The Toledo Museum of Art in Ohio is undertaking its first comprehensive gallery reinstallation in over 40 years, with plans to complete the project by 2027. The ambitious renovation aims to create a more global narrative through strategic placement of artworks from different cultures and time periods, reflecting the museum's significantly expanded collection.
The museum's new approach is exemplified by its recent acquisition of "Ecriture No.16-76" by Korean dansaekhwa master Park Seo-bo, which now hangs alongside a painting by American minimalist Agnes Martin. Park's 1976 work, acquired in June, features repeated pencil lines drawn across a canvas covered with creamy beige oil paint, representing one of the earlier pieces in the late artist's renowned Ecriture series.
Park Seo-bo was a leading figure in the Korean art movement known as dansaekhwa, or Korean monochrome painting, which emerged in the late 1960s and emphasized repetitive and meditative actions. The side-by-side placement of Park's work with Martin's painting reflects the museum's broader vision to reinforce chronological and cross-cultural narratives throughout its permanent installation.
"It allows us to tell this dialogue, not of how these two artists were interacting with each other directly, but how, in the postwar period, the artists were thinking about similar issues in terms of society and of how that manifests as aesthetic experience, even separated by thousands of miles," said Adam M. Levine, director of the Toledo Museum of Art, in a Zoom interview with The Korea Herald on July 28.
Levine, who took office as director in 2020, explained that the comprehensive overhaul was necessary due to the collection's dramatic growth over the past four decades. "The collection has grown so much over the past 40 years... The way the collection was displayed did not tell a truly global art history. It is time for a refresh and to rethink the way we tell art history for our audiences," he said.
The museum has been actively collecting community feedback on the reinstallation since last year, with the final design set to be completed by the end of this year. The "grand reopening" is scheduled for 2027, marking a significant milestone for the institution.
With the new emphasis on global context, Korean art's visibility to the public has expanded dramatically. More than half of the Korean collection is now on display, compared to only one piece that was exhibited in 2020. The Korean collection at TMA currently comprises 16 pieces as of 2025, representing a 33 percent increase from the 12 pieces held in 2020.
"It is impossible to tell a truly global art history without talking about dansaekhwa and talking about Korean contributions across time and space," Levine emphasized. Park's painting joins the museum's recent acquisitions of Korean art, including a 17th-century jar decorated with orchid blooms, Goryeo celadons, and "Donkey's Sofa," a sculpture by Gim Hong-sok. The museum also holds works by prominent Korean contemporary artists Lee Bul, Yang Hae-gue, and video art pioneer Paik Nam-june.
The acquisition of Park Seo-bo's work was made possible through the Georgia Welles Apollo Society, a collecting group of more than 100 members. Unlike many museums where curators compete for patron support, TMA operates with a unique system where a single curator leads the initiative each year. In this cycle, Asian art curator Christine Starkman, who was appointed in 2022, proposed several works, with Park's painting ultimately selected by the society.
The museum has been investing in Asian art since the early 1900s and was among the first U.S. museums to employ an Asian art curator – Dorothy Blair, who served from 1928 to 1952. However, Levine noted that the institution previously lacked sufficient curatorial coverage to represent the entire world. "Over the past five years, we have quadrupled our curatorship and have curators for every time period and every geography," he said.
This expansion has been supported by significant financial investment. The museum's annual acquisition budget was doubled from $2.5 million to $5.5 million thanks to endowment growth and fundraising efforts, enabling all curators to actively seek out important works like Park Seo-bo's piece.
Late last year, the museum announced its acquisition of 264 artworks through purchases and gifts in 2024. Among these significant additions is a Persian carpet from the Rothschild collection, crafted in a royal workshop during the reign of Shah Tahmasp I (1524-1576), which strengthens the museum's Islamic art collection. The museum also plans to increase its collection of African modernism, South American art, and Native American art to fill remaining gaps in the institution's historical narrative.
Levine believes that the standard for evaluating great museums has evolved over time. While collections and exhibitions remain essential for assessing a museum's significance, he emphasizes that what truly matters for a director is how an institution connects with its community. "The Toledo Museum of Art, while we have an international platform and collection, we're primarily a regional museum. Our community is really engaged with us," Levine said.
The director sees museums as playing a crucial role in bringing people together in an increasingly divided world. "I think we have this obligation to bring people together in a way that there are not many places left in the world where people who disagree can still come together, stand side by side, and look at the same thing. That is one of the reasons I think museums are so important," he added.
The Toledo Museum of Art, founded in 1901 by entrepreneur and art collector Edward D. Libbey, houses more than 30,000 artworks and continues to operate as a privately endowed, nonprofit institution. The upcoming reinstallation represents a significant milestone in the museum's long history of serving both its local community and the broader art world.
