Recently, I wrote about a program between the Pulitzer and French classes and the culminating field trip that took place. Students from Lindenwood University were trained as docents of our Minimalism exhibition and gave tours completely in French to high school students from Wentzville. We’ve had a lot of fantastic responses to this program. Read the original post here, and scroll down to read the comments — many of which were from the high school students and written in French! One of the college students, Lauren, reflected on her experience working as a French docent:

“Our opportunity at the Pulitzer giving tours in French has been such an enriching experience. I was intimidated by the whole prospect at first, but everyone was so helpful and encouraging. During our learning sessions, I was inundated with a ton of great information. By the time it was our turn to give the tours, I was very excited to share all that we had learned with the other students. It was even more rewarding to hear how much they also enjoyed the exhibit. I felt that by sharing the exhibit with others, I was engaging myself in the real experience of art”.

The whole experience has been enriching for us at the Pulitzer as well, and I’m looking forward to this program continuing and developing even further. I’ve updated the Photo Album section on our sidebar with more images from the field trip, so be sure to check those out.

A sidenote: We at the Pulitzer’s side of the blog are very sorry to see Mark at the Contemporary go, but know he’ll do well and spread the word of blogging wherever he goes. Hopefully he’ll comment here from time to time (maybe write a guest blog?) and I look forward to reading the blog he’ll surely start at his next institution.

Right now we are gearing up for our “After Hours at the Pulitzer” event tonight. Similar to our event with Saint Louis University, tonight student docents from Washington University will be on hand throughout our galleries to discuss the exhibition, this time with students from universities throughout the St. Louis area. We at the Pulitzer would like to be a place that students can use as a resource, show their family and friends, or just visit on a Saturday afternoon. Hosting an event in the evening will be a nice way to introduce (or re-introduce) us, and with the student docent discussions, includes an extra twist that extends the event beyond being just a party. My hope is that “After Hours at the Pulitzer” will become a tradition with each exhibition, and will open the door for even more student events and interactions in the future.

If you’re interested in reading more, here’s a story in this week’s Student Life, Washington University’s student newspaper. And if you’d like to check out what the Pulitzer is like “after hours” come by tonight from 5:30-8:30pm.

Below is a post from Julia, a SLU student docent who participated in “The Pulitzer by SLU”, with her reflections on the overall experience. Click here, here, here and here for past posts about the collaboration. (Rachel)

Over the past few weeks the American Studies class I am enrolled in has worked in very close contact with the Pulitzer, who is currently exhibiting work that falls within the realm of Minimal art. I feel that as a class, our goal was the gain a better understanding of the Minimalism movement that took place in America during the sixties. In gaining a better understanding of this style of art, we had a great opportunity to pass on this knowledge to the greater SLU community by organizing our very own open house at the Pulitzer.

In order to ensure that our open house ran smoothly and successfully, each individual student researched a different artist that has their work displayed at the Pulitzer. In addition, advertising techniques were organized and executed to guarantee that the SLU community would be aware of the open house. The SLU students also took part in docent training with the Pulitzer, so we would feel comfortable passing on the knowledge we have gained to the greater public.

Overall I think the event was a great success. Not only was it an amazing experience to work so closely with such a prestigious establishment, but a better understanding of this movement in American culture was gained as well. In addition, it was so gratifying, after doing research for personal endeavors, to share that information with other people. After discussing the art and minimalist concepts with various people, it was an amazing feeling when they showed a look of understanding and said “Oh, I see. That’s very interesting.” Of course art is subjective and not everyone is going to like or agree with the concepts of Minimalism, but it is still satisfying to know that as a class we were broadening people’s cultural horizons. (Julia, SLU student docent)

We had a full house of students and faculty from Saint Louis University who took advantage of the beautiful weather and turned out for our “the Pulitzer by SLU” event.

The student docents chose specific artists to research, and positioned themselves nearby their works. Visitors were encouraged to explore the installation, ask questions, and chat with the docents. The idea came from an initiative Matthias witnessed at the Louvre (where he used to work). Students from the Ecole du Louvre were positioned strategically throughout the galleries twice a year and students from all over would come, ask questions, and enjoy snacks (which is something that all students appreciate). Walking through the galleries on Saturday, it was so exciting to listen in on the variety of discussions taking place, and to see the fruits of a semester’s worth of planning and training. I’m trying to coerce a few of the student docents to write a post describing the experience–from the beginning of training until Saturday night’s event.

Along with the refreshments, we set a table in the courtyard giveaways from neighborhood locations. Students and faculty wrote their names and email address for a chance to win five different packages which included tickets to the Symphony, tickets to the Fox Theatre, passes to the Moolah movie theatre and bowling, a student membership to the Contemporary, and gift certificates to local restaurants, just to name a few.

If you attended, I would love to get your feedback on the event. If you didn’t, check out our photo album section to the left for pictures. And if you’re from SLU or any university in St. Louis, be sure to come to “After Hours at the Pulitzer” on April 13th with student docents from Wash U.

As I wrote in my last post, tonight the Pulitzer will be hosting a roundtable discussion with Olafur Eliasson. I’ve heard a few of the topics that will be discussed, and thought I’d share a couple as a teaser:

Eliasson will discuss his reaction to the Pulitzer’s installation, Minimalism and Beyond, and whether he would place his work in this category of “beyond”. He will also talk about his own position (whether positive or negative) on the legacy of Minimalism.

Other topics covered by the panelists will be how visitors physically relate to artwork, and if physical interaction is a key issue for Eliasson.

If you’re interested in hearing further discussion on the above topics and more, call 314-935-9347 and come to tonight’s lecture.

Additionally, this Saturday from 4:30-6:30pm is “The Pulitzer by SLU”. I wrote about the event a few posts ago, and Amy wrote about the collaboration with Saint Louis University students here. Student docents from SLU will be throughout the galleries to discuss the exhibition with visitors. Those with a SLU ID also have a chance to win packages from local institutions. We’re hoping this will encourage further exploration, not only of the Pulitzer, but also of our neighborhood. Our next student event “After Hours at the Pulitzer” will be on Thursday, April 13th, and students from throughout the St. Louis area are invited to attend. More info to come.

What is it that makes an art institution so unapproachable to some people? Possibly the fear of being uncomfortable in a quiet situation, or maybe being faced with something they don’t understand. Whatever it is, a few students have taken the task of addressing the issue with their fellow students at Saint Louis University. The class has joined with Rachel and the Pulitzer in helping to put on a SLU event at the Pulitzer coming up on Saturday, April 1st, from 4:30pm — 6:30pm.

Being a part of both the SLU community and as a student and a piece of the Pulitzer puzzle as an intern and gallery assistant, I have noticed, as have many others, the barrier that is found at the crossing of Lindell Blvd., which separates the university from the Pulitzer. The class has been making the trek across Lindell since the start of the semester, and is now brainstorming ways in which to get the rest of the SLU community to follow in their footsteps.

With ideas ranging from an ad in the student newspaper to putting a pile of candy in the quad, these graduate and undergraduate level Pulitzer stars are looking for any way to bridge the gap between Washington Blvd. and Lindell. At the SLU event, the students and the Pulitzer hope to make the art and institution more approachable and accessible. With the students acting as docents to the visitors along side other gallery assistants, many of whom are also SLU students, the visitors are given an opportunity to discuss the art with their contemporaries.

By addressing the question of why an art institution seems unapproachable to students, these SLU students have found ways to connect the Pulitzer to their university. I hope more of the SLU community can conquer their fears and follow these students across Lindell to join us all at the event in April.

The Pulitzer is currently engaged in a number of student programs, with groups ranging from elementary school to university level. One program that I’ve been working on recently involves groups from both high school and college, and has an added twist–instead of art or art history these students are all studying French.

The idea of the program is for a group of college-level French students to give a tour of the Pulitzer to high school French students. For this semester, we are working with students from Lindenwood University in St. Charles (about 20 minutes from the Pulitzer). Most are either French majors or are very serious about the language, and will prepare for the high school tour with a number of sessions at the Pulitzer throughout the semester. Just the other day we had our first meeting, which introduced the Pulitzer and our installation to the Lindenwood group. They took a tour of Minimalism and Beyond with a few students from Washington University, who are involved in a separate program with the Pulitzer (I’ll be writing more about that too). The tour gave the Lindenwood students a casual overview of our exhibition in English and with their peers, and gave them background for our next meeting. During that session, they’ll meet with Matthias (who’s fluent) and discuss the exhibition completely in French. After that, they’ll practice giving tours in French and will prepare material about the art works for the high school students to look over before their visit. All this preparation will culminate with the high school/university tour at the end of the semester. The college students will have an opportunity to speak French in front of a group, and try to convey a subject they might not be familiar with. For the high school students, this will also be a chance to discuss in French, ask questions about what it’s like to major in French, study abroad, etc. I’ll post more as this program progresses, and hopefully a few students will write about their experiences too.