14 CONNECTING PEOPLE TO ART: VOICES, VIEWPOINTS AND VISION strates that the conception of an art museum dates back to the founding of the college. Historically, the study and making of art has been closely tied to the museum, which speaks to our mission. How do you balance theory with practice in curatorship? EC: Curating, to me, seems in many ways theory in practice. We’ve had a lot of internal conversations this year focused on theory and postcolonial and decolonial theory, in particular. The work, then, is to identify the different methodologies proposed by these thinkers and incorporate them into our daily responsibilities at the museum. Some of this work remains behind the scenes for now, but it does and will continue to shape every aspect of visiting the museum. It’s a question of what artworks we acquire and put on view, of course, as well as how we describe the works in writing and in conversation, who we invite to generate this discourse, who we imagine as its audience and what kinds of knowledge and experience we expect them to bring with them into the galleries. Is it only the curator’s or the institution’s voice that interprets the works on view, or are other voices and perspectives incorporated? Equally important is where and how objects are placed: What’s at the center of a gallery? What’s at its edges? How is it lit? What hierarchies do we convey, intentionally or not, through signage, pathways, location, maps, etc.? SB: For me, this has been a crash course in curatorial practice. I had a lot of ideas about the way I thought things worked, but actually working in a physical space has been a completely different experience. My initial curatorial exposure was mostly digital, and interacting with objects has given me a whole new knowledge base. DC: The object is always the guiding force. I tend to start with the object and then try to work it into a theory or idea. Sometimes that does not work, so for me, prac- tice often wins. In other words, curators may have the best intentions and theories but the fact remains that there are certain curatorial practices one must respect to honor both the object and the viewer. If something is so theoretical that the viewer cannot make sense of it or it does a disservice to the object, that is when I think we as curators need to reassess our ideas. AG: I am not an abstract thinker by nature—there’s a reason I play with old pieces of paper for a living! I like to think that the practical part of curatorial work is what hooks a visitor: object selection, placement, sight lines. However, I appreciate theoretical points of view because they can help me stretch and grow. The enemy of good curatorial work is a fixed point of view and a dogged adherence to “how we do things.” While practical considerations need to be a factor, experimentation has its place too. Favorite part(s) of the job? DC: The art, of course! It is always thrilling to examine a work of art up close, discover its history and display it among other works that inform it and expand on its significance. An artwork may be viewed by many people, but will resonate in different ways. In that way, it is constantly changing, but it can also be a touchstone. Sometimes when I look at an artwork that I especially love, it feels like seeing an old friend. AG: I agree, and I love connecting people with objects— answering questions, sharing what I know, or trying to puzzle things out with a visitor. The Cunningham Center allows for direct viewing of works of art on paper without the barrier of glass so people can really see the surface and materials. Access is so essential to what we do. EC: Every day when I come to work I feel like I am bringing forward—into our offices, onto our gallery walls and hopefully into the world—that which matters to me the most, which is art’s capacity to transform how we un- derstand the world around us, how the past shapes the present and, perhaps most importantly in the context of a country whose past and present are inseparable from the violent institutions of slavery, white supremacy and colonialism, who we see—and thereby recognize in laws and in everyday encounters—as human.