Ilana McAfoos, 9 December 2017
Standing in the gallery at the closing reception, I was struck by how fast this whole process has felt. Having never put together or even been a part of a gallery exhibition before, I had no idea what to expect. I also had no idea of the amount of stress, time and pride that goes into a project like this one, but I truly couldn’t be prouder of what we accomplished.
Over the past semester, my classmates and I have worked tirelessly to piece together the Narratives of the Nationality Rooms exhibition quite literally object by object and word for word. The entire process was incredibly rewarding; we were responsible for picking out all the objects, digging through the boxes of archival materials, putting together the stories behind all of these objects, and finally bringing all of the pieces into the gallery. Despite the amount of work put into all aspects of the exhibit, the most exciting and memorable part would be the art handling and installation itself.
I had the incredible opportunity to help build and create the displays for the dedication keys from six of the Nationality Rooms. The art handlers taught a few of us how to build boxes and wall mounts, cover and pin them, and physically handle and hang them in the wall vitrines. Standing in front of the finished vitrine, I remember a huge smile crossing my face; not only had I been part of creating the display, but it was the first moment where the exhibit finally came together as a whole for me. No longer was it just a collection of individual artifacts or objects; the pieces were suddenly telling a cohesive story to the audience; a story we had the privilege of telling.
It’s sad to see this exhibit come down after just four weeks in the University Art Gallery, but I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity this class and the exhibition provided, and I hope our visitors enjoyed the experience and learned from it; I certainly did.