Academic Outreach and Engagement

Making an Impact

"I loved hosting Queer Karaoke in the Agnes Atrium, and got lots of great feedback from participants who were delighted that Agnes programming now included expressive fun events, geared for accessible collective joy."

– Fan Wu, Writer and Translator, and PhD Candidate in Screen Cultures and Curatorial Studies

"Having students visit Agnes has been one of the highlights of teaching at Queen’s. Whether it’s an introduction to creative writing, or African literature on these Indigenous lands, students have remarked how the Art Centre is pivotal to grasping the relationship between art, knowledge, beauty and resistance. Through all the visits, Nasrin has shared context, histories, small secret stories and guided them on how to be in the presence of these works, not just to look at them. They always return with so much excitement for the rest of the term."

– Juliane Okot Bitek, Assistant professor, Black Studies, Gender Studies and English

"We brought our new graduate students for a tour of the Agnes' Land Protectors and Fugitive Rituals exhibits. It was an excellent way for them to situate themselves here at Queen's and in Kingston, facilitate critical discussions, and also provided an opportunity to break outside of the confines of the classroom. The discussions we had there continued to inform our discussions in the classroom for the rest of the term."

– Dr Dan Cohen, Assistant Professor, Department of Geography and Planning

"The partnership with Agnes has enabled the Museums Without Walls conference to grow as an experiment in new forms of cultural institutionality. This kind of living collaboration with the gallery is one of the most powerful aspects of teaching and researching at Queen's."

– Dr Gabriel Menotti Miglio Pinto Gonring, Assistant Professor, Department of Film and Media

"When I was developing the full scope of events for Brown Butter, the Agnes team supported my wildest ideas for transforming and reimagining the use of the spaces both inside and outside of Agnes. From a BBQ in the front lawn to a buzzing dance party in the Atrium, every challenge I brought to the team was met with impressive execution, resulting in an installation that exceeded my original plans by leaps and bounds."

– Berlin Reed, Curator and Artist

Indigenous Land-based Digital Worlding AR Artist Panel Discussion.

Launched in the Fall of 2019, Screen Cultures and Curatorial Studies is a collaboration between Agnes Etherington Art Centre and the Department of Film and Media and offers a unique opportunity for a funded one-year MA and a four-year PhD. The program’s three strongly interconnected areas of focus—studies, production and curatorial practice—are designed to stimulate inventive dialogue in ways that ensure their respective influence, and in ways that open exciting points of access to multiple disciplinary formations. This collaborative tripartite structure is not offered in any other film, media, cinema, art or communication MA or PhD program in Ontario.

Housed in the state-of-the-art Isabel Bader Centre for the Performing Arts and the Agnes Etherington Art Centre, the Master’s and PhD in Screen Cultures and Curatorial Studies are unique because of their linkage of adjacent disciplines: film and media studies and, more generally, the study of screen cultures, film and media production, and curatorial studies and practice. These multidisciplinary programs provide students with a wide range of course options and professional opportunities in academia, arts management, programming, media production (from mainstream media to artistic and activist production), and curating. Agnes professional staff lead two curatorial courses in this innovative program.
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Screen Cultures and Curatorial Studies

An Institute for Curatorial Inquiry at the Feminist Art Residency (FAR). Photo: Emelie Chhangur

Internships/Practicum Placements

We especially invite students to Agnes to work with us on inventing and creating new forms of museological architectures, curatorial expressions and reimagined futures. This practicum is an opportunity to have students engage with the resources at Agnes – through the collection, digital platforms, periodical archives and library, programs and exhibitions. We would love to know more about your research, writing and what inspires your thinking when it comes to making new connections between research and pedagogy, exhibition-making and public programming, the ethical and political implications of museum collections and community relations.

We welcome interns and practicum students from across campus.

Cultural Studies Students: CUST 895
History Students: HIST 212
Education Students: PRAC 450/451
Art History Undergraduate and Graduate Students:
ARTH 395 and ARTH 880
Screen Cultures and Curatorial Studies: SCCS 900

Students visiting Agnes during Orientation, 2022.

We invite students and faculty to co-create, invent, and collaborate with us on seminars and events relevant to course material that might coincide with works from our collection; or to co-design a speaker series for your course that include visiting artists, practitioners, writers, poets, filmmakers that bridge the links between curriculum and the content production that Agnes’s exhibition and programs offer.

Tours

In addition to self-guided tours, we offer custom in-gallery curatorial tours for groups of up to 30 students. Larger classes can be accommodated by subdividing the group across several shifts.

Seminars

Groups of up to 20 students can access a selection of works of art from our superb collections—17,000+ works—for examination in the David McTavish Art Study Room. Such sessions are flexible, intimate and particularly enriching. The seminar-style room, complete with AV system, allows students to view the works closely, examine their material character and engage in discussion.

Assignments

We can assist you in developing engaging assignments that draw upon exhibitions or collections.

Research

Individual faculty or graduate students may book research sessions with works of art or with other on-site resources, including gallery records.

Collaborate and Co-Create

Paige Van Tassel introduces Land Protectors during the Exhibition Preview.

Paige Van Tassel, recipient of the second Research Studentship in Indigenous Art at Agnes introduces her curated exhibition Land Protectors during the Exhibition Preview.

Available Spaces

David McTavish Art Study Room (DMASR)

The DMASR is a learning space created in memory of the late David McTavish, a respected scholar of Renaissance art, beloved professor and mentor, former Head of the Department of Art and transformative Director of Agnes. This room is an accessible space designed for small groups to examine, research and study original works of art. It furthers the academic mission of Queen’s University by supporting custom seminars, and, at the same time, offers flexible community access to the superb collections of Agnes.