About the Exhibition
Let’s Talk: Collection Conversations emerges from a semester-long collaboration between students in Making Museums Matter (ARTH 282) and the Flaten Art Museum. At its core is a deceptively simple question: What happens when we treat the museum as a place for conversations rather than conclusions?
The exhibition highlights five new acquisitions that serve as catalysts for inquiry rather than fixed narratives. Building from these works, students developed themes that invite dialogue, contrast, and curiosity. The adjacent “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.
Let’s Talk: Collection Conversations welcomes visitors into a museum shaped by shared conversations where meaning is sparked by both dialogue and observation. We invite you to join the conversation, share your voice, and discover what unfolds when we look together.
This exhibition is curated by St. Olaf students Ryan Brentner ‘27, Liz Bunnell ‘26, Jade Caballero Mejia ‘28, Adriana Fleming ‘26, Gracie Garrett ‘27, Zibby Hanifl ‘26, Cora Olson ‘27, Quintessa O’Toole ‘27, Max Peterson ‘26, Lauren Russell ‘28, Audrey Scarlett ‘27, Carly Smithmier ‘26, Lars Soforenko ‘26, Andre Thomas ‘26, and Aaron Winer ‘28. Special thanks to course instructor Dr. Christina M. Spiker, Assistant Professor of Art and Art History and Asian Studies, and academic civic engagement facilitator, Alyssa Melby, Director of Svoboda Center for Civic Engagement.
Programming
Friday, February 13, 5-7 p.m.
Opening Reception
Explore this entirely student-curated show, and share your own voice at the opening reception of Let’s Talk: Collection Conversations, starting at 5 p.m.
Renluka Maharaj, Lillah (Pelting Mangoes series), archival photograph on canvas, 2020, 2022.4.3
Benigna Chilla, Three Movements, mixed media on painted painted canvas and screen, 1992, 2024.1.2
Jil Evans, Heart Bright Dark 3, oil on canvas, 2018, 2022.5.1
Roberto Lugo, Thurgood Marshall/W.E.B Du Bois, porcelain, china paint, and luster, 2018, 2019.2.3
Zig Jackson, Entering Zig’s Indian Reservation, City Hall, archival pigment print on paper, 1997, 2024.2.6
About the Collaboration
Let’s Talk: Collection Conversations embodies the Flaten Art Museum’s values of education and collaboration. The students of Christina Spiker’s Making Museums Matter (ARTH 282) class received hands-on experience in a professional field through the class’s Academic Civic Engagement (ACE) component. ACE courses combine academic skills with community-based experience. The fall cohort was given the opportunity to curate an exhibition entirely out of works in the museum’s collection that have never been on display before. The exhibition centers around five essential objects, offering an opportunity for discussion across medium, content, and context. From beginning to end, the students collaborated to create a complete, immersive, and reflective exhibition, guided by established professionals.
Class photo by Sam Gering ’27.
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