Exhibition Design field trip to Washington, DC
Exhibition Design field trip to Washington, DC
Academic Year:
2016 - 2017 (June 1, 2016 through May 31, 2017)
Funding Requested:
$500.00
Project Dates:
-
Overview of the Project:
ARTDES 400.003, Exhibition Design, is a new, collaborative, 2D+3D interdisciplinary design studio course. Co-taught by Katie Rubin and Hannah Smotrich and partnering with Maria Cotera, students will create a flexible, traveling exhibit on the work and life experiences of Chicana activist and photographer Nancy de los Santos. The exhibit will be shown first at the Reuther Library at Wayne State.
As a key component of the students’ research phase for the project, we will bring them to Washington, DC in mid-September. There, instead of hearing lectures or reading books, students will have the opportunity to be exposed first-hand to a broad range of approaches to exhibition design in a short period of time (and geographic space). Since both instructors have prior design experience and contacts in DC, students will also have the chance to meet and talk with exhibition designers at the Smithsonian and design firms, adding “behind-the-scenes” insight.
Before, during and after these experiences, students will be learning how to observe, document and share what they gather from site visits, analysis, conversations and reflection. This material and the inquiry it engenders will form the foundation for all that follows in this studio. Many of our students have not had the opportunity to mine the riches of the Smithsonian museums or had the chance to meet designers in those contexts.
As a key component of the students’ research phase for the project, we will bring them to Washington, DC in mid-September. There, instead of hearing lectures or reading books, students will have the opportunity to be exposed first-hand to a broad range of approaches to exhibition design in a short period of time (and geographic space). Since both instructors have prior design experience and contacts in DC, students will also have the chance to meet and talk with exhibition designers at the Smithsonian and design firms, adding “behind-the-scenes” insight.
Before, during and after these experiences, students will be learning how to observe, document and share what they gather from site visits, analysis, conversations and reflection. This material and the inquiry it engenders will form the foundation for all that follows in this studio. Many of our students have not had the opportunity to mine the riches of the Smithsonian museums or had the chance to meet designers in those contexts.