Master of Arts in the Field of Exhibition Design

The master of arts in exhibition design program program in GW’s Corcoran School of the Arts and Design explores the intersection of design and public communications, in the nation’s capital, at a critical moment in the history of cultural discourse and spatial practice.

Exhibition design is more than the design of spaces that convey information, share stories, or promote products. It does more than relate artworks, objects, and audiences in experiential compositions. It has the potential to tell us about how we are living and how we could be living.

Students in the program take up the charge to rethink connections in the world. They find shapes for ideas and identities and orient them for diverse publics. They choreograph forms, facts, and fiction that put people in touch with each other and with the (built) environment. They design exhibitions as sites of material expression and activism.

The interdisciplinary nature of the program prepares students to innovate through exhibitions. Students work with curators, artists, and institutions. They design in dialogue, drawing on multiple art, design, and social practices. They also develop dexterity through training in analog craft and digital fabrication, studies in history and theory, and exercises in real-world application.

The program coordinates with an extensive network of national museums in Washington, DC. It also engages the city at-large, identifying opportunities for exhibition in its places of memory and monument, performance and protest, and commerce and leisure.

Visit the program website for additional information.

This program is not accepting applications at this time.

The following requirements must be fulfilled:

The general requirements stated under Columbian College of Arts and Sciences, Graduate Programs.

48 credits, including 33 credits in required courses and 15 credits in elective courses.

Course List

Code	Title	Credits
Required
CAH 6400	History of Exhibitions
CEX 6010	Exhibition Design Studio 1
CEX 6011	Spatial Representation and Making I
CEX 6012	Spatial Representation and Making II
CEX 6014	Materials, Detailing, and Fabrication/Installation
CEX 6020	Exhibition Design Studio 2
CEX 6030	Exhibition Design Studio 3
CEX 6040	Exhibition Design Studio 4
CEX 6100	Lighting, Acoustics, and Design for the Senses
CEX 6220	Exhibition Design Research
CEX 6230	Art and Design Writing
Electives
15 credits (5 courses) taken as follows: *
One 3-credit open elective.
One 3-credit curatorial course including but not limited to the following:
CIXD 6011	Narrative Media Design for Interaction
CMST 6301	Museum Exhibition Curatorial Research and Planning
CMST 6304	Exhibition Development and Scriptwriting
CMST 6703	Museums and Community Engagement
CSA 6016	Field and Research Methodologies for Artists
CSA 6097	Topics in Public Strategies
One 3-credit tools/techniques course, which may be, but is not limited to, one of the following:
CIXD 6012	Prototyping Interaction
CIXD 6111	Creative Code
CIXD 6112	Data Visualization and Sonification
CPJ 6050	Advanced Multimedia Lab I
CPJ 6300	Speed of Sound
CMST 6203	Preventive Conservation Concepts
CMST 6204	Preventive Conservation Techniques
CMST 6206	Digitization and Digital Asset Management
CSA 6202	Sculpture Digital Forms
CSA 6214	Metals and Metalworking
CSA 6240	Wear, Strut, Occupy
CSA 6241	Installation Art
CSA 6601	Special Topics: Time-Based and Electronic Media
CSA 6606	Performative Media
CSA 6702	Screenprinting
CSA 6901	Special Topics in Cross-Disciplinary Studio Arts
CIAR 6150	Sketching Architecture and Design
CIAR 6225	Interior Materials and Color Theory
CIAR 6350	Sustainability and the Built Environment
CIAR 6425	Lighting and Acoustics
CIAR 6550	Structures and Building Systems
One 3-credit arts/design business/management course, which may be, but is not limited to, one of the following:
CIXD 6021	Design Leadership and Professional Practices
CMST 6101	Museum Management
CMST 6102	Museum Financial Management
CMST 6104	Managing People and Projects
CMST 6105	Museum Fundraising
CMST 6106	Museum Marketing
One 3-credit history, theory, or criticism course, which may be, but is not limited to, one of the following:
CIXD 6020	Topics in Human Centered Design
CMST 6107	Museum Ethics and Values
CMST 6306	Race, Gender, Sexuality, and the Museum
CMST 6403	Museums and Technology
CMST 6404	Museums and Social Media
CMST 6601	Special Topics in Museum Studies
CSA 6015	History and Theory of Art in the Public Realm
CSA 6091	Contemporary Art and Theory for Artists I
Or any CAH course numbered 6000 or above.

*Students must meet with the advisor prior to elective selection.