Collective Yearning

This book documents the evolution of the Collective Yearning: Black Women Artists from the Zimmerli Art Museum exhibition, from its beginnings in a class assignment, development into a graduate level seminar topic, and physical launch as an exhibition in two venues on the Rutgers University - New Brunswick campus. The student-curated exhibition was the first time the university had conducted a comprehensive and methodical review of its holdings of art by Black women artists. Rutgers students' passion, interest, and research filled holes in the university's records. The book offers strategies for addressing holes in curriculum and strengthening classes to reach university-wide core requirements while also serving student instruction in collections research, visual literacy, object-based analysis, public interpretation, and applied learning. Most significantly, Collective Yearning celebrates the excellent student work manifested in the exhibition.