I was drawn to Baca’s work mainly because of all the fun colors and the mysterious subject. I was curious about the story behind her and wanted to explore it.
Daphne Turan, Duke Class of 2021
Online Student Project
The multi-media project below was written and designed by Daphne Turan, Duke Class of 2021. It grew out of an assignment in Daphne’s class last fall, Art History 310: Museum Internship I taught by Ellen Raimond, Ph.D., Assistant Curator of Academic Initiatives at the Nasher Museum. Daphne will graduate in May 2021 with a bachelor’s degree and a Concentration in Museum Theory & Practice as part of her major in art history. For the past three years, Daphne has been an undergraduate Research Fellow in the Wired! Lab for Digital Art History & Visual Culture at Duke.
I had students focus on addressing their writing towards a particular audience, specifically their fellow Duke students. The focus for the project was less about research—I provided background information in terms of sharing label text—and more about having the interns use their connection with a work to invite peers’ interest in the Nasher.
Ellen Raimond, Ph.D., Assistant Curator of Academic Initiatives
About the Project
Last fall, Ellen Raimond, Ph.D., Assistant Curator of Academic Initiatives at the Nasher Museum, assigned a “close looking” exercise to Daphne Turan and other students in the Art History 310: Museum Internship I Class. She invited the students to roam the new exhibition Graphic Pull: Contemporary Prints from the Collection, both online and in person (by appointment, following Duke’s safety protocols during the COVID-19 pandemic).
Select a single work of art, Ellen advised them, and then think about why you selected it. What makes it interesting? What visual or formal elements draw your attention?
Then Ellen challenged the students to create a multi-media presentation that could appear on the Nasher Museum’s social media channels and website. “Think about transitions between images,” Ellen advised the students. “And think about your word choices!”
For inspiration, Ellen suggested two articles in The New York Times: “Taking Lessons From a Bloody Masterpiece” by Jason Farago and “A Portrait of America That Still Haunts, Decades Later” by Arthur Lubow.