From the Collection: People at Work
May 22 – June 12, 2011
People at Work is a selection of images in the form of photographs and prints drawn from the Sonoma County Museum's permanent collection. Ranging from the late-nineteenth to the late-twentieth century, these images provide insights into the vast multitude of jobs that individuals engage in. They can reveal shifting realities in the workplace, convey a sense of changes in human activity over time, or illustrate the technical aspects and oddities of different kinds of jobs. On display are older jobs like pressing grapes by hand, modern jobs like window washing skyscrapers, and work such as editing that usually occurs away from public view. Overall, these images point to the many jobs we do, how those have changed through history, and the simple nobility that can be found in the image of a person at work.
The Sonoma County Museum will feature special selections from its permanent collection in its west gallery on an ongoing basis, rotating exhibitions every few months. These exhibitions allow the museum to showcase its sizable, diverse collection and draw out a wide variety of important themes. It also allows the Museum the flexibility to engage in collaborations through these special exhibitions. People at Work, for instance, connects to the Visual Thinking Strategies (VTS) education program. VTS is a research–based teaching method that improves critical thinking and language skills through discussions of art and visual images. The program is being implemented by a non-profit organization at various sites across the country, including the Sonoma County Museum. Figurative images best serve the VTS approach and the theme of People at Work offers a rich source for VTS based tours and discussions at the Museum.
