Remember “Future Teachers of America,” “Future Farmers of America,” and “Future Scientists and Engineers of America”?
The Albright-Knox Art Gallery has a program that should evolve into “Future Curators of America.”
Now in its fourth year, the after-school program engages 11th and 12th graders from area schools, selected from a pool of applicants. They meet once a week from January through May, “under the mentoring eye of coordinator Anna Jablonski of the Albright-Knox Art Gallery’s Education Department.” They learn how to call for works, select them, write texts, install the exhibition and publicize the show.
This year’s exhibition — Spectrum: Daydreams of Reality — opens Friday. It will show works by area teenagers drawn from more than 400 submissions. The chosen works — some shown here — include paintings, works on paper, photography, and sculpture. “They all express a unifying feeling of whimsicality that one would find in daydreams,” Future Curator Joseph Polino said in the press release.
Many museums have teen programs, but neither I nor the Albright-Knox have heard of any like this. Initially, the AK asked teachers to recommend students for the program; this year, it opened it up to all area 11th and 12th graders — receiving 30 applications, of which 14 were selected. One dropped out, leaving seven girls and six boys to finish. See their picture here.
This is a great idea to engage teenagers; I hope it spreads. And there’s a bit more:
The students have also organized an evening of programming that will mark the exhibition opening on May 21. The evening will include an open mic event from 6 to 10 pm that will feature a spectrum of performances in the Gallery’s Sculpture Garden. Also that evening, the Gallery’s Education Department will offer a related art activity for all ages, “Scratching into Reality,” from 5 to 7 pm. A special tour of the exhibition, entitled Mother May I?, will take place at 6 pm. At 7 pm, there will be a screening of the director’s cut of the cult film Donnie Darko (2001), directed by Richard Kelly and starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Drew Barrymore.
In music, studies have shown that children who play a musical instrument are more likely to become consumers of classical music concerts when they grow up. Future Curators may be something of an equivalent in visual arts.
Photo Credits, top to bottom: Tea Time, by Viktoria Filaretova; untitled, by Rachel Fein-Smolinski; Life Support 2, by Layna Mattson; courtesy Albright-Knox