ReGift

ReGift, 2023, 117” x 311” x 188”, glass, wood, metal, gypsum, paint, adhesive, photo credit: Toledo Museum of Art

ReGift on view in Gallery 18 of the Toledo Museum of Art

ReGift is a multi-faceted project that includes a sculptural installation, video by Atesh Atici, and public programming. The work examines the subjective gaze, mines the histories of Toledo, and revives aspects of the City Beautiful movement. The installation features a three-quarter life-sized recreation of the parlor in Edward and Florence Libbey’s Old West End house that uses the Libbey’s bookplate as a visual guide (the only known image of their home interior).  

Some of these original household objects, including furniture, were gifted to the Museum by Florence Scott Libbey upon her death in 1938 and later sold in the 1990s. ReGift symbolically gifts these objects, along with their stories, to the entire Toledo community. By looking closely at an internal aspect of Florence’s life, the project aims to emphasize her involvement in building the Museum’s legacy and, importantly, the impact of the Libbey’s on Toledo area. 

On view August 12, 2023- September 1, 2024

https://www.toledomuseum.org/art/exhibitions/beth-lipman-regift