News

When senior art history and studio art major Zibby Hanifl ‘26 began narrowing down her curatorial choices for an upcoming exhibition at the Flaten Art Museum (FAM), one work stood out. 

“I chose to focus on the Renluka Maharaj piece titled Lillah, because I had noticed it displayed in Buntrock for its bright and vibrant pink and red shades,” Hanifl says. “There is such an interesting meaning behind this piece — it’s about giving voice and agency to people who are exploited or unable to advocate for themselves.”

Hanifl’s selection is one of more than a dozen works featured in Let’s Talk: Collection Conversations, an exhibition open February 13–April 12. The show represents the culmination of years of cross-campus collaboration among students, faculty, and staff, and reflects a two-semester, student-led curatorial model that places learning through practice at its center. 

The exhibition brings together efforts from students in the Art and Art History Department, the Svoboda Center for Civic Engagement, and the Flaten Art Museum. Students in Assistant Professor of Art and Art History Christina Spiker’s fall semester Making Museums Matter course curated the exhibition — selecting works, developing interpretive materials, and shaping its conceptual framework. Students in Spiker’s spring semester course will activate the gallery with a series of deliberative dialogue sessions to gather community feedback in support of the FAM’s strategic planning process.

“When we decided to do this collaboration with the Making Museums Matter class, I came in and talked to them about the collection, and also hosted a time where they could come down into the vaults — where we store the artwork — and look through what we have,” FAM Collections Manager Krista Anderson-Larson says. “That way they can spend time with the artworks in person and select what they would like to exhibit in the show that they were curating.”

This process spans several years of groundwork and relationship-building.

Svoboda Center for Civic Engagement Director Alyssa Melby says the project has its roots in earlier initiatives. 

“The Svoboda Center for Civic Engagement, through Academic Civic Engagement [ACE], has been involved in this Art and Art History and Flaten Art Museum collaboration since its early days under Hannah Ryan’s Student-Led Art Acquisition Project,” Melby says. “Shortly after the launch of that project, I worked with a core group of faculty members in Art and Art History, along with Jane [Becker Nelson ’04] and Krista [Anderson-Larson] from the Flaten, through an Engaged Department process. Over the past two years, we’ve been working closely through Christina Spiker’s Making Museums Matter course to let students take the lead on engagement programming, beginning with last year’s cross-campus collaborative exhibition, Practicing Democracy.”

All of that work culminated into the Making Museums Matter class creating this semester’s exhibition.

“This year, Jane [Becker Nelson] and Christina [Spiker] took a huge leap in facilitating the students in the fall class to actually curate the spring exhibition,” Melby says. “It’s thrilling to see that come to fruition.”

Melby adds that the spring semester plays a crucial role in extending the exhibition’s impact beyond its opening. 

“I’m especially excited to have the spring class carry this work forward by creating and implementing programming that brings their peers’ exhibition to the broader community in new and relevant ways — by students, for students,” she says.

Anderson-Larson echoes that distinction between the two semesters’ roles. 

“They [spring semester students] are activating the exhibition, if you will, through these events garnering support and engagement with the show,” she says. “But all the curatorial decisions and writing was done by the fall class. The spring class is more focused on visitor and campus engagement.”

Beyond its collaborative structure, Let’s Talk: Collection Conversations also challenges traditional museum narratives. According to the event’s opening description — written by students — the principal guiding star for this exhibit is: What happens when we treat the museum as a place for conversations, rather than conclusions?

This particular exhibit seeks to explore that question via the “living room space.” According to the event description, the living room space “offers room for your reflection. In this setting, conversation becomes part of the experience — an exchange framed by your perspectives and interpretations.”

Anderson-Larson says the FAM plans to use the living room space throughout the exhibition’s run, hosting events and conversations that will extend well beyond the opening ceremony.

“The spring section is going to be hosting conversations that engage the show in different ways,” Anderson-Larson says. “So that is a space to facilitate those conversations. It will also just be a nice study space and a way to make the museum feel a little bit more welcoming.”

For many students, the exhibition also offered an opportunity to develop practical skills applicable well beyond the arts. Several seniors involved in the project will graduate this year, bringing hands-on experience in research, collaboration, and exhibition design with them into the workforce. 

“It’s a rare opportunity that students get to curate a museum exhibition, and as part of their coursework,” Anderson-Larson says. “That’s usually something that you don’t even get to do in your first five to 10 years as a curator. You’re working your way up to that point until you are a museum curator, and then can make those kinds of decisions.”

Carly Smithmier ‘26, a senior art history and studio art major, noted the value of these skillsets.

“This course exceeded my expectations and taught me real-life skills in curation, research, and exhibition design,” Smithmier says. “It really helped me develop my collaboration and teamwork skills while also gaining hands-on experience in museum work. This class also really opened my eyes to a wide variety of career opportunities in museums.”

Hanifl echoes that sentiment, noting that the skills she developed extend far beyond the Hill.

“Throughout the course Making Museums Matter, I grew in my ability to communicate effectively in group settings, improved my professional writing skills, and learned to adapt to the challenges of collaborative work,” Hanifl says. “While the ACE component’s shifting schedule was sometimes difficult to manage, I appreciated the real-world working experience it provided. Working closely with Jane [Becker Nelson ’04] and Krista [Anderson-Larson] was a privilege, and as a class we got to learn a lot about what working in a museum entails.”

Let’s Talk: Collection Conversations will be open to the campus and public through April 12.