The 2015 spring course culminated in the student-curated exhibition Behind the Glass, which features objects loaned by the Chipstone Foundation and selections from Bard Graduate Center’s Study Collection. Each member of the class created a shelf within a “collector’s cabinet,” installed on the third floor of the Academic Programs building at 38 West 86th Street. On view through the end of July, the exhibition engages with conventions of display, and the roles that curators and collectors play as they shape the interpretation of objects.

Class members designed and installed Behind the Glass with the assistance of Ian Sullivan, Gallery exhibition designer, and  Kate DeWitt, art director, learning from their expertise. Students also created interpretative and promotional materials, and staged events demonstrating exploratory methods for object study. Reflecting upon their experiences, they emphasized the value of creative freedom, the intellectual benefits of collaboration, and the satisfaction of realizing their own exhibition. Participants were Emily Banas, Shayla Black, Linnea Johnson, Marietta Klase, Erica Lome, Claire McRee, Summer Olsen, Jeanne Paquet, Ariel Rosenblum, Sarah Stanley, and Andrew Taggart.