Student Curation at the de Saisset: Cultural, Community and Identity

A look at de Saisset’s culturally colorful new exhibit and the students that made it happen

De Saisset’s newest exhibit shows undeniable artistic skill and profound messages, and is bolstered by its unique story of curation. All of the artwork in this exhibit was selected by students, and then honed into the final cut by students Presia Liu, Kelsey Elinski and Annika Signh. 

De Saisset’s website on the Class Acquisitions Project elaborates, "undergraduate students learn how museums develop and maintain a permanent collection, research artists and artworks aligned with their course and the museum's collecting goals, and ultimately select works for the museum to purchase for its permanent collection."

An anonymous student that participated in the curation process from the classroom noted the significance of completing the project and sharing it with the public. 

“Completing the Acquisitions project really brought the experience full circle; we were able to use what we learned and put it towards something meaningful that would benefit Santa Clara and the greater community.”

This is the first time so much of the curational process has been turned over to students. Lauren Baines, interim director at the de Saisset, was pleased by the sense of undergraduate leadership the exhibit provides.

“It made a lot of sense to us especially for this exhibition because we wanted to center the work of students involved in selecting artworks for our collection,” Baines said. “So why not also deeply involve students in the presentation of those selections in an exhibition? It is a student-centered exhibition throughout.”

The experience of curating the exhibit was unique, as selectors worked backwards on determining the featured works. Annika Singh was inspired by the process and how it all came together.

“Usually, an exhibition starts with a theme or an idea and choosing pieces comes afterwards, but the order was reversed for this exhibition,” Singh said. “After several weeks of playing around with different ideas and discussing it together, three ideas seem to encapsulate most, if not all of the pieces exhibited: identity, community and existence.”

De Saisset’s website elaborates further on the exhibit, saying “student acquisitions on Identity, Community, and Enduring Existence engage with a wide range of themes including statements of community or self, manipulating the Western art canon, natural topographies and the built world, and confronting policies that disadvantage people.”

Baines went on to say that the exhibit conveys a “wide range of themes including statements of community or self, manipulating the Western art canon, natural topographies and the built world and confronting policies that disadvantage people. The artists represented offer interpretations of the worlds they inhabit, revealing the many ways that the past can be reclaimed, life goes on and the future can be rewritten.”

The confrontation of Western hegemony married with the exhibit’s bright pride for culture is where the selection packs its punch. Pieces touch on political injustices in Flint, Michigan, depicting the California Missions as a b-movie horror film and breaking Western traditional gender roles. The collection asserts appreciation of East Asian, American Indian and African American culture, as well as hefty political and cultural protests and statements. 

Artist Sue Coe’s piece La Frontera depicts a cowboy (a Western hegemonic hero) looming over a bound Mexican man. The plaque next to Coe’s piece reads, “When I make art, I make more witnesses, and when there are enough witnesses, the horror stops.”

Many of the works featured are accompanied by written supplements that augment the work’s message. While some share their wall space with a plaque of the artists' quotes on their general work, medium or the specific piece, others integrate media into the pieces. 

Carrie Mae Weem’s piece Not Manet’s Type is accompanied by an original poem by Weems, part of which is featured in bold on the piece. Weems integrated text with art to reveal perceptions of race, class and gender in society. 

Weems writes, “My primary concern in art, as in politics, is with the status and place of Afro-Americans in our country.”

Frank LaPena’s plaque sits next to his piece, We Are All Sacred. It bears his message: “In spite of all the evil, hate, and abuse found in the world, I believe we are all fundamentally sacred beings. In We Are All Sacred, I express my wish that we act as if we are sacred, thereby making the world a better place.”

The exhibit, in the spirit of its namesake quote, ties together the unique humanity of all people. It will run in the De Saisset Museum until December 22, 2022.