Long before I had applied to this internship, I thought that a social justice self-guided tour would be a really interesting way for guests to engage with the galleries. As a Social Justice major at the university, I am instantly drawn to these themes in artwork. When I first saw Red April by Sam Gilliam and I knew that the piece needed to be included in this tour. 

Once I got the position as the Campus Engagement Coordinator, this was one of the projects that I really wanted to take on. However, I had not realized how much work goes into these tours. I needed to find items on display that connected with my theme, research the pieces and the artists, and write up the tour.

 My biggest challenge was coordinating this tour around the rotation of artworks in the gallery. We rotate artworks about every three months in order to preserve more light sensitive pieces. With the rate of the rotations, I needed to be able to plan how long the pieces I selected would be up in the galleries to correspond with my tour. 

Ultimately, my project came together and I could not be more proud of how it turned out! This was a valuable experience in terms of using both my major and my passion for the arts. Moreso, I hope that future editions of a Social Justice self-guided tour will be created and used at the museum. I know that not everyone instantly thinks of themes of social justice when looking at art, but I hope this tour helped put some pieces into a new perspective. 

In case you were not able to grab a copy of the tour in person, the entire self-guided tour is featured in the photo gallery of this post!