Support a Special Project

Spectator Sports (April 12 - July 3, 2013) is a group exhibition that includes artists who consider ways in which technologies cultivate and engage sports fans –– using broadcast documentation of professional athleticism intermixed with narrative dramatization. Central to each artist’s interest is a vicarious connection that fans feel with the athletes or teams they root for. Though sports are often watched in real time, the artworks shown look back into archives of past performances to reveal ways the structure of sports arenas and the conventions of broadcast media turn real bodies into representations that we simultaneously empathize with, and consume. 

As a complement to the permanent collection and in an effort to serve the local community, the museum curates the Midwest Photographers Project (MPP), a rotating collection of photography by prominent and emerging regional artists. An innovative program that allows the museum to work with many more artists than it can exhibit or purchase, the MPP artists are represented in the museum’s Print Study Room by a body of work from a current project and relevant background materials. The museum utilizes the images in print viewings, exhibitions, and publications. Educators, scholars, curators and the public access the MPP archive for teaching and research purposes.

Teens participating in the museum’s Picture Me program master digital and analogue photography techniques that enable them to examine their lives and communities, express themselves creatively and gain real skills that help them further their career and education goals. Led by teaching teams drawn from Columbia College’s photography department, students also take field trips to the MoCP, meet with professional artists working in the field and exhibit their work in the community.