A highlight of the art history curriculum is the Exhibition Seminar, a rare opportunity for undergraduate students to curate a professional exhibition. The seminar culminates in a show in the Grinnell College Museum of Art and in the publication of a catalogue students have researched, written, and produced. Links to sample pages from previous Exhibition Seminar catalogues are below.
The most recent exhibition (Rhizomatic Intimacies: Photography from the Collection of Keith Jantzen ’80 and Scott Beth), Jan. 22–March 29, 2026), directed by Professor Michael Mackenzie and curated by student curators, featured the work of Man Ray, Diane Arbus, Peter Hujar, and Johnnie Chatman, among others.
Planned for 2028–29 is an exhibition of the conceptual, feminist, body, and performance artist Hannah Wilke. The works will be generous loans to the museum from Wilke’s stepdaughters, Kate Goddard ’91 and Nell Goddard Wilson, and from the estate of their father, art historian Donald Goddard, Wilke’s second husband and frequent collaborator.
Rhizomatic Intimacies: Photography from the Collection of Keith Jantzen ’80 and Scott Beth
Fragmentary Visions: Grinnell College’s Kelekian Collection
Feb. 3–May 6, 2023
En Voyage
Hybridity and Vodou in Haitian Art
Jan. 25–March 18, 2018
Sample pages from the En Voyage catalog (PDF)
Repeat, Reveal, React: Identities in Flux
Jan. 29–March 21, 2010
Sample pages from the Repeat, Reveal, React catalog (PDF)
Giovanni Battista Piranesi
Grandeur and Fantasy: Vision and Views of Rome
Jan. 22-Feb. 27, 2007
Sample pages from the Giovanni Battista Piranesi catalog (PDF)
I Saw It: The Invented Reality of
Goya's Disasters of War
Aug. 13–Sept. 12, 2004
Walking a Tightrope:
German Expressionist Printmaking 1904–1928
April 1–April 21, 2002
Ghost Dance: Exhibiting Paradox
Jan. 28–March 17, 2000
In a New Light
African Art at Grinnell College
May 1-May 31, 1997