As the new curator of American art at Brigham Young University’s Museum of Art, Kenneth Hartvigsen wants to help visitors have a positive and impactful experience, specifically those who are new to art museums.
With the museum located on BYU's campus, Hartvigsen says that it draws in a lot of first-timers to the museum.
"We have people who come here to visit us who maybe have never been in an art museum before,” said Hartvigsen, who was hired in May. “The opportunity we have to impress on those … newcomers to the museum experience and press upon them the vital role that art has played in human history and human culture — that’s a responsibility that I take very seriously.”
Hartvigsen hopes to help visitors and students become more engaged with artwork and show them the history and importance of art. Hartvigsen believes that crafting art is part of being human and wants attendees to get a better grasp of that idea.
“The creation of art is something that all people have done since the beginning of time,” Hartvigsen said. “People in every nation in the world have created art. I think it’s something in our DNA. … To give students an opportunity to engage both intellectually and spiritually and emotionally with these artworks is a really profound thing, and I’m just grateful to have a chance to do that.”
He also hopes visitors have a peaceful experience at the museum as they reflect on the artwork.
“I hope that the public finds the museum a place of contemplation,” Hartvigsen said. “There’s something about an art museum that’s almost church, in the sense that people come here to meditate. … It helps them to think through and feel things that maybe they’d been struggling to comprehend.”
Recently, Hartvigsen has started creating works of art himself. Although he loved and studied art, it wasn’t until a student asked to see his art, and he was embarrassed to say he didn’t have any, that Hartvigsen began working on art as a hobby.
“That made me think … if I believe that this is a deep part of our human experience — which I do believe that — I thought, well, why is it I don’t do this myself?” Hartvigsen said. “So about two years ago, I started spending a lot of my free time drawing and manipulating photography and painting a little bit.”
Hartvigsen believes that one of the greatest blessings of art is the ability to express thoughts, emotions and feelings in a deeper and more profound way.
“Art is intellectual. It’s very thoughtful, but it’s also something that’s emotional," Hartvigsen said. "It can speak to you on a level that’s not necessarily logical or rational sometimes. It makes you feel things that you can’t necessarily articulate.
“I think it’s very spiritual. People have a way of expressing deep beliefs through art that they maybe wouldn’t be comfortable saying through direct language.”
Hartvigsen's interest in art was sparked in high school when his humanities class introduced him to the world of art. Since that time, he received degrees at the University of Utah and Boston University. He has been an adjunct teacher at Weber State University, Westminster College and BYU. As a teacher, he saw firsthand the powerful impact art had on his students.
“I’ve had students come to my class and talk about their experiences in the museum and actually be brought to tears as they talk about the kind of emotional experiences they’ve had with the artwork here,” Hartvigsen said. “The general public who hasn’t spent a lot of time in an art museum may not know that those kind of experiences are available to them here.”
While teaching at BYU, staff members from the museum asked him to help with the exhibition “Reality Reorganized: Walter Askin and Wayne Kimball's Mysterious Discursions.” He began working a temporary, part-time position with the museum.
“That was kind of my first initial contact with the museum,” Hartvigsen said. “In the process of doing that show, the curator of American art, Marian Wardle — who had been here for 17 years — announced that she was retiring."
The Museum of Art currently has seven exhibits and is free to the public. For hours, visit moa.byu.edu.
Email: cstimpson@deseretnews.com