“Picasso Landscapes: Out of Bounds,” A Queens Student Experience.
Throughout the Spring 2022 semester, Queens University of Charlotte Art History, Studio Art, and Arts Leadership & Administration students had the opportunity to engage in a “Museum Practicum,” course based around the current blockbuster exhibit at the Mint Museum Uptown, “Picasso Landscapes: Out of Bounds.” This exhibition showcases a selection of more than 40 works spanning Picasso’s full career, and is a traveling exhibition organized by American Federation of the Arts. This exhibition, as it is shown at the Mint Museum Uptown, is the “first of only two venues in the United States — and the only venue on the East Coast — to feature this exceptional exhibition filled with works from private collections and international museums together,” (Mint Museum).
Through this university-museum partnership, students have gained the opportunity to learn about Picasso’s life, influences, and artistic processes in an academic setting; then, applying this knowledge to “docent,” opportunities through “Mint-On-The-Dot,” talks offered on Wednesday evenings and Saturday afternoons. Training was offered to the students via both virtual and in-person sessions which focused on developing skills in visual and creative literacy, audience engagement, as well as art discussion and visual thinking strategies. Questions like "What is going on in this image?" and “What do you see that makes you say that?” introduces audiences to visual analysis, while engaging queries such as “What would it feel like to be in this landscape? What would you smell and feel?” develops an audience member’s personal relationship to the piece.
This selection of images presented below showcases the students of this “Museum Practicum,” course engaged in a private tour of the exhibit, guided by Joel Smeltzer and Maggie Mauldin, the Head and Assistant Head of School and Gallery Programs (noted below). We see students engaged in conversation, practicing these newly-established visual rhetoric skills amongst the group before they begin applying such talents to a public audience. Students are encouraged to keep a record of the experience in personal journals and sketchbooks, which will be reflected on in a group seminar setting as the semester ends.
“The students had a private tour of the “Picasso Landscapes: Out of Bounds,” exhibit facilitated by Joel Smeltzer and Maggie Mauldin, the Head and Assistant Head of School and Gallery Programs at the Mint Museum Uptown. Pictured are te students from the class taking notes and participating in discussions led by both Joel and Maggie.” — Reese Nguyen
All pictures were taken by Reese Nguyen (2023, Majoring in Mathematics and Studio Art).
REFERENCES:
“Picasso Landscapes: Out of Bounds,” Mint Museum Uptown. https://www.mintmuseum.org/exhibition/picasso-landscapes-out-of-bounds/. February 11th, 2023, Mint Museum. Accessed March 16th, 2023.