On October 12th, our exhibition titled, Faces, Places, and Spaces: An Exploration of Identity, finally opened. Clad in our spiffy gallery opening outfits, our class met outside the Fine Arts Center. For many of us, this was the first time entering the exhibition since adding our finishing touches, and the satisfaction on everyone’s face was evident. Victoria explained to us that we would be in groups of four standing and answering questions in the exhibition each for twenty minutes. When asked who wanted to take the first shift a surplus of hands waved in the air. Everyone was excited to share with others what we had been working so hard on for the past two blocks.
During my shift I talked to fellow Colorado College students and Colorado Springs community members about the two works I studied closely: Chuck Forsman’s Native Lands and Enrique E. Montenegro’s Artist In Studio. It was fascinating to hear the questions people had about the works. Many visitors mentioned aspects I had yet to consider myself. A fresh pair of eyes in combination with my background knowledge on the artwork led to great and unexpected dialogue between myself and the museum visitors. It was refreshing to be reminded of the ways in which you can always discover new things about a work (even if you’ve been staring at it for two blocks already!) Prior to this class, curating an exhibition and confidently speaking to visitors about it was something I never imagined myself doing, yet this experience has helped me to realize such capabilities, as well as the numerous ways one can engage with art.
