?
JG: That would be a good idea but at the moment I am preparing my strategic plan to present in February and it will include many ideas like an artist residency programme. I have had experience with that in New York and it was good.
BE: Do you think your ideas can work here, and will people be receptive to getting the gallery buzzing, becoming more of a happening place and earning money?
JG: I have wonderful support from the board who, under my predecessor, have done a great job over the years. It's very clear to me that there are a number of Jamaicans who are interested in seeing the National Gallery become more relevant to the people. I have heard that from everyone I've met so far. We know from experience that people like the idea of change but are not always interested in the process; they find it hard to see changes to the familiar, and some find it difficult to open up institutions considered elitist and removed from the people, and some might be uncomfortable with it, but this is not the case here.
Part of the problem, as I said before, is that we are in a difficult but beautiful area and people don't always feel safe coming here.
BE: What was your experience at the Brooklyn Museum like, and how long were you there?
JG: I was there for seven years and did general adult education programmes. I worked in a similar situation. In the beginning it was perceived as this huge white elephant having no relevance to the community except for the rich and the staff and because of its location it did not fit in with tourists route or Manhattan art community. It was a very old fashioned place and over a period of five years, we had a strategic plan that had to be accepted at the beginning in order to be worthwhile at the end. It took a long time but now it's very popular and everyone goes there.
BE: Describe a couple of your success stories there.
JG: On Saturdays we had large events that attracted upwards of 8,000 people, these had a menu of activities for all ages, many of whom were first-time visitors to a gallery.
BE: So you don't need to reinvent the wheel, something like that could be tailored to work here.
JG: Yes, through that programme we were designated the number one dating spot in New York and it attracted many young people. People interested in dance music, theatre, craft making activities for children and film. We had evening programmes that catered to their needs; for example, thousands of children came in to make masks and collages and this was done successfully on the first Saturday of every month. There was also food and drink in areas of the gallery where there was no art work so that someone could walk around and sip a glass of wine.
BE: Look into the future and let's say everything goes according to plan and you spend seven years here, what is it that you would like to leave as your legacy to the gallery?
JG: I would like to leave in place a very strong educational programme which is staffed by well-trained people who implement great ideas for students, families and adults. I would like children to have their first art experience here, look at art and have an engaging experience with it. I would like to see people come and leave with something positive for having been here. I'd like the gallery to be that for Jamaicans and a good revenue stream with a great weekend programme with a list of activities for all.
I would like to be involved in the rebirth of the downtown community, I walk around the waterfront and it's a beautiful place, as you say in most other cities downtown by the water is usually thriving and bustling, this area is ripe for development, so I want to be part of that and be ambitious enough to have that as my legacy.
BE: You have said that you are very impressed with the collection, what else do you think could be added, any other aspects of ourselves as a nation that could be added?
JG: That would be a curatoral decision. My personal instinct is that we could have more representation of the mixture of Jamaican heritage from African to Indian, early colonial Chinese, Jewish and other pieces that represent the motto. I can see more objects of material culture such as furniture and culture done in a way that is attractive to the viewer. We design our environment and Jamaicans have a fabulous sense of colour.
