Cultural Connections Program Announcement

Program Announcement

Challenging Assumptions in "Question"
Wednesday, October 20, 2:00-5:00 PM
Cantor Art Center, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA

Stanford University's Cantor Arts Center has turned their exhibition development process inside out for an exciting new project, entitled "Question." Says Patience Young, the Cantor Center's Curator for Education, "We are throwing out our assumptions in order to challenge ourselves and engage visitors in new ways. As we distilled a list of queries from the general public and visiting students, we discovered that some of the most basic questions are the most provocative. 'What is artistic quality?'; 'Where is the meaning in the work?'; and 'Who decides what is art or who is an artist?' have stimulated animated discussions among the staff."

Cantor Arts Center curators and other staff, working in teams, have selected objects from the Center's comprehensive collection of 26,000 works to provoke and illustrate specific questions. Working with exhibition designers Darcie Fohrman and Michael Brown, the Center devised an installation that raises even more questions than it answers and that provides numerous ways for visitors to interact with the artworks as they explore their own ideas about art and museums.

On Wednesday, October 20th, Cultural Connections invites you to view the exhibition and meet with the project developers. We will discuss their challenges, successes and surprises, and hear how staff, visitors and reviewers have reacted to the installation.

As background to our discussion, please review the following articles:

San Mateo County Times review

SFGate review

Visitor letter

Program

11:00 AM	Museum opens--free to public. Please try to come early and view "Question" (and other galleries) before the program starts.
2:00-2:30	Cultural Connections program check-in in the Museum lobby
2:30-3:00	Welcome and Announcements, Project Background & Goals
3:00-3:30	Directed viewing in "Question" gallery
3:30-4:30	Discussion with panelists on the North Terrace
4:30-5:00	Refreshments & Networking
5:00 PM	Museum closes
Program Fee	Free for Cultural Connections members $10 for non-members
Inquiries	Email info@cultural-connections.org
Location	Directions to the Cantor Arts Center can be found at: http://ccva.stanford.edu/directions.html

We have transitioned to ALL e-mail flyers.
If you have not provided us with your current email address, please let us know: membership@cultural-connections.org

Mark your calendar for our upcoming program:
Wednesday, December 8, 2004
Feast of Ideas, Location TBA