Mariana Mejía García

In this interdisciplinary studio-seminar, students will work with SITE Galleries and its archive. Founded in 1994, SITE, once known as the Student Union Galleries (SUGs), is a student-run organization at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) for the exhibition of student work. SITE was created as a response to the lack of spaces on SAIC's campus to accommodate the display of student work. Since then, SITE has had the support of faculty advisors and staff and has supported the professional development of roughly 80 student staff members, produced over 260 exhibitions, and has served more than 850 student artists. For more details about SITE Galleries, visit the following link - https://sites.saic.edu/sitegalleries/# This class will join the legacy celebration of SITE's 30th anniversary and will work with SITE's archive to support the efforts of bringing it to a publicly accessible stage while understanding the archival needs of the paper-based collection of ephemera, promotional materials and digital documentation. The main aim of the class is to conduct assessments of the materials condition and physical and digital needs. The class will culminate in the creation of an exhibition, and based on conversations with the SITE staff, the class will work as a team to learn about approaches to managing collections, working with archives and developing an exhibition. Students will have hands-on experience in curating an archival exhibition while learning about installation techniques, exhibition design and art handling. The class is an opportunity to activate one of SAIC's archives while activating a network of past SITE members who are now key actors in the art ecosystem. The class will include an active participation of previous SITE members as guests to the class and field trips to the arts organizations where they currently work or their studios. The class readings and critical content will include material that addresses a range of curatorial approaches focusing on specific institutional examples alongside the work of particular curators and experimental interpretation approaches to presenting archival research.

In this interdisciplinary studio-seminar, students will work with SITE Galleries and its archive. Founded in 1994, SITE, once known as the Student Union Galleries (SUGs), is a student-run organization at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) for the exhibition of student work. SITE was created as a response to the lack of spaces on SAIC's campus to accommodate the display of student work. Since then, SITE has had the support of faculty advisors and staff and has supported the professional development of roughly 80 student staff members, produced over 260 exhibitions, and has served more than 850 student artists. For more details about SITE Galleries, visit the following link - https://sites.saic.edu/sitegalleries/# This class will join the legacy celebration of SITE's 30th anniversary and will work with SITE's archive to support the efforts of bringing it to a publicly accessible stage while understanding the archival needs of the paper-based collection of ephemera, promotional materials and digital documentation. The main aim of the class is to conduct assessments of the materials condition and physical and digital needs. The class will culminate in the creation of an exhibition, and based on conversations with the SITE staff, the class will work as a team to learn about approaches to managing collections, working with archives and developing an exhibition. Students will have hands-on experience in curating an archival exhibition while learning about installation techniques, exhibition design and art handling. The class is an opportunity to activate one of SAIC's archives while activating a network of past SITE members who are now key actors in the art ecosystem. The class will include an active participation of previous SITE members as guests to the class and field trips to the arts organizations where they currently work or their studios. The class readings and critical content will include material that addresses a range of curatorial approaches focusing on specific institutional examples alongside the work of particular curators and experimental interpretation approaches to presenting archival research.