Evoking Place: Fifty Years of Landscapes from the Art Museum of the Americas is an exhibit currently running at the Fine Arts Gallery at George Mason University. The exhibition features "30 landscapes by 29 artists from 14 countries" which "present unique interpretations of the natural topographies of Latin America as well as places entirely imagined by the artists." The artwork has been brought in from the Art Museum of the Americas in Washington, DC.
Unlike most exhibits, though, this exhibit was curated by students in Professor Michele Greet's course titled "Curating an Exhibition." The gallery page offers a description of the course:
During the spring semester of 2017, the Art History program at George Mason University partnered with the Art Museum of the Americas in Washington, DC, and the GMU Fine Arts Gallery to organize this exhibition. AMA generously opened its extensive collection of modern and contemporary Latin American art to the upper-level undergraduate and graduate Art History students in Dr. Michele Greet’s “Curating an Exhibition” seminar. Working in a real museum setting with these unique artworks was an unprecedented opportunity for both the students and the faculty. Students participated in every aspect of the curating process, including choosing the exhibition theme, writing the exhibition proposal, creating a checklist and selecting objects, designing the exhibition layout, conducting archival research, writing wall text, designing and writing a short exhibition catalogue, creating marketing materials, planning educational programs, installing and de-installing the show, and giving gallery tours. Bringing this exhibition to campus introduces AMA’s important collection to new audiences of Mason students and Northern Virginia residents and highlights Mason’s dedication to cultural pursuits.
This course and exhibition are a fine example of the opportunities available to art history students in the Department of History and Art History at George Mason University. You can see more details about the exhibition on the gallery's website, including details about how and when to view the exhibition. You can also see photographs of the exhibition on Facebook or on Flickr.
April 19, 2017
