A Symposium for College and
University Art Museums
Friday April 30, 2010 & Saturday May 1, 2010
Registration is now open
Davis Museum and Cultural Center,
Wellesley College
106 Central Street, Wellesley, MA 02481
http://www.davismuseum.wellesley.edu/symposium/
What is the impact of gallery experiences on students? How can a collection uniquely support student inquiry? What does it mean to use professional procedures to learn about student audiences? What are the implications for understanding the role of the museum in higher education?This symposium provides an opportunity for museum professionals and the Wellesley College community to think together about the unique role of museums in higher education in light of changes in the economy, academia and a new generation of student audiences.
Keynote speaker:
James Elkins
Department of Art History, Theory, and Criticism
School of the Art Institute of Chicago
Capstone Speaker:
Mark Slouka
Department of English
University of Chicago
Symposium Schedule:
FRIDAY, APRIL 30
2:00-4:30
Welcome
Professional Practice Workshops
Student Audiences, Student Psyches
Evaluation: Planning for Impact
Object Lessons for Faculty Engagement Across the Curriculum
Keynote address: James Elkins
SATURDAY, May 1
9:00 –4:00
Professional Practice Workshops
The Challenge of the Student Viewer
Practical Tools for Formative Evaluation of Interpretives
Faculty as Co-Curators
Panel Presentations:
Learn by Doing: The Museum as Laboratory
Presenting Collections
4:15 – 5:45
Capstone address: Mark Slouka
The symposium arises from the Davis Museum’s reinstallation of its permanent collection, an effort that began in 2006 with funding from the Getty Foundation. The project engendered a shift away from a strictly chronological and geographical presentation towards a topically-organized display. It further entailed systematic methods of audience research and calibrated curatorial response. These efforts yielded unexpected changes, both in the programming of our galleries and the Museum’s examination of its impact on student audiences.
This symposium is funded by: The Wellesley College Friends of Art, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Mary Tebbetts Wolfe ’54 Program Endowment, E. Franklin Robbins Art Fund, Judith Blough Wentz ’57 Museum Programs Fund, S. Jane Burrell Lacy ’49 and Benjamin Lacy Endowed Fund for Acquisitions and Programs, Betsy Patterson Colburn Endowed Fund for Davis Museum Program Support.
781.283.2051 / http://www.davismuseum.wellesley.edu
Davis Museum and Cultural Center, Wellesley College
106 Central Street, Wellesley, MA 02481
