Summer Programs: Art History & Curatorial Studies

Spelman College is proud to announce its inaugural session of the residential Early College Program in Art History and Curatorial Studies. During the four-week program, the students attend lectures and engage in discussions at Spelman, in the Atlanta University Center, and at the High Museum of Art while making site visits to other locations in Atlanta and the region.

The young women will reside in dormitory housing at Spelman College while the young men will reside in dormitory housing at Morehouse College. After successful completion of this co-educational program, rising juniors and seniors in high school will receive a Spelman College transcript verifying that they have earned three (3) credits in Art History and Curatorial Studies.

The rigorous syllabus is modeled on several Spelman College courses:

• Understanding Visual Arts
• Ways of Seeing: Pyramids to Cathedrals
• Ways of Seeing: Medieval to Modern Art
• African American Art
• Mining the Museum
• Seminar in Curatorial Practice

During the first week, students learn about the definitions of art, the methods of art history and the mission of museums. This foundational week is important as it creates a common vocabulary and shared experience for students who already have a favorite artist or museum as well as those who are just discovering art, art history, and museum exhibitions. The cohort is brought together through a curiosity about how art and visual culture is created, how it reflects what it means to be human, and the institutions and people who caretake these creative treasures.

Reading assignments will be drawn from several college-level textbooks. Supplementary texts like Sylvan Barnet’s "A Short Guide to Writing About Art" will be utilized alongside peer-reviewed websites  as smarthistory.org

• Introduce art history and art appreciation
• Focus on African American art within this framework
• Introduce students to research and visual resources in the Atlanta University Center at Spelman College, Morehouse College, Clark Atlanta University Museum and the Robert W. Woodruff Library
• Focus on the High Museum of Art to introduce museums and exhibition venues
• Introduce curating and other roles within these institutions
• Apply this knowledge to broader community concerns
• Consider the history of diversity within these institutions, understand how this history is manifested in the present, and seek new paths for the future
• Prepare students for college and a career in art history, curating or museums OR a career in which this knowledge can be leveraged

• Identify historical and contemporary examples of western art and architectural traditions
• Identify historical and contemporary examples of African American art and place these in the context of European and American art and history
• Learn the history of museums
• Understand the role of curators
• Communicate about art and museums through written essays and oral presentations
• Analyze the history and future of diversity in art history and museums
• Discuss with the role of technology in art history and museums
• Name career paths in art history and museums

• Critical Thinking, Writing, Reading, Viewing
• Decision-making
• Public Speaking
• Technology
• Ambassadorial (students will share with their communities)

Admission Policy

Spelman College, a Historically Black College whose missions is to serve high-achieving Black women, will consider for admission women students including students who consistently live and self-identify as women, regardless of their gender assignment at birth. Spelman does not admit male students, including students who self-identify and live consistently as men, regardless of gender assignment at birth. If a woman is admitted and transitions to male while a student at Spelman, the College will permit that student to continue to matriculate at and graduate from Spelman.

Application to a high school pre-college summer program is not an application for admission to the degree programs of Spelman College. No promises are made regarding admission to the first-year class. Parents/guardians must give their permission for students to participate in summer programs and activities.