‘Cultivated by Doing’: Master’s Students Curate Art Exhibition at Georgetown University Art Galleries
Visitors to the Georgetown University Art Galleries have a rare opportunity to view the professional debut of several up-and-coming curators, who happen to be graduate students in Georgetown’s Art & Museum Studies program.
“speculative morphologies,” an art exhibition that opened at the Spagnuolo Gallery in January, is the result of a semester-long project for students enrolled in associate professor Jaynelle Hazard’s fall 2025 Curatorial Studies course.
Over five months, 10 master’s students established the exhibition’s theme and selected everything from the works displayed to their order of arrangement and the color of the surrounding walls. Every decision put the trainees in the mindset of a practicing curator.
“Curating exhibitions as part of the course curriculum brings ideas from the classroom in dialogue with real artworks, real people and real conversations,” said Hazard, chief curator of the galleries and associate professor of the practice in the Department of Art and Art History. “It allows students to move beyond theory and into practice.”
Student curators from the Curatorial Studies course pose with associate professor Jaynelle Hazard, far right, at the exhibition opening of “speculative morphologies” in January. (Photo by Tony Powell)
The exhibition features the work of artists Kendall Buster and linn myers in partnership with DC’s Kreeger Museum.
Drawing from these artists’ bodies of work, the student curators selected paintings, prints and sculptures whose lines and shapes evoke a sense of movement and life. They specifically sought pieces with what they called “unique visual languages” and designed the composite gallery to suggest the interplay of architecture and nature using basic natural forms.
“All of us worked collectively to unite on a vision and develop both the written and visual language that best represented what we envisioned for the exhibition,” said master’s student Mia Johnson (G’26).
During the semester, the students gathered into small groups to tackle specific tasks of gallery assembly. Johnson’s group used planning software to conceptualize the artworks’ layout in collaboration with Mason Stempel’s (C’24, G’26) group, which drafted the introductory wall text that establishes the exhibition’s narrative.
“So much of curatorial work and practice is cultivated by doing, not just reading or watching — though of course those are so valuable as well,” said Stempel, who studied anthropology and minored in art history and classics as a Georgetown undergraduate.
“The Art & Museum Studies program is so hands-on and experiential, which I really believe is one of its greatest strengths,” Stempel continued. “Our professor, Jaynelle Hazard, guided us through the process and graciously handled the more intricate administrative things, but she really gave us room to think and grow together as a team.”
Student curators selected paintings, prints and sculptures whose lines and shapes evoke a sense of movement and life, such as the “Inventory 1” sculpture by Kendall Buster. (Photo by Tony Powell)
The students’ hard work paid off on Jan. 23, when they presented at the exhibition’s opening reception. Surrounded by the pieces they had painstakingly curated over the past semester, they networked with other members of DC’s artistic and museum community.
“The exhibition debut at the gallery was deeply rewarding,” said Reina Shin (G’26). “Seeing months of research and collaborative work come together was incredibly meaningful! I am especially grateful for my cohort, professor Jaynelle Hazard [and featured artists] Kendall Buster and linn meyers for their guidance and generosity throughout the process.”
“So much of curatorial work and practice is cultivated by doing, not just reading or watching — though of course those are so valuable as well,” said Georgetown graduate student Mason Stempel, pictured presenting at the exhibition opening. (Photo by Tony Powell)
Georgetown’s Master of Arts in Art & Museum Studies immerses students in the academic study of art museums and provides opportunities to turn theory into impact in a city renowned for its world-class museums. The one-year program’s experiential requirement ensures students graduate with proficiency in museum practice.
Over the past two years, Art & Museum Studies graduate students have curated three exhibitions at the Georgetown University Art Galleries, Hazard said.
“Happy and Gay,” an exhibition created by students in collaboration with former National Portrait Gallery curator Dorothy Moss, originated at the Georgetown galleries in spring 2025. It is currently on view at the Bowdoin College Museum of Art following a stint at the University of Pennsylvania’s Arthur Ross Gallery last fall and will travel to the University of Virginia’s Fralin Museum of Art in spring 2027.