SITE Santa Fe’s Young Curators Program is a free after school program that teaches high school students the curatorial side of the art experience, providing ways for teens to connect with art while giving them a glimpse of possibilities within museum careers. Every year, teens organize and curate their own exhibition, and also learn how to think and write critically about exhibitions throughout Santa Fe. Participants in the Young Curators program are empowered to make decisions about their exhibition’s theme, selection of artworks, PR and marketing, fundraising, installation, and opening events. The Young Curators Program also offers the teenagers that are curated into the exhibition the opportunity to experience presenting their work in a professional setting.
 

Young Curators is made possible by generous funding from the City of Santa Fe Children and Youth Commission.

Everything is Beautiful

SITE Santa Fe’s Young Curators are curating their upcoming exhibition Everything Is Beautiful, inspired by the overabundance of trash and packaging in the world today, featuring artists age 12-25 who create with recycled, thrifted, or found materials.

Any questions please email abbenemeagley@sitesantafe.org

Private Eye: ON VIEW NOW!

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’s Education Department conducted a long-range assessment of the Young Curators program.

Out of 223 total Young Curators, SITE 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!

Young Curators Zine: What's Inside 2015 (2015)
An overview of artwork curated by the Young Curators for their "What's Inside" exhibition.

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