The Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University

From His Window on Mount Vernon

A conversation with Gary Vikan
Interview by Sarah Achenbach

Gary Vikan, director of the Walters Art Museum, has yet to meet a culture he doesn’t embrace. Trained as a Byzantinist, his expertise in medieval art has earned him an international reputation. From 1999 to 2002, he served on President Bill Clinton’s Cultural Property Advisory Committee, and in 2000, the French Minister of Culture and Communication honored him with knighthood in the Order of the Arts and Letters. The exhibits he’s curated during his 22 years with the Walters include African Zion: The Sacred Art of Ethiopia in 1993 and Gates of Mystery: The Art of Holy Russia in 1992. Since becoming museum director in 1994, Vikan has led a transformation of the Walters through expansion and reinstallations of the museum’s ancient, medieval, Renaissance, and baroque collections.

Then there’s Elvis. The King of Rock ‘n’ Roll and the similarities between American popular culture icons and early Christian saints are frequent Vikan lecture topics. And since last March, he’s been charming the techno-culture with an acclaimed blog (www.thewalters.org/blog). As the first director of a major art museum to publish a blog (each Wednesday through the Web), he shares his wry insider’s take on the current state of art and culture.

We chatted with the eclectic, energetic Vikan about the state of the Mt. Vernon Cultural District and the cultural spark between the visual arts and music.

Q: The Mt. Vernon Cultural District is home to a variety of arts organizations. How do the visual arts and music intersect?

A: Where I come from in Minnesota, there were no visual arts. I didn’t go to a museum until I was 13. My introduction to fine arts was through music. I played the oboe … I was also student director of my high school band. [Today], I use musical terms to talk about [the Walters’] collections. The diva or soloist is the prominent work in the room, while the other objects might be the chorus. The boundaries between arts and music and the brain are very porous. At the Walters, we’re getting into applied research and inviting neuroscientists to talk about this. In November, for instance, Semir Zeki, a professor of neurobiology at University College London, lectured here on ambiguity in art and the brain.

Q: What kind of collaborations have you had with your neighbor just across Charles Street?

A: The collaboration that was paramount between the Walters and Peabody was the creation of the Mt. Vernon Cultural District in 1996. We both were leaders in getting the organization started.

Last year, six Peabody student composers created four compositions for our exhibition Courbet and the Modern Landscape. This was a very innovative project by one of our curators, Eik Kahng [curator of 18th- and 19th-century art]. When Courbet painted, he thought he was giving expression to music. [The Peabody composers] responded musically to the seasons the way the artist gave a voice to the landscape. The installation was grouped into the four seasons, and the students’ compositions created ambient music to enhance the visitor’s sensory immersion into Courbet’s landscapes.

Q: How has the Mt. Vernon Cultural District evolved over your two decades with the Walters?

A: Mt. Vernon has gradually acquired a “people” identity that complements its architectural and cultural identity. Fifteen years ago, I’d look out my window and see derelicts and fist fights. My office looks directly on the west park [of Mt. Vernon Square], and now I see couples strolling and people reading the newspaper. It’s a nice place to be. The instruments are now in harmony, and there’s a holistic tone that emerges from the whole setting. We benefit by the neighborhood and they benefit by us. It’s a good moment.

Q: In fall 2006, the Walters “opened wide its doors” by announcing free admission for everyone. What’s been the upshot?

A: Our mission is to serve the public, and attendance went up by 50 percent. We’ve created deep and lasting value for the broader community because of the people who visit as a result of free admission. These are African-American families, neighbors, people who drop in for 20 minutes on their way home from work. It’s the difference between tending a potted plant and a plant that grows in the ground. We’ve deepened our roots in the community.