Laura Merrell
A&E Editor
This fall, the College of Wooster Art Museum (CWAM) is hosting “RACE: Are We So Different?” an exhibit which complements the 2013 Wooster Forum, “Facing RACE.” The forum uses a multi-faceted approach to address race through legal, political and social perspectives, including this art exhibit.
“RACE: Are We So Different?” also uses an interdisciplinary method, which, according CWAM’s website, gives visitors “the tools to recognize racial ideas and practices in contemporary American life” in three ways. The exhibit looks at race in the United States through history, current scientific research and the everyday ways we encounter it through institutions such as education, laws and traditions. The Science Museum of Minnesota, partnering with the American Anthropological Association, created this traveling exhibit roughly a decade ago, its most recent stop being Ann Arbor, Mich. before heading to Wooster. This current exhibit, a part of a cycle within CWAM that started with “Posing Beauty in African American Culture” last spring, will culminate this coming spring with “Willie Cole: Complex Conversations.” Visitors can read information on panels that ask questions such as “How are we alike and different?” and “What is race?” Other highlights include an eye-opening section on the history of the census and an interactive kiosk that asks visitors to match a voice to a face. There are also video interviews screening in another room across from the main exhibit. There are many chairs and sofas scattered throughout the space where people can sit and reflect on their visit.
Kitty Zurko, director and curator of CWAM, finds the section on trade routes particularly interesting, as it uses a scholarly approach to conclude that the speed of travel has helped create race, by comparing traveling slowly overland to sailing on a ship. With so many different ways of looking at race, there are multiple entry points with which visitors may engage in the exhibit.
Discussing race can be very uncomfortable and sensitive, which is illustrated by the “Daily Show” clip link on the CWAM’s website, which shows how relevant these conversations still are. The experience is meant to create surprising moments for visitors by taking a concept or event they thought they knew and shedding new light on it. The exhibit is not meant to be negative, but rather to initiate important conversations that are often difficult to start. Zurko sees these discussions as a crucial way to unearth underlying issues and remove preconceptions.
The art show is best experienced over time. Plan to take several short, consecutive visits to get the most out of the experience. The museum is open Tuesday- Friday from 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. It is also open on the weekend from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. on both Saturday and Sunday. All exhibits are free and open to the public. With so many different perspectives and angles on race within the exhibit, there is an entry point for everyone to begin an important conversation about race.