Cultivating Community: Engaging Art History Students in Small-Town Michigan

Ferris State University is a public university in western Michigan with a focus on career and professional training. While we do not have an Art History major, we have an energetic arts community on campus that includes studio art, a student club, and a robust minor in Art History. In this presentation, I will share experiences that emphasize community engagement as a way to strengthen student learning. Many students come to Art History classes at Ferris State to fulfill general education requirements. Classes of 30-35 serve students with a wide variety of interests and career goals. In order to engage students and generate broad interest in the arts, I have developed a community partnership with ArtWorks, our local cultural center in Big Rapids. Students have had the opportunity to participate in the annual Festival of the Arts (FOTA). FOTA projects have included recreating famous works of art as living pictures (tableaux vivants) for the wider community, as well as helping school-children with arts activities. Most recently, ArtWorks has brought fifteen high-quality replica works of art to Big Rapids as part of the Detroit Institute of Arts Inside/Out Program. The works of art have been installed downtown and in local parks, creating a public art walk. This fall, Art History students will research the works and foster civic engagement with the exhibit by leading tours and running social media challenges. These examples offer a pedagogical model for making use of local arts institutions to engage students with local communities.