Collaboration

This exhibition is the result of collaboration. Much of the planning was conducted in my Native American Art course during the Fall 2019 semester. The students of the course, Chelsea Arellano, Allison Ballotti, Catie Blickhahn, Miranda Gora, Anthony Jaso, Christiana Lieberman, Dalton Martin, River Martinez, Laura Martino, Chris Page, Dustin Ramirez, Cheyenne Romero, and Alicia Sevilla, participated in all stages of the project. Local artists Severino Martinez, also a current CSU-Pueblo student, and Arley Woodty contributed contemporary artworks to the exhibition. Archivist Bev Allen taught students how to handle historic objects and gallery director Caroline Peters publicized and installed the show.

Process

Early in the semester, the class met with Bev Allen in the archives for an orientation on the Orman collection and on the proper handling of fragile objects.
Each student selected three objects from the collection's inventory and scheduled a meeting to examine their objects in person.
Mid-semester, students submitted drafts of wall labels for their three objects, ensuring that they had made progress in their research and providing opportunity for feedback on writing and content.
Students brought their revised wall labels to class toward the end of the semester for peer-review.
Four class sessions were dedicated to planning the exhibition. Activities included brainstorming a mission, title, how to organize content, what wall text to include, and how to handle concerns about objects potentially subject to NAGPRA. Students formed groups to work on specific tasks based on their interests and expertise.
At the beginning of the following semester, some students volunteered to assist Gallery Director Caroline Peters and myself with the transportation of works from storage in the library to the gallery, and with installation.

Students Christiana Lieberman, Severino Martinez, and Cheyenne Romero with Diné (Navajo) textiles.

Meistertask

We used free Meistertask accounts to collaborate and plan. Students created a notecard for each of their objects, allowing us to see all the artworks at a glance, and the website enabled us to organize the artworks into groups to facilitate installation in the gallery. The website was user-friendly. Accounts were quick to set up and objects could be easily moved between groups. Students contributed to our Meistertask board from home and we also discussed and modified our groupings in class.

Gallery Layout Team

Chelsea Arellano, Christiana Lieberman, River Martinez, Laura Martino, and Cheyenne Romero formed the Gallery Layout Team. Working with our Meistertask catalog, paper, and pencil, they made detailed plans to organize the artworks in the gallery space.

Website Design Team

Allison Ballotti, Miranda Gora, Chris Page, and Dustin Ramirez worked on website design. They created plans for an exhibition website filled with educational content.

Publicity Team

Catie Blickhahn, Dalton Martin, and Alicia Sevilla formed the publicity committee. They created flyers, an instagram post, a blurb for news sources, and an extensively list of avenues for advertising the show.

What we Learned

This was the first time organizing an exhibition for myself and almost all students in the course. We all learned a great deal not only about putting together an exhibition but also about the artworks in the collection. This project gave student’s first-hand experience with historic objects, experience with museum and gallery work, involved them in the history and culture of our region, and allowed them to be active participants in a community-engagement project that continued beyond the semester.