Abstract

On August 9, 2023, Carol Stakenas invited three colleagues, Martín La Roche, conceptual artist and Director of Musée Légitime; Damon Reaves, Director of Education at the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC; and Emily Zimmerman, Director of the Arthur Ross Gallery at the University of Pennsylvania, to discuss their respective experiences with engagement curating. The whole group works in and with institutions that vary in size, infrastructure, and mission. Their experience developing exhibitions, public art projects, and community engagement programs seeking social justice connect them, and their definition of engagement involves inclusion in initial research and planning as well as participatory structures for shared authority and reciprocity. This essay includes highlights and key references that emerged in the conversation. Beginning with a discussion of texts that were closely related to the museum field, the conversation gradually moved into other spheres of influence, including architecture and social movement theory.