Middle School Students to Become Curators at The University of Kentucky Art Museum’s New Summer Camp

Overview

The University of Kentucky Art Museum is launching an innovative summer program for middle school students that will expose them to the art and science of gallery exhibit curation. Titled “Create and Curate,” the camp, which will run from June 17-21, aims at revealing the intricacies and intricacies of planning an art exhibit.

Certainly a First-of-its-kind initiative

Unleashing opportunities for potentially budding curators, the program is designed not only to offer students an insight into the artistic decision-making process behind the exhibits but also serve as a platform for them to cultivate critical thinking skills. Further, exposing students to the inner workings of an art gallery can foster a richer visitor experience, and model potential career paths.

Turning Middle Schoolers into Curators

As future curators, students would get the chance to go behind the scenes and uncover what lies within the UK Art Museum’s collection, team up with peers to formulate exhibition layouts and work closely with museum staff across various roles. Students will also get to showcase their curation skills in the galleries for family and friends while producing original sculptures and staging personally portrayed photos. June 19 will be an off-day observing the occasion of Juneteenth.

A Unique Experience

Dan Solberg, the Museum’s Curator of Education, who underscores the distinctive nature of this initiative, said, “Campers will participate in a week of art and museum-based activities and walk away with knowledge about how museums function, including staff roles that are normally behind-the-scenes.”

Envisioning a bigger picture

Taking this agenda forward, Stuart Horodner, UK Art Museum Director, sees this as part of the museum’s agenda to widen its scope of educational programs and cater to a larger audience.

Registration, timings, and more

The camp opens its doors to students every day from 1-5 p.m., necessitating student pick-up at 5:30 p.m. Although the deadline for early registrations is June 10, the museum will continue to accept registrations till June 16 as long as there is available space.

About the university

Being the land-locked, state flagship institution, the University of Kentucky is aimed at transforming the next generation of leaders. By stimulating newer avenues of education, research, creative work, service, and healthcare, it has positioned itself towards changing the lives of Kentuckians for the better.

Some Accolades

In addition to preparing a breed of dynamic leaders, the university has been a platform to nurture innovators that make up 200 academic programs along with a $476.5 million research and development enterprise and an advanced medical center, all on one campus. In 2022, it was recognized by Forbes as one of the “Best Employers for New Grads” and named a “Diversity Champion” by INSIGHT into Diversity, indicating its commitment to diversity and inclusivity.