OVERVIEW
The BMA is excited to present our new free arts education resource, “Curate our Collection.” This project is aligned with Alabama Arts Education standards and provides a toolkit for museum curation and interpretation. Using videos, worksheets, the BMA’s collection finder, and our new digital museum, students will curate a virtual exhibition.
This can be an individual or a group project.
OBJECTIVES
Students will:
- Understand how exhibitions impact the viewer’s understanding of social, cultural, and/or political experiences
- Create, explain, and justify connections between artists or artwork and social, cultural, and/or political history
- Investigate and discuss why and how an exhibition or collection may influence ideas, beliefs, and experiences
- Cultivate research, design, and engagement skills
MATERIALS
- Internet
- Google Slides access
- Pencil and paper
DIGITAL EXHIBITION RESOURCES
- STUDENT EXHIBITION TEMPLATE
- Sign in to your Google account
- Click “File” > “Make a copy” > “Entire Presentation”
- Make additional copies for students
- Example digital museum student exhibition – Fierce Femmes of the BMA
MUSEUM 101 VIDEOS
- What is a museum?
- How are exhibitions made?
- students should watch these videos before starting the assignment
HELPFUL EXHIBITION PLANNING RESOURCES
- BMA’s Collection Page
- Use the search tool on the page to explore the thousands of works in the collection
- Explore an actual BMA exhibition virtually: Expanding Darshan
- Examples and Links to Exhibition Engagement: Expanding Darshan
KEY TERMS
- Exhibition
- Theme
- Interpretation
DEMONSTRATION/MOTIVATION
The teacher will:
- Play or provide the Museum 101: Making of an Exhibition Video
- If students have never been to a museum, also have them watch Museum 101: What is a Museum?
- Provide an overview of the exhibition planning worksheets and example presentations
STEPS
Students will:
- View the Museum 101: Making of an Exhibition video
- Explore the virtual version of the BMA’s exhibition, Expanding Darshan: Manjari Sharma, To See and Be Seen
- Either individually or in groups, plan and create a virtual exhibition
- They will come up with a theme and then search the BMA’s collection (as well as other museum collections) to find works relating to their theme
- They will fill out the provided worksheets/or answer the worksheet questions on their own paper or doc
- Using the Google Slides template, students will put together their exhibition
- They will be able to add images of art, add panel and label text, insert links to external resources like videos and other related content, and more
EVALUATION
Have students give a class presentation on their exhibition. Educators will evaluate the exhibition based on:
- How closely does each work relate to the exhibition theme?
- Do the labels and text panels reflect proper research?
- Do the programs and interpretative tools add value to the exhibition and potential viewers?
BONUS
We at the BMA would love to see what your students come up with!
- If your class is in Birmingham, Alabama or the surrounding area, a member of our Learning and Engagement team would be happy to visit your classroom and view the presentations.
- There is also the possibility of a class field trip to the BMA, where students share their presentations and then go on a tour of the galleries.
- Or simply share the presentations with us and we will post it to this page.
Email [email protected] for more information.
EXPLORE the example digital museum exhibition below
