Curating, managing and installing exhibitions are highly collaborative endeavors. Indeed, each of these characteristics of exhibiting art has become itself a professional career, mainly populated with people who studied art or art history at college. While one may be involved in all three aspects of an exhibitions’ creation, it is almost impossible to do all three simultaneously alone. There are so many different skill sets involved that it is often the case that different people contribute their efforts in order to make the exhibition as good as it can be. Additionally, there are a plethora of industries invested in the economy of the art world, meaning that in order to properly administrate an exhibition, one must interface with people in a wide variety of fields.

For the viewer, an exhibition is not experienced from the perspective of the administrator; when viewing an exhibition, we probably are not going to think about any of the work that went into the planning or administration. We think about the art, and this is the hallmark of a successful art administrator – to have their work be seamless, or invisible. Yet is if often grueling and highly demanding work, that is also within a highly specialized field. Students in this course will gain an appreciation of this work, and engage in and introduction to it.

This course provides direct experience in museum and gallery curation, administration and installation. Students will be asked to read relevant literature, including reviews and will learn about the role of an art administrator, a curator, and an artist within the project of an art exhibition. Under faculty supervision, students in this course will work in the field and collaborate to stage an exhibition in the student art gallery, Gallery 160.