Barnes said the exhibition came into being because the museum's founder Ralph Norton wanted to represent something other than Western art, and chose to focus on Chinese art.

One of Barnes' responsibilities as a curator is to present the permanent collection to visitors in an accessible way. It is not an easy job in a city that is traditionally American.

"In Chinese culture, dragons can bring good luck, they are not scary," Barnes told a group of visitors, most of whom were kids, in front of two dragon roof ridge fascia panels. They are made of earthenware, decorated with amber, the eyes of the dragon glaring in the light.

Barnes compared the dragons to "puppy dogs playing with flaming jewels," which almost immediately brought the school-aged children intimacy with this legendary animal from the Far East.

"This is my kids' first time to see this type of exhibition in a museum, I think they are enjoying it, the dragons are cool for my son," said Fabiola Williams, a young mother visiting with her two kids.

"If you can get people to start looking, and give them some information, create a story around it, they will enjoy it," said Barnes, adding that she tried to engage a wide spectrum of people.

The museum launches special programs on important Chinese holidays such as the Chinese New Year and the Mid-Autumn Festival.

Scott Benarde, the museum's director of communication, told Xinhua that over 2,000 people came in one day for the Chinese New Year last time, while 600 or 700 people came for the Mid-Autumn festival.

"I would say people are interested," said Benarde. "It "s hard not to walk into our Chinese collection and look at that giant head of a Buddha, and just not be awed and thrown, no matter who."

Making Chinese culture more exciting

However, Barnes still sees visitors walking past precious objects not knowing the value in them. To make Chinese art more exciting, she also launches special exhibitions and lecture series that highlight the collection.

She once ran an exhibition on the impact of tea culture worldwide since many of her favorite pieces of ceramics are connected with tea.

She chose eight tea countries to focus on but emphasized China's influence.

"In terms of the impact of tea and impact of ceramics, to my mind, all roads lead back to China, and I made the exhibition that way," she said.