Thank you to all of the K‐8 art teachers and artists for letting us come join in the fun and experience by coming to the Dubuque Museum of Art to do the installation of the K‐8 Art Show!

Our group of seven came down the week before the show opened and was greeted by folders full of an amazing variety of artwork that gave us a great view of what was happening in art classrooms around the district. We were presented with the task of hanging the show on the walls of the lobby gallery. A new task for us, we began with a tour of the space, some brief directions on how to hang the work and ideas on how to approach the task and were sent to work.

One of our first steps in the process was to determine what work we wanted on which wall and what the flow would be as you viewed the show. Our decision to begin dividing by color so that pieces on the wall were complimentary to each other so that a wall was not overwhelmed by one piece, was one that we were happy with when we viewed the result of our work. As we divided things, they were laid out on the floor so that we could see how the work would be arranged and it was easy to double check and adjust our salon style installation before we committed to tape and hanging the work. Dividing the walls into smaller work group spaces, each duo or trio then talked through the layout and flow of the work and how it was to be assembled as though we were composing a piece of art ourselves. We selected key pieces for each wall and began to hang the work up.

One trio of installers rotated roles as they were mounting so that everyone got to experience each step of the process. They measured, leveled, taped, and placed each piece with care a double check from a distance to make sure it was level. They all learned that the curved wall added to the challenges and there were discussions about levels, spacing and arrangements which continued to change as they worked.

As the show was being hung, we shared a lot of conversation about the work and the ideas behind them. The depth and thought process put into your work is outstanding. Your artwork inspired us to think more about what we are doing and the directions our artwork is going as we prepare for the high school show next month.

We hope you enjoy the show and invite you to look as closely as we did for the images that you can relate to and see with a new view!