Eighteenth International Conference on the Arts in Society

Abstract

As one of four members of The Openroom, a local artist collective, I curated an outdoor exhibition and artmaking event titled Please Touch the Art at the Utah Museum of Contemporary Art. Looking for strategies to connect the public with artmaking opportunities during the initial phase of the pandemic, we facilitated a safe experience where participants could digitally manipulate and interact with artwork created by internationally known artists. The initial phase of the project was curatorial. We selected artists exploring how networked technologies shape artistic production and dissemination. Once the artists were selected, we built an interactive website that prompted viewers to manipulate the artwork using a selection of digital design tools. The culminating event, held safely outdoors in the courtyard of the museum, included a lecture by scholar and artist Marisa Olsen, and a collection of kiosks where participants could use a stylus to engage with and transform the work in the show. Each contribution from the public was catalogued, creating a record of our community effort. This paper highlights the relevance of unconventional exhibition spaces as sites for knowledge production. It demonstrates effective strategies for organizing participatory exhibitions and the role of emerging technologies and art practices in contemporary culture. Operating under the condition that the unspoken “rules” of galleries and museums do not necessarily apply to online platforms and alternative exhibition spaces, I showcase how this community-engaged collaboration between artists and institutions platformed lesser-heard voices in the community through participatory methodologies.