Early in the term, interns are expected to visit an art museum either physically or digitally. The purpose of the trip will be to demonstrate what a special museum exhibition looks like, and how curators add to the scholarship of art history. Please note that a special exhibition space differs from the permanent museum collection in that it is a collection of artifacts brought together for a specific purpose rather than the museum collection that may be simply chronologically displayed throughout with no particular themes being expressed. Following this trip, students must research a physical museum special exhibition space or virtual museum special exhibition space of their choosing and produce a report of 2-3pages answering the following questions due at the end of week 3:
What museum did you visit? (Provide information about the museum, location, etc.)
What special exhibit was on display?
What was the theme or mission of the special exhibition?
How was artwork displayed? (Explain the space and how the space encourages or distracts from the viewing experience)
How is information provided for the artworks being displayed? How informative or what types of analytical information is displayed? (Consider yourself as a novice viewer with no art historical background. Do you understand the artwork? Is there enough information presented for you to learn about the artwork?)
Please read the curatorial statement or exhibition book for the exhibition that you visited and try to find other information regarding the particular exhibition that you visited. How does this information support or inform the visual presentation of artifacts?
What aspects of this museum experience might you transfer into your Museum Exhibition project?