The eight dancers in “Crossings” perform on the stairs of the NSU Art Museum on Nov. 15.
The dancers in “Crossings” perform inside the Rauschenberg exhibit at the opening event on Nov. 15.
The NSU Art Museum in Fort Lauderdale opened an exhibition called “Robert Rauschenberg: Real Time” this month. The exhibition was funded by the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, which maintains Rauschenberg’s works.
“Robert Rauschenberg: Real Time” is one of more than 30 global exhibitions in the artist’s centennial celebration, “Rauschenberg100.”
“The Robert Rauschenberg Foundation reached out to us,” Bonnie Clearwater, director and chief curator at the NSU Art Museum, said. “Being a museum located in the state he made his home since 1970, they thought it was important to have an exhibition in Florida.”
Clearwater said that the museum worked closely with the foundation to create an event that would reflect Rauschenberg’s collaborative spirit. She said her goal was to bring the attendees into the creative dialogue that shaped Rauschenberg’s art.
“I wanted people to realize that there’s all these relationships,” Clearwater said. “Even if the works don’t look alike, there was a dialogue between him and other artists in the NSU Art Museum.”
The opening event on Nov. 15 featured a live performance of “Crossings,” a piece by Damaris Ferrer, adjunct professor of dance in the Department of Communication, Media, and the Arts.
Clearwater said that the performance was meant to animate the exhibition for guests so they could experience Rauschenberg’s ideas in motion.
“Her name came up, and I looked up what she had done, and I realized that her work was in the spirit of Merce Cunningham and Rauschenberg,” Clearwater said. “She had the perfect work about making connections and bridges.”
Ferrer said having the performance at the opening aimed to mirror Rauschenberg’s long history of working with dancers and choreographers like Cunningham.
“He did a lot of important work with choreographers who were going against the social norms,” Ferrer said. “So they were really breaking barriers, and we wanted to do the same thing.”
Ferrer said that as they moved down the stairs and the skirt expanded, she wanted attendees to become a part of the experimentation and collaboration she and Rauschenberg feature in their work.
“It’s always a beautiful experience to tap in, in real time, to the space and the audience,” Ferrer said. “You’ll never see ‘Crossings’ the same way twice because it’s all in the moment.”
Margot Fischer, an attendee from Little Rock, Arkansas, said the dance performance made the event feel communal and immersive.
“It really invokes a lot of emotion and feeling within yourself,” Fischer said. “It makes you feel a part of something bigger.”
Fischer said that this quality of the event helped her feel connected to the exhibit and Rauschenberg’s art.
“There were a lot of melodic sensations throughout the space tonight that inspired me and made me feel free,” Fischer said. “It makes me want to pick up a paintbrush or do these passion projects myself.”
The museum staff aimed to create an opening event that honored Rauschenberg’s legacy and made guests feel like participants instead of observers, Clearwater said.
“What I try to do when I plan an exhibition is think of the experience that the viewer will have,” Clearwater said. “So seeing a lot of young people, a lot of artists and everyone feeling that they were in the right place at the right time was the best part.”
Caylee Lott, senior interdisciplinary studies major and Practicum A student, contributed to this report.
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