AFA Autumn 2018

Antiques & Fine Art 89 2018 elements. Undoubtedly the biggest transformation in the renovated gallery is the addition of the 800-square-foot Design Lab (Fig. 2), converted from an adjacent storage area, and now a hands-on activity space where guests can learn more about the design process through both digital and analog activities. Visitors can build their own prototypes; design a chair, a lamp, or a teapot on a Newfields Labs modeling app; and even test out and evaluate some of the chairs we have on display. Guests can sign up for classes to design protot ypes on more sophisticated software and have them produced by 3-D printers in the lab. In the gallery itself, we’ve rotated in more than 150 new objects, many of which are recent acquisitions that have never been displayed here before. We’ve removed a number of the standing object cases to allow for improved sightlines and more breathing room, and we’ve cut pathways between some of the platforms and the walls to create better f low. Instead of being organized by art movements, the gallery is now laid out thematically. This decision reflects a broader trend in museums and academia to Fig. 2: The Design Lab presents the design process with activities exploring brainstorming, rendering, prototyping, and user testing. Rendering by Lara Huchteman © Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields. Fig. 3: Wieki Somers (Dutch, b. 1976), High Tea Pot with Cover, 2003. Porcelain, fur, steel, leather. H. 9⅞, W. 7⅞, D. 18½ in. Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields, Jane Weldon Myers Acquisition Fund (2009.462A-C), © Wieki Somers.