Gallerie All Together
Sunday February 18, 2024; 11:00 AM – 4:00 PM
Part of Super Art Sunday at the RISD Museum
Providence, Rhode Island, USA
By Ben Sisto with Lee Sisto
Lead curatorial assistant Kara Stokowski
Our Call for Art is now closed. Thank you to everyone who has loaded works!
For information about Super Art Sunday, please visit the RISD Museum website. There are no advanced sign-ups but you’ll find directional signage when you come in.
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On Feb 18, children around the ages of 5-12 will get an opportunity to curate micro-exhibits at the RISD Museum.
Works on display (for the kids to use) will be donated by local artists, maybe thrifted, etc.
Cohorts of 10-12 kids at a time will share a space, view works, make selections, and have them placed somewhere in the gallery.
Kids interact with empowering, youth-friendly curatorial assistants to talk about their choices, where they want things to go, and why.
Each 25-min session ends with a mini reception and dance party so the kids can celebrate their achievements.
We break it all down, a new group of kids comes in, and we do again. And again. And again….
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Gallerie All Together is thankful to the awesome local and regional artists who have loaned original works for this program. In addition, the show contains works by several unknown artists whose works were purchased from thrift shops. In total, there are about 70 works available—with each cohort containing 10-12 participants, we wanted to ensure each kid had plenty of options.
Participating artists / lenders include: Jac LaHav, Julia Gualtieri, Neal Walsh, Miles Shelton, Jen Francazio, Will Reeves, Iris Wright, Willa Van Nostrand, Kathy Robinson, Christina Alderman, Gina Lerman, Ben Sisto, and Lee Sisto.
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Hello there. How did you find this website?! Do you know what curating is? Curtating basically means looking at a bunch of things, picking some things for some reason, and then putting those things somewhere for other people to look at and learn from. Here is an example.
If someone asked you to curate a room full of yellow things, you might not put a strawberry in there, right? But you might put a banana in there. Wait—what if it’s not ripe yet, and is still green!? What about an orange? It’s not yellow, but the color orange is made from yellow and red. Hmmm. Curating can make you think of a lot of questions.
It’s the same with artwork in galleries and museums. Curators are people who pick certain works of art they think will work together to tell a story. Sometimes the stories are about colors and shapes; sometimes they are about how even grown-ups are still learning. Did you know you don’t need to go to school to become a curator; you already are one! It’s true!
Gallerie All Together, which is the name of a room at the RISD Museum for one day only, is a space for kids to be curators. We collected a bunch of art from artists and kids get to look at it all, decide what they like, and then put the art somewhere in the room. You can ask yourself questions like “Why do I like this?” or “Where do I think it should go?” Think about where other people are putting their things, too. Can you work together to tell a story?
There is no wrong place to put art. Put it on the wall, a window, or the floor. Put it upside down or sideways. Just have fun, and remember that you are a curator.
– Ben and Lee
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Hello!
Curatorial practices are central to the human experience. Our subjective preferences inform aesthetic judgements which are collectively rendered as culture, and around 25% of the world’s population participating in this process are between the ages of 0-14. While they are full people with valid opinions and questions, youth often have their wholeness marginalized for the benefit and comfort of older people. In galleries and museums, this marginalization takes form in a number of ways. Consider that most artwork is hung at 57” on center. Great, if you’re six feet tall. Look at the boardroom for your favorite children’s museum— any kids at the table? We teach kids to learn by copying and then, suddenly and without warning, one day inform them that copying is cheating or theft. This mix of poor viewing angles, not being asked for input, and mixed-messages about skills and ability doesn’t feel right.
Enter “Gallerie All Together,” an experimental (really, first time) program that offers kids an opportunity to listen to their gut, try things out, and learn that their innate curatorial sensibilities have both individual and collective value. For our first pop-up, we’re taking over a room at the RISD Museum during their Super Art Sunday program. We’ll be hosting 25-minute sessions where small groups of children between the ages of 5-10 get a crash course in curating. Our instructors will give a very brief, top-level and super kid-friendly definition of curating that centers on the consideration, selection, and placement of things.
Next, kids pair up with gallery assistants who answer questions, move artworks from a little stockpile, and position them somewhere in the room. *** Crucial note: This is not an opportunity for parents to suggest how a painting should be hung.*** If a participant says “Face down on the floor,” that is where it goes. These decisions are catalysts for conversation and reflection; we are encouraging practice as a practice. Also, they are probably right. Lastly, we put on upbeat music and celebrate with 5-minute “opening receptions.” We’ll do this about a dozen times over the day.
Gallerie All Together was created by Ben Sisto and largely informed by his daughter, Lee, who is five. Our helpers for the day include a mix of awesome teens, recent RISD grads, and special guest Kara Stokowski, a local artist and Community Arts Liaison at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Special thanks to Christina Alderman, Director, Family & Teen Programs at RISD Museum.
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Ben Sisto (he/him; b. 1980) is an artist, husband, and dad living and working in Providence. His projects have been seen / heard via the New York Times, Boston Globe, SXSW, Fast Company, Vice, Hyperallergic, 99% Invisible, and Rolling Stone, among others. He’s the organizer of Awesome Foundation Rhode Island—apply for a grant starting Feb 1st 2024!
Lee Sisto is a five year old resident of Providence who recently made a declaration that she would grow up to be “…a biologist and a professional artist and also a designer.” She likes drawing books, and helped design the poster for Gallerie All Together.
Below, you’ll find additional poster designs Lee requested be shared.
