Art History 3295

The Project

In the fall semester of 2024, students enrolled in ARTH 3295 at Utah State University were tasked with curating their own virtual exhibitions. ARTH 3295 is an art history course on the art of Americans of Latin American descent or Latinx.

Curating a show is no mean feat, especially for those with limited knowledge of Latinx art and a cursory experience with museology. Nevertheless, students launched themselves into the endeavor, absorbing a vast quantity of information and distilling it into their exhibitions with remarkable aplomb.

The result of a semester’s worth of critical and creative thinking are featured on this webpage. The course instructor, Dr. Álvaro Ibarra, wishes to recognize the hard work of all participants, to extend appreciation for students’ remarkable scholarship and artistry.

Process

In developing an exhibition, students were given two dozen works by Latinx artists in the NEHMA collection. Our budding curators also had to select from over one hundred twentieth and twenty-first-century Latinx artworks from across the United States. 

The most basic objective was filling their gallery with art objects in a compelling design. However, creating a visually appealing exhibition was only one challenge among many. As students learned more about the art of Latinx from course readings, lectures, and their own research, various themes emerged as viable conceptual lynchpins for their exhibitions.

Issues regarding race, culture, ethnicity, identity, religion, and nationality became thematic foundations for many projects. Others focused on formal investigations that explored stylistic phenomena in Latinx art. In developing exhibition didactics, students had to harness a tremendous amount of discourse into a short and impactful document that garnered the interest of the museumgoer.

Efforts culminated in virtual exhibitions wherein a keen spatial sensibility was required to excel at installing a compelling show. Students subsequently reworked their virtual exhibition in order to produce a video tour. They transformed an exploratory experience into a guided narrative for their virtual audience. Visitors are invited to click on the links below to see, first-hand, the laudable result. 

Conclusion

Like any good contemporary work of art, the real value lies in the process. That said, academics still insists on the importance of the product. This semester, the students of ARTH 3295 engaged in a less orthodox learning process, one that threw them into the proverbial deep end of the pool. And they succeeded in producing exceptional exhibitions. Albeit virtual and ephemeral, their distinct contributions exist in perpetuity as literal bits of conceptual art, sustained by the memory of a shared experience.

Acknowledgments

Closed-captioning was made possible by Art History area funding. Professor would like to extend his thanks to the staff at NEHMA for their ongoing support of this project.

Virtual Exhibitions

Visitors are encouraged to click from the links below to download the virtual exhibition of their choosing. Each exhibition is presented as a PowerPoint, designed to encourage the viewer to suspend their disbelief, to pretend they are traversing a virtual space. 

Virtual Exhibition PowerPoints

View the Exhibitions

• Ball, Alyssa. Fashion: The Latinx Identity
• Bonizzi, Lele. Outsiders Within: Reclaiming Space
• Brandt, Shahaley. Mujeres Resilientes
• Demers, Max. Luchadores: A Tour Through the Mainstream & Subculture
• Hunn, Madi. They Shoot, We Score
• Hunsaker, Abbie. Beautiful Transgressions
• Jensen, Dakota. Syncretism in Latinx Art
• Kaplan, Ray. La Mascara de la Verdad
• Lund, Macy. The Stereotyped Latinx
• Lynn, Olivia. Crossing La Frontera
• Meik-Broz, Ashlyn. Beyond Marianismo
• Mills, Kaisha. Nurturing Heritage: Latinx Mothers & Their Impact
• Monsen, Sarah. Death Becomes Us: Depictions of Death in Latinx Art
• Pace, Karis. Mestizo Revolution
• Pettit, Tabatha. Family Gestures
• Rail, Sasha. In-Between Worlds: Navigating Identity, Liminality, & Alienation in Latinx Art
• Robinson, Jaimes. Culturae Pontem: Hyphenated Identities in Latinx Art
• Seaver, Lauren. Our Lady: The Reinterpretation & Reclamation of La Virgen by Latinx Artists
• Sim, Logan. Our Ofrenda: Mourning & Loss in Latinx Art
• Smith, Zach. Fighting Fear with Fire
• Tippetts, Mirian. Latinx Art at the Intersection of Religion & Violence
• Tullis, Mia. The Catwalk is Ready for Latinx
• Webb, Elise. Mi Casa…No Es Su Casa
• Weinmann, Keira. The New Matriarchy
• White, Ella. Discovering Balance

Exhibition Tours

Experience guided tours of select exhibitions featuring voice-overs recorded by student curators, providing the visitor personal insight into each exhibition.