As you have learned from this course, museums are essential to the study of art. Curators, who work to develop exhibits at museums, play an important role in the art that museum visitors experience. The act of curating is a powerful act. The curator has the power to determine what is made visible and therefore, what knowledge is passed on to the museum viewer. Before you begin your final project, check out this article on how Museums Shape Meaning. Also, please review the supplemental resources in the Curator Project module.

Directions: For this assignment, you will “curate a museum exhibition” that includes three images that are significant to you and that you think need to be more visible in dominant culture (Links to an external site.). You can choose any kind of image: craft, art, popular culture, etc. This project is an expository and reflective assignment and it will develop your research and critical thinking skills. In your digital exhibition, you will include 3 existing images/artworks, argue for their importance to visual culture, and reflect on why this digital exhibit is meaningful to you. Just like a museum curator, you will create an exhibition statement, label your 3 images, and include wall text for each image that is supported by academic research.

Project Stages:

Begin by thinking about what types of images/artworks are meaningful to you. What images make you feel represented? Why? What kinds of representations matter to you? Why? Why should visual culture be more inclusive?
Begin searching for your 3 images/artworks. Please note that the images/artworks that you choose do not need to be rare or new – you can choose well-known images/artworks if they are significant to you and make you feel represented. Research your images/artworks so that you can clearly interpret the meaning (think about what you have learned about visual analysis).
Once you have sufficiently researched your 3 artworks, begin developing an exhibition statement. Think of this statement as an opening paragraph to an expository and reflective essay. Your statement should be approximately 150 words and include your organizing principle (you may want to develop a theme/thesis that helps to unify your exhibit) and an explanation as to why these images are important to visual culture and significant to you.

Curator Project Proposal: Prepare a proposal that includes a short outline of your exhibition statement, a preliminary list of images (artist, title, date only in a list – no images are necessary for the proposal), and a preliminary bibliography with at least 1 source. Please also include 1-2 goals for your exhibit. Proposal is due December 8th.

Research Skills: To provide support for your exhibition, you should consult at least three (3) reputable academic sources for your research beyond the use the of the class textbook/modules. Museum websites make a good source. Many excellent databases can be accessed through the LAHC library system. Follow MLA guidelines for the format of your works cited page. See the many resources in the Research Support module.

Organization: Exhibition Statement, Images, and “Wall Text”: You must submit your final project as a pdf by December 17th. You can convert any document (PP, word, pages, google slides, google docs) into the pdf that you will submit. Your project should begin with your exhibition statement. Then, include High quality, color images of 3 artworks with labels (artist. title. date, medium. dimensions.) Label as much information as is available to you. Wall text must be included for each of the artworks in your exhibition project. The last section of your project should be a works cited or bibliography page.