Building an Engaged Art History

Organized in collaboration with Laura Holzman (Indiana University IUPUI), this two-day symposium brought together participants to consider how art historians can honor ways of seeing and knowing that have been historically marginalized in the Art Worlds and the academy.

How can we work in ways that serve communities beyond our institutions? How can we learn from the methods of engagement that are well-established in other disciplines? How can we build structures within our institutions that support this kind of work? Experienced scholars in the public humanities shared their perspectives on the methods, ethics, and value of engaged approaches. Through a series of facilitated conversations, participants reflected on their own engaged work and created a plan for making engaged art history more robust and more feasible in our institutions and our communities.

Since the conclusion of the symposium, several of us have continued this work and have launched Engaged Art History, a collective dedicated to building a more just, equitable, and inclusive art history. Visit our website and join our list-serve here.