Art New England gave a nod to the Mead Art Museum at Amherst College, in a recent article examining ways that museums are working on increasing accessibility and engagement, and focused on the interterm course “Collecting 101: Acquiring Art for the Mead.”
“Students selected prints, prepared proposals and advocated for their choices in a public event at which every person who attended had a vote. Paired self-portraits by Shivangi Ladha and Cedar Kirwin tallied up the most votes, closely followed by William Villalongo’s screenprint commenting on recent and historical racism. In a fairy-godmother turn of events, the program’s benefactor increased the acquisitions budget, and the museum acquired three publically approved prints,” wrote Art New England writer Laura Holland.