This thesis addresses a gap in scholarship by centering curators at often-overlooked university art institutions in the Appalachian region in order to analyze the practical applications of feminist curatorial methodologies in comparison to established feminist curatorial scholarship Three case studies focus on the Reece Museum at Eastern Tennessee State University, the Art in the Libraries initiative at West Virginia University, and the Eleanor D. Wilson Museum at Hollins University. This study uses qualitative and anecdotal data collection methods, such as surveys and one-on-one interviews to demonstrate how feminist methodologies are employed as a theoretically informed curatorial practice, following the framework originally developed in feminist curatorial scholarship. An analysis of feminist curatorial scholarship reveals three core principles of feminist curating: institutional critique, collaboration and engagement, and inventive exhibition strategies. Data analysis found that staff at these three university institutions utilize various intersectional methodologies under the umbrella of feminist interventions when creating exhibitions in their respective institutions. The concept of "feminist curating," as understood and expressed by the staff, has evolved from traditional gender-centered approaches to address a broader scope of socio-economic inequalities as well as power dynamics within museums It is intended to serve as an entry point for further critique of self-described curatorial feminist methods and their practical implementations, in order to analyze what these strategies and practices look like, and how they are intended to affect the university community. / Master of Arts / This thesis explores the feminist practices of curatorial staff from three university art institutions in Appalachia: the Reece Museum at Eastern Tennessee State University, the Art in the Libraries initiative at West Virginia University, and the Eleanor D. Wilson Museum at Hollins University, and connects their work to the larger landscape of feminist curatorial scholarship. The self-described feminist interventions in these curatorial practices aim to disrupt power hierarchies present in museums and other exhibition spaces. A tradition of feminist curating initially served as a method for highlighting women artists and questioning the underlying societal systems that led to their exclusion from the art world, however, this thesis found that contemporary iterations of feminist curating now have an expanded focus to include other historically marginalized populations. Despite the change in scope, both contemporary and historic feminist curators utilize three primary feminist approaches that are common to a variety of curatorial methods: institutional critique, collaboration and engagement, and inventive exhibition strategies. These three methods are continued threads that link feminist curatorial methodologies over time and provide a basis for analyzing distinctions between traditional feminist curatorial methods, feminist curating in scholarship, and how feminist interventions are implemented in a practical sense at university institutions in the Appalachian region.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:VTETD/oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/119072 |
| Date | 23 May 2024 |
| Creators | Penven, Savannah Kate |
| Contributors | Material Culture and Public Humanities, Moseley Christian, Michelle Yvonne, Reeves, Audrey, Ronan, Anne Elizabeth |
| Publisher | Virginia Tech |
| Source Sets | Virginia Tech Theses and Dissertation |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | ETD, application/pdf |
| Rights | In Copyright, http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ |
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