For your final paper in this class, you will choose a past exhibition from MoMA’s archives to research. Make sure the exhibition is of an artist or an art movement that fits into our time period and geography: US and Europe between 1900 and 1944. The exhibition can have occurred more recently but be aware that the older the show the more likely MoMA will have the catalog available for free download (this is likely not the case with newer exhibitions).

The paper should be 5-7 pages in length, double-spaced, twelve-point Times font, with standard margins and no space between indented paragraphs. For footnotes and bibliography, use the Chicago Manual of Style (please e-mail a librarian to help you if you have never used citations). Images of the exhibition should be embedded in the paper at the end (after the bibliography) and captioned properly with in-text “fig.#” numbers.

Step One:

Here is the MoMA online archive of many of the museum’s past shows:

https://www.moma.org/calendar/exhibitions/history

Search your favorite artist or movement to find a selection of past exhibitions to write on (only choose one). You can also browse the recent archival additions just below the search bar. Email me the link to the exhibition you want to work on by June 25 (always compose proper emails in professional settings).

Step Two:

Once you have chosen your exhibition, familiarize yourself with the downloadable written materials (like press releases and catalogs, which will contain the curator’s essay and is of utmost importance) as well as any media (mainly photographs and installation shots, some of which have hyperlinks that send you to more info on specific art works). Older exhibitions tend to have more free, downloadable materials, so they might be easier to work with.

You will also want to find 2 or 3 additional scholarly sources that relate to your show (though it need not directly mention your show) Please keep in mind: these outside sources should not be museum websites, blogs, or online magazines. They need to be from reputable scholarly sources.

Here are some tips for finding such scholarly sources:

Use Worldcat to make searches (filtering out books) related to your topic and track down journal articles in the City College library databases, like JSTOR. The NYPL also has a great online database with access to many scholarly journals (you just need an account, which is free).

Step Three:

Once you have all your sources compiled, you will write an annotated bibliography (if you’re not clear on what this is, see here). Make sure to use the Chicago Manual of Style for your bibliography formatting (if you are unclear on how to use citations and sources, please email a City College librarian, they are happy to help).

Email your annotated bibliography to me by July 9 (always compose proper emails in professional settings).

Please name your file accordingly: lastname_firstname_MoMAbiblio

Step Four:

Once you have compiled and read/viewed your materials, you will be ready to start writing. Here are some prompts to guide you un what your paper should cover. Please do not treat this as a sequential template. Use your own mind and devise the best plan suited to the exhibition you have chosen:

1. When was the exhibition? Who was the curator? Who was the artist or movement involved (but please do not get bogged down on outside biographical materials—stay focused on the exhibition);

2. What is the curatorial conception? If it is a monographic (single artist) show, how is the artist and his/her work interpreted? If it is a thematic show with multiple artists, how does the theme connect to the artists chosen? Basically, you want to give a conceptual overview of the exhibition;

3. What did the show look like? How was it designed? What were the standout art works? Here, you will be using the photo documentation on MoMA’s website to try and recreate the show in the reader’s mind;

4. How was the show received by the public and by critics? Can you track down some reviews in a newspaper or magazine?;

5. 5. Lastly, give your overall assessment of the exhibition. Does it succeed? If so, how and why? If not, how and why? Here you get to offer your own argument and claim about the show–hopefully you will use what you have learned over the semester to make a discerning judgment. If the exhibition you choose is quite dated, it will likely have certain assumption that may look suspect to us today; these should be interesting to unpack and critique. Make sure to back up your argument with compelling evidence.

Step Five:

The paper is due as a PDF over e-mail on or before July 28 (always compose proper emails in professional settings).

Please name your file accordingly: lastname_firstname_MoMApaper

Grading Rubric:

A papers fulfill all the assignment guidelines and turn in everything on time. They are well-written and your unique voice comes through (it does not sound like an AI). There’s a compelling and specific argument being made about the exhibition, which is backed up by good reasoning, persuasion, evidence, and sufficient sources. You walk your reader through the exhibition in an evocative way. The organization is clear and everything is formatted correctly, including the footnotes, bibliography, and images.

B papers fulfill all the assignment guidelines and turn in everything on time. They are well-written (with maybe a few more writing and grammatical errors than A papers) and your unique voice comes through (it does not sound like an AI). There’s an argument being made about the exhibition, but it may lack specificity, be too obvious, or lack good reasoning, persuasion, evidence, and enough sources. You walk your reader through the exhibition in an evocative way. The organization is more or less clear and everything is formatted correctly, including the footnotes, bibliography, and images.

C papers do not completely fulfill the assignments guidelines and not everything will be submitted on time. The writing has a good amount of errors and/or sounds like an AI wrote it (polished, but bland and with no unique voice coming through). There really is no argument to speak of, or the thesis is so far-fetched and lacking in reasoning and evidence that it is not persuasive. The organization feels scattered and unclear and note everything is formatted correctly, including the footnotes, bibliography, and images.

D-F papers are wholly incomplete or not turned in at all.