Practicing Democracy

    St. Olaf students Linnea Cheek ’21 (second from left) and Hannah Liu ’21 (second from right) educate students on voter registration and other election topics prior to the 2020 U.S. Presidential election. Image Courtesy: St Olaf College Marketing and Communications.

    Practicing Democracy: 150 Years of St. Olaf Student Civic Engagement 

    Flaten Art Museum 

    September 13 – December 10, 2024*

    In the fall of 2024, St. Olaf College’s Flaten Art Museum (FAM) will become a site for practicing democracy leading up to and following the 2024 U.S. Presidential Election. In partnership with the college’s Academic Civic Engagement (ACE) program (within the Smith Center for Global Engagement), the Institute or Freedom and Community (IFC), and College Archives, FAM presents these non-partisan exhibitions to strengthen civil society and highlight the power of art in fostering civic engagement. 

    Practicing Democracy (September 13 – December 10, 2024) explores and promotes St. Olaf student civic engagement as the college marks its 150th anniversary. Decades of engagement and activism paved the way for St. Olaf College to lead voter engagement among U.S. colleges and universities today. Photographs and ephemera on loan from College Archives highlight non-violent protests, artistic responses to urgent issues, candidate campus visits, and get-out-the-vote campaigns from the early 1900s to the present. These artifacts offer a window into the college’s past and reveal that students have long been at the forefront of political activism. The exhibition continues with an immersive mock election experience where visitors can register to vote, cast a straw poll ballot, and discover ways to stay informed and engaged. Following the election on Tuesday, November 5, this gallery will transform into a “living room” for reflection and civic dialogue. Outside on the museum’s “front yard” visitors will experience artist Nina Katchadourian’s conceptual art installation Monument to the Unelected. 

    *Closed for St. Olaf’s Fall Break October 12-15, and Thanksgiving Break November 27-December 1.

    Programming 

    Friday, September 13, 2024
    Opening Reception, 5-7 p.m.
    Join the exhibition’s curators for a celebratory election season kick-off and opening reception. Free and open to the public.

    Tuesday, September 17
    Register to Vote at FAM, 3-5 p.m.
    In conjunction with National Voter Registration Day and Constitution Day, St. Olaf’s Election Ambassadors will hold “office hours” in the east gallery, registering voters and answering questions about the election process. 

    Saturday, October 5
    March, Speak, Dance, Draw, Vote! Civic Engagement Alumni Roundtable, 4 p.m.
    Welcome back to the Hill, Oles! In conjunction with St. Olaf Homecoming Weekend, alumni who have made notable contributions to civic engagement will converse about the many forms of student activism, past and present. 

    Tuesday, November 5
    Election Day! 

    Thursday, November 7, 7-8 p.m.
    Post-Election Living Room Conversation with Chris Chapp, Professor of Political Science; Morrison Family Director of the Institute for Freedom and Community
    Cozy in and debrief the election results in a casual Q & A setting.

    This exhibition is curated by Jane Becker Nelson, Director and Curator of the Flaten Art Museum with Alyssa Melby, Program Director of Academic Civic Engagement at St. Olaf College and Chris Chapp, Professor of Political Science and Morrison Family Director of the Institute for Freedom and Community at St. Olaf College. 

    Thanks to student curatorial assistants Omar Al-Taie ‘24, Anika James ‘25, Andrew Mazariegos ‘24, Emma Rezac ‘25, Lauren Schilling ‘25, Sophie Smith ’25, and Roxi Wessel ’26. We are especially grateful to St. Olaf College Archives, Carleton College’s Perlman Teaching Museum, and Carleton College Archives for their robust partnership and generous loans.