4 | APRIL 8 - 14, 2021 | WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM
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WAM solves the museum merch puzzle Veer Mudambi Worcester Magazine USA TODAY NETWORK
When the Worcester Art Museum shop came under Sandra Polanik last summer, the museum itself was closed due to the pandemic. Rather than an obstacle, she saw the closure as an opportunity to prepare new souvenirs at the shop, for when visitors eventually returned. “We took this time of pause to ensure we had merchandise that had a tangible connection to the museum,” she explained. Souvenirs such as puzzles, calendars and even masks, are now featuring artwork from the museum’s own collection. But as Polanik, manager of events and hospitality, soon found out, reproducing artwork in any form can be a puzzle all its own. “The public would be surprised to learn what goes into reproducing a piece of artwork,” she said. There’s more to creating a puzzle than choosing a painting and sending a copy to the manufacturer, the fi rst such barrier being a single dreaded word — copyright. “Just because we own the work doesn’t mean we own the rights to the work,” said Sarah Gillis of collection documentation. This means she has the fi nal say on what can and cannot be reproduced and sold. In the case of living artists, there could be royalties involved. So for now, Polanik and Gillis have stayed with works that are currently in public domain. A good rule of thumb for Gillis — the work of anyone who died before 1951 is assumed to be in the public domain, 70 years after the death of the artist. “Our plan is to broaden the variety of puzzles that we off er to ensure cultural diversity,” Gillis said, “but for now we’re focusing on works that we can defi nitely use.” Even before the copyright cull, of which Polanik said they’re lucky to get two works out of a list of 30, art pieces must pass inspection from Danielle Waseleski. As a guest service representative, she has the best idea of what guests request to see the most or what
A team of three women are working on creating merchandise based on art in the Worcester Art Museum’s collection. The team consists of Sandra Polinack, Sarah Gillis and Danielle Waseleski. PHOTOS BY ASHLEY GREEN/TELEGRAM & GAZETTE
may be a current crowd favorite. For Waseleski, a big part of her job is simply doing what she loves. “I’m a very big museum goer — my Instagram is all following museums.” Naturally, she has also accumulated a large collection of art reproductions, and has lately begun moving from prints to puzzles. “Having tangible souvenirs that I can do something with is very important to me,” she said. “Because I’m running out of wall space.” Waseleski also plays another key role in the museum’s souvenir triumvirate. “Danielle is like the person between us for the voice of sanity and reason,” said Polanik. “I have all the crazy ideas and Sarah has all the red pens.” The fi nal step is arguably the most important but is not up to them. While they want to make sure the popular pieces that people are coming to see are represented in merchandise, said Gillis, it’s also a question of what translates well to puzzles. That last part is up to the puzzle manufacturers. The group has been stymied at this point before in which a piece has passed all three members’ criteria, only to be
blocked at the fi nish line. One such case was a puzzle based on the popular Higgins armory collection. The John Woodman Higgins Armory Collection includes more than 1,500 items from multiple eras, but is best known for its armor dating back to medieval and Renaissance Europe. When Waseleski submitted an image of a suit of armor to the puzzle company, they rejected it out of hand because of the white background. None of them view this as any kind of loss though — rather it’s a learning experience and a source for new ideas, and the Higgins collection is now being featured in a museum calendar series. Polanik had already been looking to bring wall calendars into the mix, having seen their wide customer appeal. The Higgins Collection, with its own base of followers, provided the opening she had been looking for. Of the puzzle ideas that did make it, four are now on sale in the shop — “Venus at the Forge of Vulcan” by Jan Brueghal the Elder, “Cranes” by Hoitsu Sakai, “The Peaceable Kingdom” by Edward Hicks, and “Flower Still Life” by
Face masks are among the new merchandise at the Worcester Art Museum.
Kimono clips based on pieces in the WAM collection are on display in the museum's gift shop.
Gerard van Spaendonck. With the popularity of puzzles during the pandemic, manufacturing them is taking longer, See MERCH, Page 5D
