“Time in that space is so deeply, deeply poetic, that it seems like, to me, involving poetry and poets more is just a natural extension.”Īlthough Mr. Those who devised the residency also see the Guggenheim as a space whose modernist art collection, like poetry, pares meaning down to its essence. Johnson, who plans to highlight the building’s distinctive design during his stay, described it as a “temple of spirit,” an idea he has asked the writers composing the “poem signs” to consider. Young, Black and identifying, he said, as “trans,” he had never been inside the Guggenheim before applying, though he said he had been aware of its collection and its Frank Lloyd Wright architecture. Benka said, is also, coincidentally, the type of new visitor the museum is trying to attract. Johnson, who “brought forward just an incredible and creative set of ideas,” Ms. Diaz and Claudia Rankine, evaluated the applicants’ résumés and programming proposals. The residency’s five-member selection committee, which included the prizewinning poets Mei-mei Berssenbrugge, Natalie G. Instead, this initiative will focus on visitor programming and “expanding our invitation to a broader and more diverse audience,” said Cyra Levenson, the deputy director of the Guggenheim and its director of education and public engagement. Vicuña, a Chilean-born poet and artist, will reflect her belief that her artworks, which engage many mediums, are poems in space. Johnson will also develop programs connected to “ Cecilia Vicuña: Spin Spin Triangulene,” a Guggenheim exhibition that opens on May 27. “That feels like a big thing, because museums can be overwhelming, just by the nature of their size and the amount of emotional energy that it takes to take in art.” Johnson, 30, said in a recent interview at the museum. When a poem is discovered there, it can “either lead people to find out more about the poet or to definitely reconsider, and maybe even help guide, their experience in the space,” Mr. These “poem signs,” along with workshops, panels, interactive experiences and pop-up readings, which will continue through December, signal a new direction in museum programming that is being shaped by Taylor Johnson, the Guggenheim’s first poet in residence. Over time, they will be adorned with seven-line poems by authors including John Keene, Camonghne Felix, Marwa Helal and Ra/Malika Imhotep. Starting in June, its Manhattan building will bloom with poetry, destined to sprout in places you would hardly consider lyrical: stairwells, the rotunda seating area, the columns in the cafe and eventually even the sidewalk outside.

If you visit the Guggenheim Museum this summer, don’t be surprised if some of the works you see are not paintings, sculptures, videos or any other expected forms of visual art. This article is part of our latest special section on Museums, which focuses on new artists, new audiences and new ways of thinking about exhibitions.

Our word writer in residence