Creating in Community: Fowler at 60 celebrates the 60th anniversary of the Fowler Museum at UCLA. As we look back at the research, exhibitions, and public programs of the past six decades, we recognize that the most joyful and interesting projects have been those created in partnership with others. Through these collaborations fresh ideas bloomed, unforeseen challenges and expectations arose, and new connections were forged. Come revisit these projects with us and join the accompanying programs specially curated to explore how to share our building and collections in ever more exciting ways.

Through Positive Eyes – gallery presentation with community participation.
Photograph by Timothy Norris, 2019.

FALL QUARTER 2023
LISTENING SESSIONS
The Fowler team is meeting with UCLA faculty, students, and staff to reflect on past collaborations and invite ideas for future possibilities. Our goal is to listen to individuals representing various disciplines and communities on campus. If you want to talk with us, please email us at fowlereducation@arts.ucla.edu.

CURATED WALK-THROUGHS
If you wish to schedule a walk-through of the Fowler’s 60th anniversary galleria exhibition and learn more about the museum’s history, past collaborations, and hopes for the future, please email us at fowlereducation@arts.ucla.edu.  

WINTER QUARTER 2024
The program descriptions and dates below are tentative and subject to change. If you wish to collaborate or participate in these conversations, please contact us at fowlereducation@arts.ucla.edu

UCLA COMMUNITIES FIRST: PANEL DISCUSSION MODERATED BY MIKE MURAWSKI
February 2024

To kick off winter programming, we will hold in a series of panel discussions about making the Fowler a place of vital importance to UCLA campus life, where faculty members from various fields teach in the galleries, students relax and explore between classes, friends socialize as they listen to music in the Fowler courtyard or enjoy performances on the terrace and in the amphitheater.
Moderated by Mike Murawski, author of Museums as Agents of Change: A Guide to Becoming a Changemaker, these conversations will grapple with the question of what constitutes community when it comes to museums and how to harness it for most productive and inclusive engagements.  Panel speakers and participants will explore the interests and concerns of UCLA stakeholders; and discuss ways to use the Fowler’s spaces and collections in ever more experimental ways.
About Mike Murawski
After more than 20 years of work in education and museums, Mike Murawski has become an outspoken advocate for transformations in the museum field. He is the author of Museums as Agents of Change: A Guide to Becoming a Changemaker (2021) and is co-producer of Museums Are Not Neutral, a global advocacy campaign calling for equity-based museum engagements. In 2016, he co-founded Super Nature Adventures LLC, a place-based education and creative design agency that partners with parks, government agencies, schools, and non-profits to expand learning in the outdoors and public spaces.
Murawski previously served as the Director of Learning & Community Partnerships at the Portland Art Museum, Director of School Services at the Saint Louis Art Museum, and Coordinator of Education and Public Programs at the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum at Washington University in St. Louis. He also served as a contributor to the Museum as Site for Social Action (MASS Action) initiative, which supports equity and inclusion in museums; and First Wave Project Advisor for the OF/BY/FOR ALL initiative, which helps civic and cultural organizations grow through collaboration with their communities.
Murawski earned his MA and PhD degrees in education from American University in Washington, DC, with research focused on gender in curriculum development and interdisciplinary learning in the arts. 

WORKSHOP WITH FOWLER STAFF ON ENGAGING COMMUNITIES, LED BY MIKE MURAWSKI
February 2024
Mike Murawski will lead a workshop for Fowler staff focused on continuing to prioritize community-centered exhibitions and programming.

LET’S MOVE AND MAKE SOME NOISE! ANIMATING THE FOWLER’S GALLERIES

UCLA students dressed in Cave’s Soundsuits to animate different parts of LA.
Photograph by Reed Hutchinson, 2010. 

Be quiet, walk gingerly, read attentively. This is how we have been conditioned to act in museums. Where did these unwritten rules come from?
Over the years, the museum’s galleries have come alive with spoken word, dance, and music. Two memorable examples were Nick Cave: Meet Me at the Center of the Earth (2010) and Through Positive Eyes (2019-2020). Looking to the future, how can the Fowler partner with faculty, students, and staff to continue to create unforgettable exhibitions and programs: interactive light and audio art installations, site-specific performances, participatory workshops that engage various senses, and more.
Speakers to be announced in late November.

DIGITAL COMMUNITIES, FROM COLLECTIONS TO CURRICULA
Installation view of UCLA Collects! Bodies of Knowledge, 2005.
Photograph by Don Cole, 2005.

From our museums to our libraries, archives, and special collections, the UCLA campus hosts a world-class repository of object-based information for research and instruction. Many of these items are digitized for wider use, accessibility, and preservation. Come participate in a workshop on the use of digital objects and collections for teaching and learning with UCLA curators, librarians, faculty, digital specialists, and others. We’ll discuss how digital surrogates of UCLA collections are made and used, spotlighting the work of the Fowler Museum’s Vital Matters digital initiative and the Library’s Digital Library Program in collaboration with a wide range of faculty, staff, subject matter experts, and technologists from across the UCLA campus. These partnerships have produced both short, engaging learning activities and long-form, immersive learning activities that meet a variety of instructional objectives.