Sound artist, master storyteller, and MetLiveArts Artist in Residence Nate DiMeo—whose popular podcast, The Memory Palace, paints vivid, poetic pictures of moments in American history—will animate The Met throughout the 2016–17 season, interrogating the collection to draw out the revealing secrets and stories of the art.
Newly commissioned episodes of The Memory Palace—each one itself a work of art—focus on The American Wing and the Museum at large.
What Is a Memory Palace?
Ancient Greeks and Romans used a mnemonic device called a "memory palace" to help them remember the complicated and numerous details of their orations. They would visualize the intricacies of the stories by constructing in their minds an elaborate, yet familiar, place: a memory palace.
These episodes are also available at thememorypalace.us and through all podcasting platforms, including iTunes.
Published October 6, 2016. This episode is best experienced in gallery 760 in The American Wing. If you can't visit the Museum in person, you might want to take a look at Emanuel Leutze's Washington Crossing the Delaware (1851), Albert Bierstadt's The Rocky Mountains, Lander's Peak (1868), and Jules Tavernier's Dance in a Subterranean Longhouse at Clearlake, California (1878).
Written and produced by Nate DiMeo, with engineering assistance from Kathy Tu and research assistance from Andrea Milne. Its executive producer is Limor Tomer, general manager of Live Arts, The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Published October 6, 2016. This episode is best experienced standing by case 23 ("Blown-Molded Glass, 1810–75") in gallery 706 in The American Wing. If you can't visit the Museum in person, you might want to take a look at the pocket bottle (1815–40), John Singer Sargent's Madame X (Madame Pierre Gautreau) (1883–4), and Frank Duveneck's Tomb Effigy of Elizabeth Boott Duveneck (1891).
Written and produced by Nate DiMeo, with engineering assistance from Kathy Tu. Its executive producer is Limor Tomer, general manager of Live Arts, The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Published November 21, 2016. This episode is best experienced in gallery 735 in The American Wing. If you can't visit the Museum in person, you might want to take a look at the John Vanderlyn's Panoramic View of the Palace and Gardens of Versailles (1818–19).
Written and produced by Nate DiMeo, with engineering assistance from Kathy Tu and research assistance from Andrea Milne. Its executive producer is Limor Tomer, general manager of Live Arts, The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Published February 15, 2017. This episode is best experienced in gallery 747 in The American Wing. If you can't visit the Museum in person, you might want to take a look at the Prince Demah Barnes's Portrait of William Duguid (1773).
Written and produced by Nate DiMeo, with engineering assistance from Kathy Tu and research assistance from Andrea Milne. Its executive producer is Limor Tomer, general manager of Live Arts, The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Published April 17, 2017. This episode is best experienced in gallery 131 in The Sackler Wing. If you can't visit the Museum in person, you might want to take a look at the Temple of Dendur (ca. 10 B.C.).
Written and produced by Nate DiMeo, with engineering assistance from Elyssa Dudley and research assistance from Andrea Milne. Its executive producer is Limor Tomer, general manager of Live Arts, The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Published June 9, 2017. This episode is best experienced in gallery 719 in The American Wing. If you can't visit the Museum in person, you might want to take a look at the Ballroom at Gadsby's Tavern, Alexandria, Virginia (1792–93).
Written and produced by Nate DiMeo, with engineering assistance from Elizabeth Aubert. Its executive producer is Limor Tomer, general manager of Live Arts, The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Published September 5, 2017. This episode is best experienced in gallery 759 in The American Wing. If you can't visit the Museum in person, you might want to take a look at two sculptures by Edmonia Lewis, Hiawatha (1868) and Minnehaha (1868).
Written and produced by Nate DiMeo, with engineering assistance from Elizabeth Aubert. Its executive producer is Limor Tomer, general manager of Live Arts, The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Published September 5, 2017. This episode is best experienced in The Henry R. Luce Center for the Study of American Art.
Written and produced by Nate DiMeo, with engineering assistance from Elizabeth Aubert. Its executive producer is Limor Tomer, general manager of Live Arts, The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Published December 16, 2015. This special episode of The Memory Palace coincided with the opening of the Rockefeller-Worsham Dressing Room (gallery 742) in The American Wing in December 2015. It shares some of the most luscious details about the life of Arabella Worsham (ca. 1850–1924)—mistress (and later, wife) of railroad magnate Collis P. Huntington—as well as some of the secrets she may have guarded. This episode is best experienced in gallery 742.
This podcast is made possible by the Clara Lloyd-Smith Weber Fund.
Written and produced by Nate DiMeo, with a musical score by Jimmy LaValle of the Album Leaf. Its executive producer is Limor Tomer, general manager of Live Arts, The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Over the past four years, each MetLiveArts season has featured an artist in residence from a different discipline—music, theater, and multimedia. These yearlong residencies at The Met challenge artists to reflect on and be inspired by The Met's collection and spaces, and work closely with curators, conservators, and researchers throughout the Museum.
This residency is made possible by the Chester Dale Fund.
