A collaborative project with Katy Asher and Doris Ennis.

The Doris Ennis Collection was a self-guided tour of the Portland Art Museum developed with Doris Ennis, a museum volunteer at the PAM since 1974.

We created a statue in Doris’ likeness. placed at the front of the museum, that housed the self-guided tour pamplets of Doris’ picks.

Sample text from brochure:

Down in the vaults of the art museum in a temperature-controlled room, hundreds of artworks are displayed to the museum staff and volunteers working in the Office of the Registrar. These are the works of the permanent collection. They are safely stored for exhibition at the Portland Art Museum and for loan to other art institutions.

In 1974, Doris Ennis decided to become a volunteer at the Museum, and nine years later became a docent, a position she kept over the next twenty years. At one point, the former Musem Registrar asked Doris to begin work in the Office of the Registrar where she has since processed  thousands of artworks at a typewriter, creating paper back-up for the Museum’s more extensive electronic information system provided by the staff. Doris populates the Museum’s card catalogue with information about when and how works are acquired. For example, some works arrive as part of a large donation from a collector, and some are given to the Museum by artists or other community members. Doris types out this information, and in doing so, supports the Museum’s staff in documenting important data about the art pieces within the Museum’s collection.

Doris’s compulsion to keep records doesn’t end in the Registrar’s office. In fact, Doris keeps calendars of her daily life spanning as far back as 1971. She hardly needs these when recounting her time at the Museum. Doris remembers details about each of the five Museum Directors who have come and gone during her tenure. She will fondly recount stories of Steven Ostrow’s interest in archival research, Dan Munroe’s dedication to the Native American collection and Phil Bogue’s assistance in the acquisition of Meso-American items. She admires the way that John Buchannan’s charisma grew the membership of the Museum and even more so appreciates Brian Ferriso’s sense dedication to art, fiscal responsibility and his staff. Doris’s volunteerism situates her in an exquisitely unique position. She not only plays a role in retaining the history of each artwork in the collection but also hosts an impressive memory of the people who, over time, have composed the life of the Museum.

Our interest in Doris began with the fact that she had spent so much time volunteering at the Museum. Over the past few months, we have come to know the many facets of Doris’s interesting life. Among other things, Doris took us on a detailed three-hour long tour of her favorite pieces in each gallery in the Museum, treated us to lively conversation, tea and toast at her home, introduced us to her family and patiently answered many calls and requests for more information. During the past few months we have come to know a woman who is well-traveled, wants to know about other people’s perspectives on contemporary social issues and who knows quite a bit about quite a lot of art.

Narrowed down from an initial list of fourty-three items, Doris selected the ten pieces found in this pamphlet as her favorites. She was careful to select items from each of the galleries so that viewers would be able to see a broad range of items during their time at the Museum while also adhering to two themes of her choosing: drama and beauty. From the initial list of fourty-three we decided to also curate our own small selection of pieces that reflect our growing understanding of Doris as woman of strength, beauty and intelligence.