Tyler Rector ’22 — This summer, I had an awesome experience working as a research assistant for Professor Morton. I want to thank Wabash college and the members of the Wabash Center for allowing me the opportunity to have a hand in selecting works for the upcoming art exhibition.
The Wabash Center supports students and faculty whose interests are focused primarily on theology and religion. The center is not only a resource to Wabash College but colleges across the nation. They engage in improving classroom skills, best teaching practices, and support to student learning. In addition, the center aids incoming faculty taking on doctoral programs that require hours of heavy research. They connect members with resources that help in teaching and higher education learning. Using workshops, colloquies, consultations, and leadership work, members have numerous tools at their disposal to enhance their teaching/learning practices.
The director, Lynne Westfield, worked alongside Professor Morton and me to select works from Wabash’s permanent art collection. The chosen work best reflects the centers’ mission and overall desired work environment. Most of my job was to research the selected works to find information about the artist and the work itself. The research will be reflected on labels that will be hung next to the works inside the Wabash Center. I have also been working on physical handouts for the exhibition, as we cannot possibly fit all the research on a small wall label. The wall label will work as a short description: Title, artist name, association number, and year the work was made and given to Wabash. The before-mentioned handout will dive into the works meaning as well as a short artist biography. I learned a great deal about the process of curating an exhibition as well as skills such as framing and label making. I am looking forward to seeing the exhibition completed and opened to the public coming this fall.
