Art curating degree launched at public showcase

Posted on 17 November 2016

The University of York’s Department of Art History will launch a new degree programme focusing on developing a range of approaches to curating art at galleries and museums.

Details of the new programme will be presented at a public showcase event aimed at celebrating the past 12 months of art history at York.

Members of the public, potential students, and parents are invited to join researchers and current students to learn about major exhibits that the Department has curated in 2016 and what studying art history involves.

Professor Michael White, Head of the Department of Art History, said: “This new degree programme is tailored for a career in curating art and includes a work placement in an art institution, as well as an opportunity to study abroad.

“Curators from museums and galleries across the country will teach on the programme and share their experiences working in the industry with the next generation of curators.

"We are really excited to be able to offer studying a foreign language as part of this course, which allows students to understand the workings of international art institutions during their studies overseas.”

Major exhibits

The event also celebrates a year where the Department has co-curated a number of major exhibits. These include York Art Gallery’s Flesh, depicting how the body has been interpreted by artists over the past 600 years; and Flaming June: the Making of an Icon, which sees the return ofFrederic, Lord Leighton’smost famous and celebrated work to the artist's former home at Leighton House.

The Department will also announce new co-curated exhibits for 2017, with highlights at Leighton House Museum in Classical Charm, depicting the work of the Victorian Dutch painter, Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema, and Turner and the Whale at Hull Maritime Museum, as part of Hull’s UK ‘City of Culture’ celebrations in 2017.

Following the showcase event, television presenter and Honorary Fellow of the University’s Department of Art History, Janina Ramirez, will give a public lecture on medieval mysticism and how mystic scholars of the period are more relevant and worthy of study now more than ever before.

Public lecture

The event takes place on Friday, 25 November at Kings Manor, York. The public lecture with Janina Ramirez takes place at the Yorkshire Museum Art Gallery, at 8pm.

All events are free but registration and tickets are required. To book a place, please visit: http://www.york.ac.uk/history-of-art/news-and-events/news/2016/join-us/.