A Space for Dialogue

Highlighting student curatorial and educational work is a key part of the Hood Museum's mission, and nowhere is this more apparent than in the longtime exhibition series A Space for Dialogue: Fresh Perspectives on the Permanent Collection from Dartmouth's Students. This series of single-gallery exhibitions curated by Dartmouth students from the museum collection has been ongoing since 2002. The project forms a crucial aspect of the Hood Museum internship as students gain valuable, hands-on curatorial experience and work closely with staff across departments. The students choose a wide range of themes, subjects, time periods, and materials for their exhibitions, showcasing the breadth and depth of both the museum's collections and Dartmouth student scholarship. Interns identify and research a topic, select objects, lay out the exhibition, write label text and a brochure, and oversee the installation. The project culminates in a public talk. Due to the ongoing pandemic, the 2019/2020 student-curated shows will be on view in the calendar year 2021, while 2020/2021 interns will work with their supervisors on virtual exhibitions. 

A Space for Dialogue was founded with support from the Class of 1948 and made possible with generous endowments from the Class of 1967, Bonnie and Richard Reiss Jr. '66, and Pamela J. Joyner '70.

Creating Knowledge and Control, A Space for Dialogue 95
August 10 to September 22, 2019 
Alvin P. Gutman Gallery
Annabelle Bardenheier
Creating Knowledge and Control features works that explore technology as a top-down disciplinary tool that restructures space, time, and the relations among people and activities. Today, such tools are created and used not only by governments, but also by multinational corporations that leverage the potential of managed information systems and big data. As technology and information management evolves, questions arise regarding whether and how we should govern these tools of control and surveillance, and this installation explores these issues.

The Politics of Pink, A Space for Dialogue 96
September 28 to November 3, 2019 
Alvin P. Gutman Gallery
Charlotte Grussing
Pink is not just a pretty color. This exhibition explored all things pink, from its problematic associations with femininity, gender norms, and race to its contemporary reinvention in activism. The use of the color pink, these works make clear, transcends the purely aesthetic.

Black Bodies and the Cross, A Space for Dialogue 97
November 9, 2019, to January 5, 2020
Victoria McCraven
Black Bodies on the Cross attempted to capture the dissonance and duality present in the Black Christian experience, as seen through the eyes of postwar and contemporary African American artists including Romare Bearden, Ashley Bryan, Kara Walker, and Enrico Riley. By inserting Black subjects into Biblical narratives, these artists explore the ways in which the Black experience can be understood as part of a universalizing Christian narrative that, ironically, often excludes Black subjects.

Vision 2020: What Do You See?, A Space for Dialogue 98
January 11 to March 1, 2020
Alvin P. Gutman Gallery
Devon D. Mifflin
Mass media and technology inform not only our understanding of the contemporary world but also our self-perception. Vision 2020: What Do You See? highlighted works from the Hood Museum's collection that grapple with the impact of visual media and technology on body image in the 20th and 21st centuries. The artists in this exhibition encourage conversation about beauty ideals, gender, self-perception, and agency in mass media.

When Art Intersects History, A Space for Dialogue 99
March 7, 2020, to February 28, 2021* (extended due to pandemic, originally scheduled to close April 26, 2020)
Alvin P. Gutman Gallery
Allison Carey
What happens when we assess a work of art as a historical document? When Art Intersects History examines works of American modern art that document the struggle for equality during the second half of the 20th century. This politically charged era reached a climax in the 1960s and 1970s with the confluence of the civil rights movement, women's rights campaigns, the gay rights movement, and Vietnam War protests. All of this resistance was propelled by a mounting countercultural cry for equality and social justice. This exhibition considers how American artists have shared their perspectives on these galvanizing historic moments, and how their work still impacts us today.