In keeping with the commitment to organizational learning that Leading with Objects instigated, we acknowledge that not all the initial project goals were realized, while some wonderful and organization-impacting activities—like coproducing a new work of choreography and music that has now gone out into the world—arose instead. This was because, through this project, we made room for transformational learning and acted upon it under conditions that were emergent rather than determined or defined.
This section records goals from our initial planning document that we feel were not fully realized, others that presented themselves along the way, and suggestions from some of the catalogue’s essayists. Credit is given to the suggester. Those marked WEATHERSPOON are collated from the team’s original planning documents and further discussion during the project. Many represent work in progress—ongoing organizational goals that should always appear on a “future practice” document because this work is never complete.
When I am not able to find certain materials in object files or archives, I am always struck by how much of our understanding of a work, a collection, or an institution can be dependent on what was saved. I personally have found it difficult to always remember to document or archive relevant correspondence and other types of information related to works, often simply due to being in the moment and not thinking about the details and data that might be of use in the future. How much richer might our knowledge of objects be had someone saved email correspondence about an artist’s preferred fabricator or a photograph of a complex work installed by the artist personally? If artists are still living at the time of acquisition of their works, questionnaires completed by them, which ask after information such as installation requirements and instructions, can be incredible resources. Training oneself to document for our future selves—those who will have the privilege of caring for these works after we do—is hard, at least for me, but it is necessary to ensure that these objects can continue to be accessible to and appreciated by all. (CHOI)
I feel like saying “stay the course” since teaching with you all was a dream come true (and honestly hard to leave behind). (SCALISSI)
Campus community recommendations for acquisition areas and objects are so important. How can faculty across departments and ranks, as well as graduate students, engage with shaping the collection? What lines of inquiry are they researching/teaching in their own work and departments that objects could help answer or advance? How could those objects then be activated along multiple disciplinary lines? (SCALISSI)
Highlighting collection objects as objects of inquiry: What objects are already here but remain disconnected to the curriculum or exhibitions? Weatherspoon staff once suggested Tony Greene paintings for a class I was teaching in the museum, and they just brought so much air into the room and just deepened the gravity of what we were doing in class and together as colleagues. They set off the most interesting set of questions from students and humbled me tool, as I had no idea who he was. I would have loved to spend a year working with an undergrad research course to develop essays and labels for those paintings and search the collection for other works for the Greene paintings to talk to, and then opening up the process to the community (including making connections to LGBTQIA Greensboro organizations). Thinking about what existing collection objects need interpretation, research, and then maybe new acquisitions to “talk with” is what I’d love to see a teaching museum do. (SCALISSI)
Include more diverse campus and community voices as authors of labels, so that experiences and issues facing current or historically underrepresented populations appear more as lived experience than as conditions reported by museum curators. (CONRADS)
Break more forcefully with the mid-20th-century tradition of art displayed in white boxes, which promotes the dominant cultural history of museum installations. These current design values work contrary to the Weatherspoon’s efforts toward inclusion and belonging and could be ameliorated by introducing more color to the galleries and transition spaces as well as less rigidly linear wall layouts. (CONRADS)
Feature future installations on topics interrogating dominant culture narratives and shine a light on those that have been currently or historically ignored. (CONRADS)
Diversify the staff and coterie of community partners. (CONRADS)
Include evaluation in each new endeavor so that actual data can confirm or deny progress and guide future work. (CONRADS)
To fully embrace the idea of accessibility in museums, the opportunity to move outside of the walls is vital. Many communities in the most need are faced with mobility issues. The Weatherspoon could seize the moment and create pop-up installations that inform and expose within underserved communities; develop offsite artist calls through community organizations, churches, and centers; work with other museums and galleries to host a mutual exhibition across campuses; and identify “community curators” that represent the diversity of the community to select work from the permanent collection to exhibit. (BAKER)
Incorporate what is learned from campus and community engagement into the museum’s database to sustain collaborative knowledge production. This would demonstrate the complexity and abundance of new knowledge generated in a collaborative process and offer a model framework for inclusive interpretation. (BIANCO)
Continue to embed structures and practices that support a culture of continuous learning as an organization (not just a group of individuals) to change and alter research, display, visitor engagement, and interpretation. (BIANCO)
Focus on developing sustaining partnerships that contribute to erasing the perceived lines of divide between the campus and the community, and, in so doing, help advance municipal, civic, and academic efforts. (BIANCO)
Make more room made for museum visitors to make connections and to obtain a deeper understanding of the place in which they live, work, and study by engaging with art. (BIANCO)
Contribute to transformation through participating in local and national dialogues, conferences, committees, and convenings. (BIANCO)
