Community Involvement and Issues Within Contemporary Art Spaces

• Heath Manrakhan, History Education, University of Delaware
• Alena Berger, Art History, University of Delaware

• Lois Stoehr, College of Arts and Sciences, University of Delaware
• Leann Moore, Community Engagement Initiative, University of Delaware

The Delaware Contemporary is a non-collecting, non-profit art museum in Wilmington, Delaware. The museum displays contemporary artwork, hosts educational programs for the Wilmington community, and provides workspaces for local artists. This past summer, the museum offered a Curatorial and Education Internship for University of Delaware students, allowing interns to explore two career paths within the field. Throughout the internship, we participated in museum programming and learned about the inner workings of a non-profit institution. While hosting local summer camps and students from Freire Charter School, the museum implements art workshops and gallery-related activities. They also offers rentable studio art spaces, granting artists the opportunity to create within an innovative community. Visiting students tour these spaces and witness artists’ creative processes firsthand. A variety of public events, including Art Loop and Night Market, also immerse patrons into the museum’s galleries and the art-making process. The accessibility of art to artists, students, and visitors is one of the Delaware Contemporary’s main priorities, which employees strive to achieve with their work. Partnerships with local community organizations, like the Wilmington Riverfront Bakery, are also treasured because of the tight-knit community within Wilmington. Involvement in this work also revealed how non-profit museums like The Delaware Contemporary face a multitude of challenges concerning finances, employment, and programming. Even with these challenges, the museum continues to be an environment where contemporary art can be appreciated and where artists can flourish. Ultimately, this internship allowed us to become more knowledgeable of the internal and external processes of museum spaces. Working in the museum and interacting with the Wilmington public allowed us to grasp the importance of art museums within communities: as spaces where aspiring artists, creative minds, and community members can connect and grow.