In the Fall 2011 semester, I taught a course on Installation art and Curatorial Practice at Coe College in which the students took part in a seminar and practicum that involved readings and discussion of the history and theories behind installation art and curatorial practice, and had the opportunity to put these concepts to work through active participation in an exhibition entitled Shaping Space: Installations by Rachel Hayes and Liz Miller. Both artists designed site-specific installations for Coe College’s Sinclair Galleries, which my students assisted in the installation of, providing the opportunity to dialogue with the artists about the processes of installation art. To complement the exhibition, I brought two more installation artists, Beili Liu (University of Texas at Austin) and Isabel Barbuzza (The University of Iowa), to campus to critique student work, give artist talks and to participate, along with the exhibiting artists, in a panel on the practices of installation art – all of which were attended by students in the course, as well as open to the general public. The students benefited from the practical application of some of the concepts discussed in the course, and also the opportunity to create and experience an immersive installation-environment, something that is impossible to do in the classroom.
