To curate means to care for.
Curation is the art of gathering together items together in a meaningful way.

Young Curators is a free after-school program for high school students.

In this program, the Young Curators will work together to decide on a theme for an art exhibition, select what pieces to include, write critically about art and the exhibition, and bring an exhibition to life.

Young Curators will meet once a week after school for two hours. The day and time will be determined by the participants’ availability.

Learn about jobs in the art and museum fields and work together with peers to put on an art exhibition!

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Everything is Beautiful

SITE SANTA FE’s 2022 Young Curators curated Everything Is Beautiful, an exhibition inspired by the overabundance of trash and packaging in the world, featuring artists age 12-25 who create with recycled, thrifted, or found materials.

Private Eye

Featuring 10 different artists, Private Eye is a digital exhibition organized during the COVID-19 pandemic exploring “the modern duel of public and private information.” Examining the ways in which professional and social life moved suddenly and almost entirely online, the Young Curators asked artists to react to the shrinking gap between public and private information like photos, experiences, interactions, etc.

View Exhibition

Featured Artists:
Chaz John • David Mills • Erik Sanchez • Jiayi Liang • Mason Dowling • Matthew Chase-Daniel • Mina Holtzman • René J. Palomares II • Rosalinda Pacheco • Sue Anne Rische

The 2020-2021 cohort of Young Curators certainly had a number of challenges. Under usual circumstances, Young Curators would plan an exhibition in physical space by meeting, discussing, jurying artwork, and laying out the exhibition in-person. However, despite the unique challenges of this past year, the Young Curators met remotely to develop an exhibition theme, create a call to entry, review submissions, interview artists, and design an entirely digital exhibition!

Young Curator Alumni

Over the summer of 2015, SITE SANTA FE’s Education Department conducted a long-range assessment of the Young Curators program.

Out of 223 total Young Curators, SITE SANTA FE was able to locate 83 of them. Out of that number, 35% of former young curators took an online survey.

Young Curators Alumni Survey

Zines!

The Young Curators Ice Cream Social (2014)
A selection of artwork curated by The Young Curators for their Ice Cream Social, inspired by artist, David Robbins.

Past Young Curator Exhibitions