Each semester the exceptional work and research that student curators undertake with the Kawsay Ukhunchay: Andean & Amazonian Indigenous Art & Cultural Artifacts Research Collection is recognized through the awarding of the Whitten Andean & Amazonian Studies Scholarship.

This semester's awardees, who work under the guidance of Faculty Curator Michelle Wibbelsman, are (from back to front, left to right):

• Tamryn McDermott (PhD Student in Arts Admin., Education, & Policy)
• Amanda Tobin Ripley (Graduate Research Associate for the Collection and PhD Student in Arts Admin., Education, & Policy)
• Cameron Logar (Major: Biochemistry)
• Julia Allwein (Major: Comparative Studies)
• Anais Fernandez (Majors: Philosophy, Politics, & Economics and Spanish)
• Shima Karimi (PhD Student in Latin American Cultural & Literary Studies)
• Victor Vimos (PhD Student in Latin American Cultural & Literary Studies)
• Francesca Napoli (Major: Romance Studies; not pictured)

Learn more about these dedicated kawsay waqaychaqkuna (those who safeguard, keep and preserve with cariño and care) here.

Professor Wibbelsman and the curators engage in a unique combination of research, teaching, and outreach. The preparation and installation of the Dancing with Devils: Latin American Masks Traditions exhibition currently on display at the Barnett Center was a major collaborative project of the Fall 2022 student curator cohort. In presenting this impressive undertaking to campus and the public (view the digital appreciation guide), the curators have built a minga by working in community and supporting one another to achieve a shared goal. 

Cameron Logar describes how being part of this community has shaped his perceptions of his degree program:

As a Biochemistry major, I have always felt that I am in a bit of an odd space with this work, but it has always been a uniquely enriching place with a wonderful group of people to work with. In truth, working with the collection has allowed me to discover what I truly care about and why my major matters to me in the first place. 

In addition to the Dancing with Devils exhibition, the curators have engaged in a host of other recent activities, including regular participation in the Our Unlearning Hour and a data-a-thon, as well as the development of high-quality individual research projects connected to the Collection. The curators have also been hard at work archiving and digitizing fieldwork materials donated by OSU alum Mark Gordon that further contextualize the Dancing with Devils exhibition.

Amanda Tobin Ripley and Anais Fernandez co-presented with Professor Wibbelsman at the Curriculum and Pedagogy Conference at Penn State in October. Amanda describes this opportunity as a highlight of her position as GRA for the Collection this semester:

It was an immense joy to be able to share the pedagogical work of our collective, grounded in the Andean concept of the pulley pampa, with colleagues from across the country. I am proud of the way we challenged traditional norms of academic conferences in our non-hierarchical, dialogical presentation -- and in bringing some of the objects from the collection with us for participants to experience directly throughout our conversation. The response from the participants and the editors of the Journal of Curriculum and Pedagogy has been encouraging and demonstrates the importance of the work that we do as a collective.

Former GRA for the Collection Tamryn McDermott has been busy with candidacy writing this semester but has remained actively involved with her curator cohort. She put her exhibition installation experience to work and assisted in the hanging of Leonardo Carrizo's stunning documentary photography in the Barnett Center Collaboratory space. Tamryn also brought her art education students to the exhibition, where they reflected on the significance of masks and developed professional development activities for other art educators. 

As the semester draws to a close, the student curators remain busy with several ongoing projects, including using AirTable to develop a collaborative database, complete with records of objects from the Collection as well as personal stories about experiences with the objects or their imagined histories. 

Please join us in congratulating our student curators and thanking them for their many contributions to Andean and Amazonian studies at OSU!

The Andean and Amazonian Indigenous Art and Cultural Artifacts Research Collection is permanently housed in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese in Hagerty Hall 255 and supported by the Department of Spanish and Portuguese, the Center for Latin American Studies (in part through Title VI funding from the US Department of Education), and generous private donations from Dr. Norman Whitten. To learn more about the collection please visit the AAAC website and the K'acha Willaykuna main website.