For over a decade, visitors to the Tacoma Art Museum have been welcomed by the evocative imagery of cowboys, cattle, and the vast American West, thanks to a generous gift from the Haub family of Germany. Comprising around 250 works, the Haub Family collection found its home in the Pacific Northwest in 2012. Since then, guests have been captivated by the dynamic representations of Western America. But, much like the evolving West itself, we are now asked to reevaluate the narratives that these artworks present.
What stories have yet to be told? Who is held within these works, and who is still being held at arm’s length? Most intriguing of all, why does this major museum collection of Western American art reside in the very corner of the Pacific Northwest?
We spoke with Jessica Wilks, Tacoma Art Museum’s Director of Curatorial, about storytelling, serendipity, and what we gain when we push the boundaries.
Image credit: Maymanah Farhat, Guest Curator, Nepantla: The Land is the Beloved
So… Why TAM?
The Haubs are great collectors of art and artifacts, and in the 80s, inspired by the stories of Karl May from his youth, Mr. Haub began investigating Western American art. The family also purchased a ranch in Wyoming around that same time, so they were in a way having this very American experience for themselves.
We were approached by the Haub family about receiving the collection, and we had to ask ourselves, “Are we in the West?” While we are technically located in the West, the area we occupy is not historically what one thinks of when they imagine ranching and cattle and classic Western tropes. However, other parts of our state are, so there is this culture represented in the collection that speaks to Washington and this region.
The Haubs had a longstanding relationship with TAM, and they were big believers in serendipity. They met with our director at the time, who herself was born where the Haubs founded Tengelmann Group, and there was this instant synergy. We began learning more about Western American art, discovering connections to the Northwest, and all these pieces fell into place and eventually inspired us to take the collection in.
Tell me about the collection. What sparked this desire to explore alternative narratives and interpretations?
Looking at the collection, you’re presented with depictions of the American West. You’ve got gun-slinging cowboys, depictions of Native peoples, buffalo hunts, landscapes, and animals – all these iconic images. For TAM, it’s been very important that we can talk about the American West, but also the myth of the West, and bring more voices into the conversation – because it’s not all cowboys riding horses and roping steers.
We want to know where the term ‘cowboy’ came from. We want to know who built the railroads that are depicted. We want to hear from people whose families have lived these experiences. Tacoma has such a rich and complicated history, and in that way, it dovetails beautifully with the stories presented in this collection.
We currently have roughly 250 pieces of the collection onsite here at TAM, and there’s an additional fifty pieces still with the Haub family that will come as a bequest. In the last ten years since receiving the collection, we’ve explored a variety of stories and themes. We started thinking about what it may look like to bring in outside perspectives—guest curators of different backgrounds—some artists, some scholars—and invite them to use the Haub family collection as a jumping-off point for some incredibly unique exhibitions. What we’ve arrived at are the four exhibitions you see now.
Those four exhibitions are Finding Home: The Chinese American West, Blackness is…The Refusal to be Reduced, Nepantla: The Land is the Beloved, and The Abiqueños and The Artist, all of which are part of [re]Frame. Can you speak to the intention behind [re]Frame: Haub Family Collection of Western American Art?
Here at TAM, we’re really trying to level the hierarchy of the curatorial voice. We believe everyone has a perspective, everyone has a voice to lend to the interpretation of these works. You see this in practice across the museum. The exhibitions featured in the [re]Frame project are all guest curated. Charles Peterson’s Nirvana is guest curated. Our upcoming exhibition Echoes of the Floating World is guest curated. All of this is an attempt to bridge the gap of understanding in art. It’s meant to expand upon the narratives we already know and lead us to consider what else is out there. I feel that by doing this, we‘re continuing to learn and understand these works more deeply. As time goes on and we synthesize all these perspectives and threads we’re rewarded with a more enriching interpretation of what we have in the collection.
What message do you have for the people questioning the framing of the Haub Family Collection within exhibitions like The Abiqueños and The Artist and Finding Home: The Chinese American West?
Many visitors love the Haub Collection as much as we do. These exhibitions widen the Western American art narrative. What you’re going to see are exhibitions that push the boundaries of interpretation alongside your favorite pieces from the collection. You’re going to see your favorite artworks from the Haub collection, but you’re also going to be asked to explore these narratives and consider how else they might be interpreted. I love the analogy of exploration because that’s what we’re trying to do here. We’re exploring what else we can learn from these artworks and the collection.