While I am proud of the outstanding education Colorado College provides to our students, it is also important to highlight that quite often our students are the ones educating us.
I most recently experienced this when I visited a new student-curated exhibit at the Fine Arts Center, “Reframing Birds of America: Conversations on Audubon.” Students in Professor Rebecca Tucker’s Museum Studies Practicum have been working on this exhibit of 24 prints from John James Audubon’s “Birds of America” since August 2021.
Audubon was an artist who became famous for documenting birds in their natural settings. The hundreds of hand-colored prints he is famous for led to the creation of bird conservation societies around the world bearing his name.
Yet, through their remarkable work creating this powerful exhibit, these students complicate the legacy of Audubon’s contributions and prompt viewers to ask tough and important questions about his contributions to science, his methods, and how he used his power and privilege.
We learn that Audubon was a taxidermist who shot, killed, and posed his subjects. He was a slave owner and opposed emancipation. He fooled people by making up species of birds that didn’t exist. And he took credit for work that wasn’t his own.
The students’ curation of this exhibit represents the best of CC and the liberal arts. Their work provides a space for people to learn, engage, disagree, and reflect on Audubon’s work, life, and legacy.
This exhibit is on display through July 30 at the FAC. I hope you’ll have an opportunity to experience it for yourself.
At CC, students delve deeply, ask big questions, and put their learning into action in real-world, relevant, powerful experiences such as this one. That’s life-changing for every student – and it broadens the experience and thinking of our campus community, and beyond.
Sincerely,
