Learning in Public: Experiments in Curricular Exhibitions
Saturday, September 29, 2012
10:30 AM- 12:00 PM, WCC 233
Curricular exhibits are a powerful mechanism for making connections between the teaching and learning goals of an institution, the physical and intellectual resources of the library, local artists, and public scholarship. Join us for an exploration of three case studies followed by a lively discussion about how student-curated exhibitions both engage and challenge our notions of the classroom from the perspective of professors, exhibit professionals, artists, and librarians.
Case Study #1:
Natasha Pestich, Associate Professor and Print Paper Book Area Coordinator, Fine Arts Department, Minneapolis College of Art and Design (MCAD)
Natasha Pestich described a site-based class she taught at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design (MCAD) that provided students with a unique opportunity to explore and collaborate with the Minneapolis Central Public Library and its Cargill Gallery.
Natasha Pestich is a local Minneapolis artist, educator and community artist. She is currently an Associate Professor at MCAD, where she has developed an innovative curriculum in the study of printmaking. Her work has been showcased in both alternative spaces like the Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts in Michigan, and the Generator Gallery in Scotland, and museum spaces like the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. Highlights of her community art work includes several projects, most notably the inter-disciplinary project/performance North & Beyond, in Philadelphia, Sidewalks Saving Lives in Minneapolis, and her most recent partnership with the Pillsbury House & Theater. Degrees: Concordia University, B.F.A.; Tyler School of Art, Temple University, M.F.A. in Printmaking.
Case Study #2:
Heather Tompkins, Reference & Instruction Librarian for Humanities & Government Publications, Gould Library, Carleton College
Margaret Pezalla-Granlund, Curator of Library Art & Exhibitions, Carleton College
Heather Tompkins and Margaret Pezalla-Granlund will discuss curricular library exhibitions that involve library staff, faculty, and student curators and a model for curatorial collaboration that has grown from this work.
Heather Tompkins is Reference & Instruction Librarian for Humanities at Carleton College. Since coming to Carleton, she has had the opportunity to contribute to Carleton's information literacy program, collaborate with the library exhibits staff on curricular exhibits, and help develop and host an annualMystery event as part of new student orientation. Before becoming a librarian, Tompkins attended Miami University of Ohio, where she studied History and American studies and dabbled in Archives and Special Collections. Tompkins is an active member of the Women & Gender Studies section of ACRL.
Margaret Pezalla-Granlund has exhibited locally and nationally, and her work has been included in exhibitions at the Santa Monica Museum of Art, the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Angel’s Gate Cultural Center, and the Peabody Essex Museum. Pezalla-Granlund was recently awarded a McKnight Artist Fellowship for 2008-2009 and a Jerome Foundation Travel Study Grant for 2009. She is interested in modeling the complex spaces of the natural and built landscape on scales both macro and micro. Degrees: St. Olaf College, B.A.; California Institute of the Arts, Valencia, California, M.F.A.
Case Study #3:
Aisling Quigley '09, Viz Program Associate, Carleton College
Aisling spoke about the White Spaces at Carleton's new Weitz Center for Creativity and their first year "in business" as unique and experimental venues for semi-formal exhibitions, visual critiques, classroom exercises, and so-called "happenings."
Aisling Quigley (Carleton Class of 2009) assists with all aspects of Viz, with particular emphasis on faculty support and exhibition preparation. Quigley collaborates with the Director of the Perlman Teaching Museum and the Curator of Library Exhibitions throughout the exhibition process. She also curates and organizes exhibitions in the three informal exhibition White Spaces in Carleton’s newly erected Weitz Center for Creativity. Degree: Carleton College, B.A.
Moderator:
Kerry Morgan
Director of Gallery and Exhibition Programs, Minneapolis College of Art and Design (MCAD)
Kerry Morgan has spent most of her life as a student or working with students in college and university art galleries and museums. She has a BA in art history and history from Smith College, and an MA and PhD in art history from the University of Kansas. She was previously a curatorial assistant in the departments of prints and drawings and contemporary art at the Cantor Arts Center at Stanford University; the curator of collections at the Krannert Art Museum at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign; and the gallery and exhibits coordinator at Augsburg College.
