Staff Pick: Erica von Schenk
Hi! I’m Erica von Schenk, head of the visitor experience department or, as we affectionately call it, VEX. I oversee all aspects of VEX daily operations and staff. My team and I lead the way in making the museum a welcoming place for all through outstanding customer service in the galleries and at the welcome desk.
While the current exhibition Interior Lives: Modern American Spaces, 1890–1945 was being installed by our curatorial team, I remember peeking in through the glass gallery doors to catch a glimpse of the art going up on the walls. I think my exact words were ‘OH MY GOSH IS THAT WALLPAPER?!’ As we got closer to the opening of the show, staff were given a tour by its organizer, CMA Senior Curator Michael Neumeister. He told the story of how he found this sample of the 1890s wallpaper tucked away in the collection vault while he was looking for something else. It comes from a home in New Haven, Connecticut, and was donated to the museum in the 1980s. I grew up in Connecticut before my family moved to South Carolina, and I love that the wallpaper and I both found our way to the CMA.
A complete version of the pattern was reproduced for the gallery and is displayed with this beautiful armchair. The artist Walter Crane is known primarily for his illustrations in children’s books and political pamphlets, but he also worked on designs for wallpaper, ceramic tiles, and other decorative arts. I love the colors and the intricate repeated pattern of peacocks and tulips and wonder what it would have looked like in the home surrounded by the family’s furniture. I hope that you come to visit and see it in all its glory, along with the rest of this beautiful show. Also, did you know that you can borrow one of these lightweight stools while you enjoy the galleries? Highly recommended!
