Montana Museum of Art and Culture Opens Student-Curated Exhibition

Artist unknown, “Le Chanteur des Cantiques/The Hymn Singer,” after-1742 etching on permanent loan from U.S. General Services Administration

A European etchingMISSOULA – The Montana Museum of Art and Culture at the University of Montana finally opened a student-curated art exhibition, “Art Under Pressure: Function and Form in Prints from the MMAC Collection,” on June 18.

The exhibit was previously scheduled to open in March, but the opening was delayed due to COVID-19 concerns. Curated by UM students in UM adjunct assistant art professor Reilly Shwab’s art history, the exhibit features multiple types of prints from the MMAC.

Shwab said the show examines European and American prints from the 17th to early 20th centuries.

“Focusing on the myriad historical functions of the printed arts along with the diverse techniques used to create them, student-curators selected and researched the works on paper and wrote the discursive wall labels,” Shwab said. “This show begins to bridge the gap between ephemeral visual culture, including newspaper cartoons, playing cards and fashion plates, and the fine arts prints of old masters and avant-garde artists.”

MMAC Director Rafael Chacón said the museum is proud to host the experimental exhibition curated by UM’s own art history students.

“They had the unique experience of confronting works of art and important documents to history and sharing their discoveries, while also highlighting a particularly rich part of our permanent collection,” he said.

View the exhibition in the south lounge on the third floor of the University Center.    



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Contact: Rafael Chacón, MMAC director, 406-243-2019, hrafael.chacon@umontana.edu.