The Expanded Print: WMU’s Collection in Context
Richmond Center for Visual Arts, 2017

While Assistant Curator at the Richmond Center for Visual Arts (RCVA), Jessica was an integral component in the creation of The Expanded Print: WMU’s Collection in Context exhibition. She worked closely with RCVA staff to research and secure artwork loans, curated the flow of the exhibition and display of works, installed artworks, and developed exhibition texts, catalogues, and press content.

Exhibition Overview

Founded in the mid-1950’s and housed exclusively within the Gwen Frostic School of Art, Western Michigan University’s print collection features both blue chip and emerging artists from the last 1960’s through the present day. In concert with the 10th anniversary celebration for the Richmond Center for Visual Arts, the exhibition The Expanded Print: WMU’s Collection in Context juxtaposes collection highlights with key loans to offer an expanded interpretation. Featuring examples of POP, performance, and conceptual art, as well as works of art focused on abstraction, appropriation strategies, feminism, and identity politics, the exhibition offers a select chronology of art movements represented in the Frostic School of Art’s print collection. Seeking to “punch out” particular aspects of a given work or “fill in” a certain collection gap. The Expanded Print re-frames and magnifies the function of the print collection as a distinct teaching tool.