Like any artist, Cannon Crawford-Wilson ’24 takes joy in creating things meant to be seen and experienced by others. But she knows making the art is very different from getting the finished work in front of the public.
“I love creating work,” says Crawford-Wilson. “But I also wanted to learn more about what it’s like to be involved in museum administration, outreach, and research, all of what my work is related to.”
While earning her bachelor of fine arts in sculpture and ceramics at UNC Greensboro, one of her art professors, Dr. Emily Voelkner, recommended she take Art History 490: Museums and Exhibition Spaces for her final semester. So, she took off her artist hat and stepped into the role of curator at the Weatherspoon Art Museum.
“I was excited that this class was a higher level, more graduate-level class,” she says. “We would be working with objects in the museum and curating the show.”
Under the direction of Dr. Emily Stamey, Crawford-Wilson and her classmates created the exhibition “Embodied: Finding Meaning in the Human Form,” going through dozens of artworks to choose what would go on display in one of the museum’s first-floor galleries for the Weatherspoon’s Spring 2025 season.
One Body, Many Parts
“Embodied” revolved around the theme “human understanding,” using artistic depictions of the body. It was a daunting but exciting challenge to put together a show for a working museum, with the prep work due before Thanksgiving, no less.
Stamey, the Elizabeth McIver Weatherspoon Curator of Academic Programming and Head of Exhibitions, knew the students would approach the assignment with care and intention. “It wasn’t just a thought exercise,” she says. “It was a project that came to fruition, where their work was shared with the public.”
The theme was deliberate, chosen by the Weatherspoon to coincide with the announcement of the largest gift in its history: approximately 270 works both collected and made by the acclaimed Greensboro artist Carol Cole Levin and significant funds to build the Cole Levin Center for Art and Human Understanding in the year ahead. “Carol cares deeply about people and our ability to connect with each other,” Stamey explains.
Giving UNCG undergraduate students the ability to shape an exhibition is a rare opportunity that is possible thanks to a place like the Weatherspoon. “It’s amazing to be on a campus where you can offer that kind of experience,” says Stamey. “Many schools can offer classes about exhibitions or museum professions, but few can offer the chance to actually do that work in a museum and share it with the public.”
Storytelling with Art and Space
Beyonce Kee says the class was incredibly engaging, with small group discussions and demonstrations that followed the professional curation process. “The staff made an actual model for the gallery, and we had to literally place tiny versions of the artwork inside to get a visual,” she says.
In groups, students answered the questions curators ask about any art exhibit: What should go where? What is the color palette? How high or low should it hang on the walls? Stamey introduced them to the Weatherspoon staff like Susan Taaffe ’94, the museum’s preparator, to explain the process of envisioning the artworks in a physical space.
“We learned how art in its space will guide the visitor,” says Navia Foster ’24. Like Crawford-Wilson, it was one of Foster’s last classes before graduating from UNCG. She earned her bachelor’s in art history. “We were creating a story within the exhibition, learning how the placement of things guides the viewer.”
Along with the structure, each student contributed at least one artwork label. Foster wrote the description for “Bowl with Hands” by Do Ho Suh. “You’re supposed to write them in a way that is easy for visitors to understand what the work is about,” she says.
Students built their skills in collaboration and communication. “We even had grammar lessons,” says Kee. “I hadn’t done that since elementary school. It was a great refresher. And we learned curation is more than aesthetics. We had to learn about ADA requirements. You might think that’s easy, but with the size restraints on rooms, it could definitely affect the outcome of a show.”
Deeper Dive into Museum Work
Many students taking art history are pursuing museum careers. Foster is now a tour associate-in-training at Greensboro’s International Civil Rights Center and Museum. Kee says she signed up for the class primarily to fill her needed credit hours. But since working on “Embodied,” the studio art major has added a minor in museum studies.
“I would say it was fate,” she says. “I’ve never been part of something like this. Though I always knew I wanted to work in a museum, I was not thinking about being a curator. I would say this definitely showed me my path.”
“It meant a lot to have the Weatherspoon on our campus, so that I know other students will come in and look,” says Foster. “It’s really important, not only out of personal pride, but for my professional sense of pride.”
“I learned what people really want to see when they come into a museum,” says Crawford-Wilson. “That is really important as a practicing artist.”
Story by Janet Imrick, University Communications
Photography by Sean Norona, University Communications; and Carolyn de Berry, Carolyn de Berry Photography
“What’s in a Mistake?” (2014) by Toyin Ojih Odutola, courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York. Museum purchase with funds from Dillard Fund for the Dillard Collection; 2017.
