For those who think the contemporary art scene begins and ends in New York City, art history professor Karen Beckman has some news: “It’s happening all across the country and in radically different ways.” Beckman teaches Issues in Contemporary Art and the Art of Curating, a two-semester seminar that explores the trends embraced by today’s artists and the practice of curators who exhibit the works. The course is taught in collaboration with the Institute of Contemporary Art, whose staff works closely with the class on matters related to curatorial practice. During the second semester, the students will be busy mounting their own art exhibit – Exposure: Process and Politics – in the ICA, which will be open for public viewing over the summer.
After taking her class to view collections up and down the east coast, Beckman flew them to Texas for a tightly scheduled four-day tour of art venues there. The visit included a stop at Rachofsky House, an art-filled estate that Wharton alumnus, Howard Rachofsky recently donated to the Dallas Museum of Art. A Dallas money manager and art collector, Rachofsky talked with the group about his own experiences with the art world and then treated them to dinner.
Beckman points out that viewing art in new contexts like the open spaces of a Texas desert or a one-street town with cowboys can transform how you understand it. “Knowledge doesn’t always come to you,” she stresses, citing the value of travel in courses such as hers. Notes senior Sarah Kearney, “Visiting art in an unexpected part of the world raises entirely new questions – and isn’t that what we’re here to do?”