Public programmes are essential in making art more accessible and engaging. These initiatives, ranging from artist talks and workshops to community-led projects, create opportunities for people to interact with art beyond traditional exhibitions. By fostering participation, they encourage dialogue and deeper understanding, making art a shared experience rather than a passive one.
One key aspect of public programmes is their ability to break down barriers. Museums and galleries can sometimes feel exclusive, but well-designed programmes invite diverse audiences, including those who might not typically engage with the arts. Educational activities provide valuable learning experiences, helping people develop creative skills and critical thinking. More importantly, they create connections—between artists and audiences, between different communities, and between art and everyday life.
Successful public programmes often involve collaboration. Co-creating events with local communities ensures relevance and inclusivity. Similarly, interdisciplinary approaches that combine art with social issues, science, or history make artistic experiences more dynamic. However, maintaining engagement requires careful planning. Events should not just be one-off experiences but part of a sustained effort to build a culture of participation.
With digital platforms playing a larger role, public programming is evolving. Virtual events and online workshops can reach wider audiences, but in-person interaction remains irreplaceable. The challenge is to find a balance, ensuring accessibility without losing the depth of direct engagement. Public programmes are not just an addition to exhibitions—they are a vital part of how art connects with society.
31 March 2025 at 12:06
Since the last round of feedback, you have written posts reflecting on exhibitions visits in Glasgow, the event with CAP students, collective discussions and group work at Summerhall, and an update on developments in your individual curatorial project proposal development.
Whilst these posts do evidence reflection on course activities, there is still very limited engagement with curatorial theory relevant to your project in your blog at present (flagged in previous round of feedback). The learning outcomes for the course (and which are the criteria against which your work is assessed) specifically require that you research and engage with curatorial theories and methods, locating your own practice in relation to the expanded field of curatorial theory and practice and this is something to address before submission. In the first round of blog feedback, I shared links to resources on the rural as site of cultural production and these remain relevant resources to aid your engagement with theory.
We discussed the developments to your own project detailed in the Week 9 blog post in last week’s tutorial so I won’t go into detail in the feedback here. However, to reiterate the key points of this, there is a need to clearly articulate the role of artists in the exhibition. In conversation in our tutorial, it seems that you are still unclear on who would make the work on show and whether these works are traditional examples, contemporary commissions that respond to the traditional practices, or a mixture of the two. We also spoke about being clear on the aim(s) of your exhibition.
Your posts on the field trip to Glasgow describe some of the exhibitions that you engaged with. Your section on the exhibition Digging in Another Time evidences a depth of engagement with Jarman’s work. However, in the context of this course, a greater engagement with the curatorial aspects of the exhibitions you have engaged with would be beneficial and better demonstrate how you are meeting the learning outcomes.
Be careful too to ensure that key details are correct. You refer to the Sulter exhibition as You Are My Soulmate but the exhibition title is You Are My Kindred Spirit.
In your blog post on the event with CAP students, you discuss four works by four students. When writing about artworks, ensure that you include enough of an introduction to what the work is to ground your discussion of it. For example, when you write about Huang Yi’s work, you reference an AI-generated resume but it’s not clear how this is part of the work and how it relates to the focus on marine pollution.
Another thing to be mindful of is the difference between artistic practice and curatorial practice. When writing about Ju Keyi’s work, you refer to their curatorial approach. However, as an artist, this would be an artistic, not curatorial, approach.
Your blog consistently shows your engagement with the course activities but ensure that you consider the learning outcomes against which your work will be assessed.