By Heidi Wong (she/her)
Museums
and galleries have long evolved from early private collections of fine art and
treasures and institutions of national glory into places of learning and
teaching. One example of a gallery as a place of learning is found here in
Toronto at the Propeller Art Gallery. Established in 1996 by a group of
students from Ontario College of Art and Design, it was founded to navigate the
difficult terrain emerging artists face when attempting to secure an
exhibition.[1]
With their mission of artists empowering artists, the gallery supports artists
by providing curatorial control over their own exhibitions, while cultivating
community relationships and partnerships.[2]
This essay focuses on the educational aspect of Propeller’s exhibit Washi
Sisters: A journey, as an example of how learning and teaching can take
place within a gallery setting.
Washi
Sisters: A journey presents
six artists – Bunni Bresver, Sharon Dembo, Sharron Corrigan Forrest, Dominique
Prevost, Susan Ruptash, and Noriko Yamamoto – who explore the unique
characteristics of Heritage Washi.[3]
Walking into the gallery space, the delicate, translucent, sculptural,
textural, and experimental Heritage Washi artworks reveal themselves. The
gallery is a rectangular room with a white wall dividing the space in such a
way that it forces the visitor to walk in a circular path. Some direction is provided
to visitors by the artworks’ orientation; vivid landmarks like Dembo’s Heritage
Washi dresses, Sharron Corrigan’s Hello Cherry Blossoms, or Susan
Ruptash’s 2292 prompt the visitor to travel the most prominent path.
Still, there are many elements of discovery; with no clear delineation of a
beginning and an end, visitors can wander and find unanticipated outcomes. The
artworks are not organized in a consecutive, sequential order. Rather, in their
own individual voices, the artworks exist beside or face each other in dialogue
with one another. This encourages discovery, allowing visitors to establish
their own connections between the artworks. Exploration is also prompted by
interactive components displayed among the work, such as Bresver’s Heritage Washi
book, Signed, Sealed, Delivered. In these ways, the organization of this
exhibit displays threads of a constructivist pedagogy.[4]
Other strategies, such as those grounded in a didactic pedagogy, would not have
worked as well in this setting; the learning experience would be too structured
and rigid, and would not facilitate a learner-centered environment.
Accompanying
this exhibition, three programmed events were developed to support the exhibit.
They include two online Zoom events – Let’s Talk About Washi and Washi
maker in Japan! – and a live artist talk at the gallery.[5]
In the online program, Let’s Talk About Washi, visitors were invited to
learn about the materiality of washi paper. The moderator, Susan Ruptash, asked
her fellow artists a set of prepared questions about their experiences,
aspirations, and lessons learned from working with Heritage Washi. This was
followed by an open Q&A. Through these programmed events, Propeller Art
Gallery created nonformal learning opportunities; voluntary and self-directed
learning experiences which support the leisurely learning setting of the
exhibition itself.[6]
As such, adult visitors could exercise a considerable amount of control over
their participation. Self-directed learning can increase motivation to
participate, allowing for a more personalized learning experience that enables a
person to engage with opportunities that they think are desirable or helpful.[7]
In
constructivist thinking, the learner is not seen as a blank slate; they bring
in prior knowledge, experiences, and preferences.[8]
In considering the visitors’ learning process in a gallery setting, it is
helpful to refer to John Falk’s motivational identities. In “An
Identity-Centered Approach to Understanding Museum Learning”, Falk suggests
that visitors tend to have one or a combination of five museum-specific
identities, all of which can affect learning: explorer, facilitator,
professional/hobbyist, experience seeker, and spiritual pilgrim.[9]
During
the opening of the exhibit, there were three observable motivational
identities: the professional/hobbyist, the spiritual pilgrim, and the
facilitator. As an artist-run gallery, many of those who attend exhibits and
programming are members of the gallery. These artists would be attracted to the
exhibit as a professional/hobbyist, as their learning is influenced by their
prior knowledge and their intention to enhance their own art practice.[10]
The programmed events offered the opportunity for them to engage with the other
artists and Heritage Washi to this end. The exhibit also attracted the
spiritual pilgrim. They come to reflect and bask in the aura of the Heritage
Washi artworks.[11]
The exhibit’s opening dance performances by Noriko Yamamoto, Claudia Moore, and
Martha Randall, created a welcoming atmosphere of healing and celebration, which
would also appeal to spiritual pilgrims. Finally, many visitors to the exhibit brought
their family or were acquainted with the artists. These visitors participated as
facilitators. Their intentions were purposeful, but the educational objectives
may have been altered to align with the personal agenda of supporting their
artist friends or creating opportunities for their children to experience art.[12]
As such, while they are engaged, their learning experience would not be as rich
as the professional/hobbyist. It is important to factor how visitors’
identities and motivations affect the learning experience and use this to
determine educational goals and strategies. Propeller Art Gallery knows its
audience well and structured an exhibit and programmed events to appeal to
these different types of learners.
Through
pedagogical approaches that recognizes the learners’ prior knowledge and
motivation, a gallery can produce a conducive learning environment. As seen
through this case study of Washi Sisters: A journey at Propeller Art
Gallery, the motivational identities that visitors bring with them were
considered, as is evident in the organization of the exhibit and the structure
of programmed events. By rooting the exhibit in discovery and emphasizing
collaboration and community in their programming, visitors are encouraged to
participate. They can assert control over their own learning to align with
their goals of professional development, spiritual experiences, or supporting
friends.
[1]. Our Living History Project,”
Propeller Art Gallery, accessed October 18, 2022, https://propellerartgallery.com/living-history/.
[2]. “Equity & Mission Statement,”
Propeller Art Gallery, accessed October 18, 2022, https://propellerartgallery.com/about/mission-statement/.
[3]. “Washi Sisters: A Journey,”
Propeller Art Gallery, accessed October 18, 2022, https://propellerartgallery.com/exhibitions/washi-sisters-a-journey/.
[4]. George E. Hein and Mary
Alexander, “Education in Museums,” in Museums, Places of Learning
(Washington: American Association of Museums Education Committee, 1998), 40-43.
[5]. At the time of writing, I only
the zoom event Let’s Talk About Washi was attended.
[6]. Shiralee Hudson Hill, “Audience
Engagement & Interpretive Planning” (Presentation, Art and Design Education
Lab class at OCAD University, Ontario, CA, October 4, 2022.
[7]. Hein and Alexander, 20.
[8]. John H. Falk, “An
Identity-Centered Approach to Understanding Museum Learning,” Curator
42, no. 2 (2006): 153.
[9]. Falk, 156-158.
[10]. Falk, 157.
[11]. Falk, 158.
[12]. Falk, 157.
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