In this paper, I will examine how educators can create messy spaces for experimentation and experiential learning in graduate courses and explore how this type of class can build resilience in students. I will focus on an art education course in which students designed and implemented an exhibition at the Center for Creative Photography (CCP), University of Arizona, in Fall 2022.
In this class, students collaborated with CCP staff and each other to create an exhibition on color photography. The course focused on visitor-centered and participatory practices that emphasized multivocality in museum galleries (Pegno & Farrar, 2017; Simon, 2010; Villeneuve & Love, 2017). After working apart during COVID-19, this course offered students an opportunity to physically engage with each other, museum objects, and the space of the CCP while encountering the challenges of implementing an exhibition. Students used this space to break from traditional coursework and take on a project that was often uncertain and ambiguous (Marstine, 2007). They applied theory to practice in considering how to engage visitors and invite audiences to participate and add their voices to the exhibition.
This paper examines how educators can utilize the university museum as an in-between space, one that works against traditional authoritative curatorial practices. By giving students tools and skills to break down institutional hierarchies through participatory exhibition design, I argue that we can better prepare them to be empowered, resilient educators in schools, museums, and the community.

Authors:
Carissa DiCindio, University of Arizona, United States

About the Presenter(s)
Dr Carissa DiCindio is a University Assistant Professor/Lecturer at University of Arizona, United States

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