Context
I delivered this one-day workshop and talk on Developing Curatorial Concepts for Year 3 BA Drawing students. It formed part of Unit 10 which focuses on realising a final body of work for the Degree Show and developing professional practice for life after university. Students were introduced to six strategies for developing compelling exhibition concepts and the importance of prototyping, by building scale-models to test and improve their concepts before final production.
Evaluation
I planned the workshop two weeks after their last external exhibition before the Degree Show to build on their exhibition making experience. Most students created interesting prototypes and articulated their concepts well. Surprisingly most worked backwards, experimenting first with selecting artworks and curating their models before finding the concept to underpin it. It reinforced the Fine Art approach of experimentation before analysis and consolidation of ideas. One neurodiverse student could not continue because they were overwhelmed and needed more than the allocated time to finish. Two students finished their prototype but unfortunately did not stay for reflection. Participants valued the experience and mentioned it was a positive exercise on spatial and installation considerations for future exhibitions. However, attendance was low with 12 students. From previous experience, I gathered this was partly due to it being optional and that many assume it was only for aspiring curators and could not see the benefits to their practice.
Moving forwards
Constructive alignment: I will connect the workshop to the Unit 10 Learning Outcomes (Fig.1) so students can clearly understand the benefits to their artistic and professional practice. For example, prototyping their concepts aligns well with LO1: Demonstrate effective technical, critical and methodological skills that synthesis your ideas and intentions [Realisation]. This reflects John Bigg’s (2003) analysis that the relationship between the LOs, the programme content and delivery, and how it supports students’ achievement has to be clear because students tend to focus their learning on what will be assessed. Hopefully the clarity will encourage more students to attend.
Quarry approach: Allan Davies writes that ‘For art and design students, formulating and finding their own quarry is an essential part of the discovery process. They do, nevertheless, need to know the ‘landscape’ and the ‘boundaries’ when they are in full pursuit’ (2012). Since this is an ambitious yet low-stakes workshop, I will encourage students to use the quarry approach by either working backwards as an artistic process or forward more conventionally to realise their concepts and prototypes. As long as they are clear on the requirements and LOs, I think the flexibility and freedom of process will allow for more innovation and discovery.
Inclusive design: Guided by inclusive pedagogy, which aims to create meaningful learning environments and opportunities by embracing students’ ‘individual differences as a source for diversity’ without marginalizing them (Hockings, 2010, p. 1). I will speak with colleagues about extending the workshop to two days to take into account different learning styles and neurodiversity. This slowed down pace will alleviate the pressure of having to complete the whole task in one day. It will also be beneficial to all students as it allows for overnight reflection and adaptations on Day 2, mirroring the curatorial process more realistically.
Bibliography
Biggs, J. (2003). Teaching for Quality Learning at University. SRHE & OU Press.
Davies, A. (2012). Learning outcomes and assessment criteria in art and design. What’s the recurring problem?. University of Brighton. Available at: http://arts.brighton.ac.uk/projects/networks/issue-18-july-2012/learning-outcomes-and-assessment-criteria-in-art-and-design.-whats-the-recurring-problem
Hockings, C. (2010). Inclusive learning and teaching in higher education: A synthesis of research. EvidenceNet HEA. Available at: https://www.advance-he.ac.uk/knowledge-hub/inclusive-learning-and-teaching-higher-education-synthesis-research
Workshop material
Presentation slides (link) and Key slides (link)
Images
of a previous exhibition
Images of students’ work in progress