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The term USEUM™ was trademarked by the Burchfield-Penney Art Center in 1996 to suggest the playful atmosphere and hands-on experience that would be available in interactive, educational exhibition space. In addition to presenting collections in imaginative environments, the Burchfield-Penney will commission artists to create interactive displays to promote child and adult learning.
The inaugural space featured an installation by Western New York artist Roberley Bell who says Flower Blobs Bloom continued her “interest in the artifice of nature and the control of the built American landscape.” For several years her installations have examined “ideas related to the built environment exploring the relationship between the man-made and the natural in landscape, focusing on the artifice of nature.” Flower Blobs Bloom focused on the young experience and the idea of play as an environment, thus providing a place for gathering. The title reflects strategies aligned with blob architecture which is based on computer-generated designs dominated by organic, bulging shapes. The Useum™ is sponsored by the Cameron and Jane Baird Foundation, and Richard C. and Rita Argen Auerbach.