avivingThe
Past A Future
Ann Friedman,
new curator of collections
for Meadow Brook Hall,
seeks to bring new respect
to a local treasure.
LISA BRODY
Special to The Jewish News
nn Friedman recently traded
in the hilltop views of Los
Angeles and the contempo-
rary art of the J. Paul Getty
Museum for the pastoral, baronial vistas
of Rochester Hill's Meadow Brook Hall.
Friedman, a native of New York
who grew up in Los Angeles, trans-
planted herself June 1 to metropolitan
Detroit to be the first curator of collec-
tions for the hall.
The former home of Matilda Dodge
Wilson is filled with numerous paint-
ings, decorative items, furniture and
tchochkes. "She liked to accumulate
stuff," says Friedman, laughing.
Her job includes cataloging and
inventorying every item in the home,
as well as assessing its financial, histori-
cal and artistic value.
She says the house has a hundred
rooms, and while there have been
inventories done before, this is the first
time the entries are being computerized.
Friedman is the first professional
curator to work at Meadow Brook
Hall, and some of the descriptions of
items, done by Matilda Dodge Wilson
or volunteers who were not as well
versed in the decorative arts, are incor-
rect — "although their work provides a
good starting point," she says.
Another challenge for Friedman is to
correctly identify the furnishings.
"There are original 17th-century items,
and then there are 19th-century pieces
11/6
1998
98 Detroit Jewish News
done in a 1670s style, as well as 20th-
century imitation pieces [Matilda
Dodge Wilson] had commissioned for
the house," explains Friedman.
She says her goals include making
Meadow Book Hall better known to
the local community, and to network
with other museums so they can
become aware of what it has to offer.
Friedman agreed to let the Van
Gogh Museum in Amsterdam borrow a
French painting hanging in the hall for
an exhibition next spring. She was
eager to inform the Metropolitan
Museum of Art in New York, which
has mounted a Tiffany exhibit, that
Meadow Brook Hall has pieces repre-
senting areas that the New York muse-
um was lacking. The Met's curator had
not been aware Meadow Brook Hall
even existed.
Many examples of Louis Comfort
Tiffany's work, all culled from the
house, are currently on display through
Nov. 15 at Oakland University's cam-
pus gallery.
"I'm not finding hidden treasures,"
notes Friedman. "[These] treasures are
out in the open and hanging on the
walls."
Friedman worked in the decorative
arts department at the J. Paul Getty
Museum in Los Angeles for nine years
prior to coming to Meadow Brook
Hall. She spent her childhood in
California, and attended the University
of California at Santa Barbara (UCSB).
"I got interested in art history
through some good art history profes-
sors at UCSB, and went on a complete
tour of Europe, a teen tour, at 18 or
19," recalls Friedman. "I fell in love
with art and became an art historian."
Her master's degree is from the
University of London, and she earned
her doctorate at Bryn Mawr in
Pennsylvania.
Friedman has spent 20 years work-
ing in numerous museums around the
country. "I've lived in Salt Lake City;
Oswego, [in upstate] New York; spent a
year in Duluth and five years in
Minneapolis. I still have my wool
coat!" laughs Friedman.
Raised in a Conservative Jewish
home in the L.A.-Fairfax area,
Friedman grew up with a strong Jewish
identity. She describes it as "something
I enjoy dipping back into," though she
is unaffiliated right now.
"My parents have become more
regular temple-goers as they have got-
ten older, and going to temple is
something I associate doing with
them. I don't tend to think about
going on my own," she says.
One of the most difficult things
about leaving California was leaving
her parents, who live two hours from
L.A. "It was nice being able to just
drive and see them for lunch or din-
ner," she notes.
"[But] after nine years, and the
opening of the new Getty, having
worked on galleries and planned
exhibits, I felt a sense of accomplish-
ment, and I was ready to move on to
the next thing," she says. "I wanted to
Ann Friedman:
"One of the
conservation
challenges is to
keep the feel of
the house."
come to a small museum where I could
make a difference."
Friedman enjoys working in a living
museum. "One of the conservation
challenges is to keep the feel of the
house. People want to see the house as
Matilda Dodge Wilson lived in it.
"We want to leave everything out,
yet there is a need to repair and rest
things," Friedman says. She is eager to
have a climate control system installed.
When Matilda Dodge Wilson died
in 1967 and left the house to Oakland
University, she did not leave any money
to maintain the home. But Meadow
Brook Hall has successfully sustained
itself through rental functions. More
than 100,000 people visit each year.
The challenge now for Friedman is
to curate, educate, work with docents,
research collections, prepare educational
materials and organize exhibits to keep
the art and artifacts in this 70-year old
house alive and accessible for at least
another 70 years. Matilda Dodge
Wilson's shadow looms large for her.
"After working here for a while, I
find myself buying clothes and acces-
sories in her style," laughs Friedman. ❑
Meadow Brook Hall offers
tours Monday-Saturdays at
1:30 p.m., and on Sundays at
1:30 and 3:30 p.m. $8
adults/$6 seniors/$4 ages 5-
12/free ages 4 and under. For
more information, call (248)
370-3140.