It a pleasure to reflect on the completion of the grant project Leading with Objects: Engaging the Community in Institutional Change and its exhibition Making Room: Familiar Art, New Stories,undertaken by the Weatherspoon Art Museum at UNC Greensboro over the past two years. This project exemplifies the transformative power of community engagement and the vital role of art in fostering dialogue, understanding, and inclusivity within institutions of higher education.
The community-minded goals of Leading with Objects aligned with the values of inclusion and representation at UNC Greensboro, a designated minority-serving institution (MSI) committed to the social mobility of its graduates. The project also contributed to an increasingly important national impulse to share fuller, more inclusive, and more diverse studies of American art and history through grassroots community engagement. By inviting the community to engage with the objects in the museum’s collection, this project not only enriched our understanding of American art but also created a framework for empowering students and members of the Greensboro community to contribute their perspectives to that narrative, now and in the future.
Given the project’s focus on engaged learning and collaboration, I was proud as chancellor of UNC Greensboro to witness the ways in which Leading with Objects bridged the interests of university staff, faculty, and students with those of the broader community. I have seen the Weatherspoon building, its staff, and the art in the collection become ever more welcoming and accessible over the course of this project, and I have delighted in the increased use of the museum for the advancement of student success and the pure enjoyment of art as part of everyday life.
We are grateful to the Terra Foundation for American Art and the Henry Luce Foundation for their support of this project, and to the staff, faculty, students, and community members who contributed their time, knowledge, and expertise to make it such a success. Together, we have demonstrated the transformative power of art and community engagement, and I am confident that the lessons learned and relationships formed during this project will continue to inspire positive change in our community for years to come. I would like to express my sincere appreciation to Juliette Bianco, director of the Weatherspoon, the talented Weatherspoon staff, and everyone involved in this project. Your dedication, passion, and commitment to excellence have made a lasting impact on our community and our university.
