Investigating curatorship and art education interconnections

Questions come to mind when investigating the interconnecting roles of curator and art educator. In two recent service-learning experiences university students stepped into the position of curator/art educator as they accessed, encountered, made and presented art for the engagement of children or older adults within the context of the dispersed museum. In one case the university students used imagery from a current exhibit to engage with older adults diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease or other forms of dementia. In a second study university students introduced classes of elementary students to a travelling exhibit on display at their university’s art museum. In both cases curating and art education played integral roles. This article investigates the interconnections between curatorship and art education and explores the dual role that university students assumed in their service learning experiences as part of a special problems art education class.