by: Ellen C. Caldwell
for JSTOR Daily
The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) recently made headlines with its digital campaign to make art go viral with their Send Me SFMOMA project.
The project is simple in theory, though not in scope: interested users text 572-51 and simply state “send me” followed by a word, phrase, color, or emoji regarding a specific theme or reference they’d like to see. Then the museum responds instantly with a work from its 34,678-piece collection. SFMOMA has received much acclaim for not only shedding light on its collection in a creative way, but also for making art so accessible.
The idea of bringing artwork to the people is not new. Historically, other museums have grappled with the desire to make art more accessible to people and places that don’t otherwise have museum and gallery spaces….