All Grand Valley students can engage with the collection every day, and utilize art in their courses to learn visual literacy and analysis, and experience different cultures and points of view.

The Borderless Museum in Action at the Daniel and Pamella DeVos Center for Interprofessional Health

The Daniel and Pamella DeVos Center for Interprofessional Health inspires health students each day by displaying over 400 works of art in the building. Art was selected to encourage interprofessional learners to dig deeper into cross-disciplinary innovation and collaboration.

Nathan Kemler, Director of Galleries and Collections said “Art at GVSU is not a passive practice. Art at GVSU is active and our borderless museum is alive, engaging with our learners everywhere.” 

The art displayed in the building reminds anyone that walks in, of Grand Valley’s core values; those of equity, empathy, life-long learning, collaboration, and the innovation of the health sciences fields.

Katie Branch, MSN, RN, CHSE Director of Simulation, GVSU said, “On the GVSU Health Campus, the art throughout its public spaces is particularly utilized to spark conversations and alternative thoughts. These discussions open the door to creativity and enthusiasm for professional advancements in healthcare typically not embraced in most science-based curriculums.

Local Artist Inspires Students at GVSU Charter Schools

More than 800 K-12 students learned about indigenous art and sculptures thanks to the collaborative partnership between the GVSU art galleries team and GVSU charter schools.

In Fall 2021, Jason Quigno, a member of the Anishinaabe community in West Michigan, and creator of the granite sculpture, Infinity Cube was a part of 2021 ArtPrize. The Infinity Cube was showcased outside of Grand Valley State University’s Eberhard Center.

Grand Valley supported the work of Jason Quingo by creating a learning package about indigenous art. This package included a hands-on subtractive sculpture activity, a behind-the-scenes interview with Jason Quigno, and a series of discussion prompts about indigenous art today. Grand Valley partnered with GVSU’s Charter School Office to distribute the instructional and creative materials to Charter schools across the state. The distribution of the learning package resulted in 820 student-participants in charter schools.

Jayme Lesperance, Manager of Teacher Development, GVSU Charter Schools Office said, “The lesson not only highlighted an ArtPrize artist and his creative process but also provided cross-curricular connections, which further enhanced the quality and impact of the educational experience.” 

The Art Collection Deepens Students’ Understanding of Curriculum

Each semester, Grand Valley faculty collaborate with the GVSU art galleries team to connect students with works of art.

• During the 2021 Fall semester, Sigrid Danielson, Professor of Art History brought her students to the George and Barbara Gordon Gallery to view paintings by Mathias Alten and photography collection.
• In Fall 2020, Elizabeth Raubolt, Professor of Art History shared work from Robert L. Hoskins and Erwin A. Raible Collection of Fin De Siécle French Prints, a Gift of Elaine Rutowski Shay, with her ART 218 Design History class.
• Faculty members from the Honors College prepared a guided reception of the exhibition Honest and Unrefined: Art Outside the Academy for students in Fall 2021.

The Art Collection Supports Faculty Professional Development in Visual Literacy Series

The staff of the art gallery collaborated with faculty and staff from programs and departments across the university to create a series of faculty professional development modules over the last 2 years. This multi-session series allows faculty to learn more about visual literacy and the importance of accessible visual information in their curriculum. The learning modules are available through Pew Faculty Teaching and Learning Center.

Dan Cope, GVSU Affiliate Faculty Integrative, Religious, and Intercultural Studies said, “With every workshop I take and discussion of visual literacy I have, I feel increasingly confident in my ability to facilitate learning in students.” 

Art Collection Allows Health Students to Learn in New Creative Ways 

Students in all majors benefit from engaging with the art collection at GVSU. Jeanine Beasley, occupational therapy hybrid program director and professor of College of Health Professions, uses pieces from the collection to teach students about various health conditions. She uses an art piece located on the lower level of Raleigh J. Finkelstein Hall to demonstrate how nerves consist of bundles of nerve fibers enveloped by connective tissue. Conditions such as multiple sclerosis and Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease damage coating around the nerve fibers. 

Jeanine Beasley said, “We are so appreciative of the art here at GVSU. I have enjoyed integrating art into my classes whenever possible. Students pass by these pieces on their way to classes—my hope is that they will remember some of the concepts I have presented and relate them to the concrete art example in the building.”

Visual Thinking Workshop Connects Art, Health Professions for Students

Standing before a painting and discussing with classmates what they see is status quo for students majoring in visual arts. 

It was new territory for students majoring in nursing and health professions, when artist-medical educator Alexa Miller led a workshop in visual thinking by using the artwork in the Cook-DeVos Center for Health Sciences (CHS) as a backdrop. 

The workshop introduces art as a means of enhancing visual diagnostic and communication skills. Jill Eggers, associate professor of visual and media arts, has developed a new undergraduate course at Grand Valley based on the Harvard course.  

After introducing the concept, Miller led students to the CHS hallway where they were asked to study "Floating Bed," a large oil painting by Stephen Duren, then discuss their reactions. Miller said the act of quietly reflecting on a piece of artwork has many similarities to being a caregiver or working in the health care field.

"We're learning how the art curriculum can serve the medical field," Eggers said. "It's teaching people to become more attentive and present, and to be more creative in their thinking."

Student-Developed Art Gallery Mobile App Could Reach Cultural Institutions Worldwide

The Art at GVSU app - which features tours, browse and search functions - was built by students in the Mobile Applications and Services Lab in Grand Valley’s School of Computing and Information Systems (CIS) under the direction of associate professor Jonathan Engelsma.

The app allows users to browse the art collections on any of Grand Valley's 7 campuses and centers, including Holland, Muskegon, and Traverse City. The browse feature provides building-by-building access, which can help indicate the precise location of artworks along with a photo of the piece and information. Thumbnail photos run across the top of the screen to provide an easy visual access to works. Icons provide easy share options, from social media, to email and copy actions. 

“In the School of CIS we work hard making sure our students are well prepared for their future careers as computer scientists,” said Engelsma. “Giving students the opportunity to work on an interdisciplinary team involving a larger collaborative project over an extended period of time provides many valuable teaching moments.”

The app draws data from the Art Gallery’s online database (Collective Access) of the university’s art collection, which was developed by Nathan Kemler, director of Galleries and Collections, in 2008.

“Grand Valley is leading the pack of universities and museums in Michigan using the open source Collective Access, and was one of the first worldwide to create a native mobile application that draws data from the Collective Access database,” said Kemler. 

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