On June 12th, two Art History students, Sachi Hirono and Rebecca Sullivan, will be the first Master of Arts students to graduate from Carleton with a concentration in Art Exhibition and Curatorial Practices.
Carleton has had a long history of placing its Art History graduates in leading cultural institutions around the country and beyond.
“With this new concentration, we have really enhanced those experiences,” says Carol Payne, Associate Professor and Graduate Supervisor for Art History. “This year, students in the core Art Exhibition and Curatorial Practices course, taught by Associate Professor Ming Tiampo, were given unprecedented access to the National Gallery of Canada. They learn how a great, world class art museum like the National Gallery works. And they make their own contributions to it by curating exhibitions from the collection of the National Gallery archives.”
Graduate student Sachi Hirono had already worked on numerous exhibitions as a conservator before coming to Carleton. “I was searching for a way to serve the greater public through museum exhibitions as a conservator because I had been quite frustrated as I had found that art conservation in museums is often only appreciated by a handful of people in first world countries who can afford to have this practice,” says Hirono.
Students in the Art History MA program do a one-year practicum. Hirono did hers at Library and Archives Canada and another at the National Gallery of Canada (NGC). “I learned how museum exhibitions should be narrated through readings, discussions and my own research for each course. And we had hands-on experience through working with actual museum collections and with others in a group project to implement a small exhibition at the NGC library.”
As part of the program, she took a directed art exhibition course that allowed her to work independently to assist Mukai Shūji, a Japanese artist who is participating in Proportio, an exhibition at the Palazzo Fortuny during the Venice Biennale 2015. She researched his works, wrote a curatorial proposal, tested the materials for use in installation and, most recently, implemented the installation in Venice. She credits Dr. Tiampo for this opportunity.
(L to R) Sachi Hirono, Mukai Shūji and Ming Tiampo after the completion of the installation in Palazzo Fortuny in Venice, Italy (May, 2015)
Rebecca Sullivan also wanted to gain the hands-on experience provided by the new concentration in Art History. She completed a number of projects during her MA, including writing an exhibition proposal with a colleague. They were given complete freedom to choose their topic, and decided to focus on contemporary North American artists Sarah Walko and Zachari Logan. “As part of the project, we had to present our proposals in front of the curators at the National Gallery of Canada,” shares Sullivan. “This was an incredibly valuable experience. We now plan to develop this exhibition proposal further and submit it to various Canadian art galleries in the near future.”
As part of her practicum at The National Gallery of Canada, Sullivan interviewed world-renowned contemporary Canadian artist Shelagh Keeley at the Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery in Toronto. “It was a very positive experience that allowed me to learn a lot about her and her practice.”
Rebecca Sullivan
During her practicum, she was also able to be a part of the installation process of Geoffrey Farmer’s epic sculptural work entitled Leaves of Grass, which was part of the Canadian Biennial. She worked closely with Farmer’s studio team, cutting out images from magazines to be included in the work. “I am grateful that I was able to have this experience with a highly respected and successful Canadian artist,” says Sullivan.
Sullivan has just been selected to do a summer internship at the Philadelphia Museum of Art in the Curatorial Department, with a specific focus on contemporary art. “I am very excited to continue curatorial work in a different country and I have no doubt that my experiences at Carleton and the NGC helped make it happen,” she says.
Prof. Payne says: “With this kind of experience, the students participating in Carleton’s Art Exhibition and Curatorial Practices concentration today are going to be leading curatorial professionals of tomorrow.”
Thursday, May 28, 2015 in Convocation, Grad Student Research, News
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