Workshops
One Museum - Three Dimensions of Curation: Using Readers Theatre to Share Student Curatorial Experiences View Digital Media
Workshop Presentation Jay Boda
This workshop uses a readers theatre approach to share the collective experience of three graduate students and their teacher exploring and creating three different exhibitions at The John and Mable Museum of Art. Workshop attendees will be introduced to Love and Villeneuve's (2023) "Dimensions of Curation" model. The Dimensions of Curation Competing Values Exhibition Model is built on a framework that recognizes multiple viewpoints on curation. It provides a way for museums to identify past curatorial practices, reflect intentionally on future approaches, and make changes, if desired, using the model as a road map. Workshop attendees will read a readers theatre script based on student-teacher conversations that detail the students' individual research experiences studying the model and using the model to describe their curatorial approach and goals while creating their respective exhibitions. While each student used a different dimension of the model, they all applied a visitor-centered approach using the model as a road map By having attendees actively participate and read the script, they will be better able to understand the students' respective experiences, challenges, and lessons learned while using the Dimensions of Curation model.
Reimagining Cultural Expertise: Collections Research as an Opportunity for Community Engagement View Digital Media
Workshop Presentation Amanda Figueroa
Collections-based research is an important component of museum work. From the ongoing research and care of curators, to the fellowship-based programs that bring in new experts to explore collections, this work helps to communicate the value of museum collections to audiences, typically in the form of a final exhibition or academic publication. However, many opportunities for collections research require a higher education affiliation, limiting them to scholars with advanced degrees or professional experience in similar GLAM fields. At Curationist, due to our open source digitized collections, we have been able to expand our collections-based research programs (the Curationist fellows program and the Critics of Color program) to be able to support research done by and with the community researchers regardless of resume or institutional affiliation. Our Fellows and Critics are encouraged to inform their research not only with cutting-edge research from higher education and academic sources, but also from the grassroots-level knowledge of the communities that created the artworks and artifacts they study. We believe that collections research is an often overlooked pathway for community engagement, and that by offering it, museums can elevate the expertise of indigenous creators on par with that of scholars and curators, a much-needed step towards decolonization. In this workshop, we present both a brief overview of these programs, including their benefits and challenges to open GLAM research, as well as guide participants through a workshop designed to help them explore how to implement community-level grassroots research in the collections at their home institutions.
