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Museum Staff
July 12, 2018
Callan Steinmann
New Curator of Education Named at Georgia Museum of Art
In 2011, there were many changes ongoing at the Georgia Museum of Art, some more obvious than others. You may remember the architectural facelift that transformed the exterior and interior of the building that year. The renovation added a sleek design and 30,000 square feet of additional gallery space. These changes increased the educational potential of the museum for years to come. In 2009 and 2012, bookending the renovation, the museum made another, quieter change, hiring a person who would one day expand the museum’s creative and educational potential beyond increased square footage.
When Callan Steinmann interned at the museum, with both the education department and the director’s office, she had no idea that one day she would have the opportunity to bring these new gallery spaces to life with exciting and inviting educational programs as curator of education (a job for which she was hired in March). Previously she had worked at the museum as associate curator of education, managing the K–12 and community programming. Steinmann’s journey to the museum was both unique and fortuitous. Each of her experiences equipped her for her new role.
As an undergraduate student at the University of Georgia, she was able to “see how classes connected to the museum.” Her interdisciplinary bachelor’s degree included coursework in studio art, art education, educational psychology and psychology, with a focus on therapeutic arts and expression. She now teaches a course at the Lamar Dodd School of Art on art criticism and aesthetic understanding. As a teacher, she guides students through the galleries with new eyes. She encourages students to seek and discover how their own history and their experiences in the museum influence their interpretation of art.
Steinmann has also been influential in adding programs that allow people to experience art in new ways. Recent additions include Morning Mindfulness, Yoga in the Galleries and Studio Workshops. The Studio Workshop program, which received an award from the Georgia Association of Museums and Galleries, gives participants the opportunity to learn a new skill over the course of a few weeks. It also allows the museum to support local artists, who teach the workshops, and it was the focus of Steinmann’s dissertation. Experiences far from Athens developed her passion for museum work.
She pursued a master’s degree at the University of Texas, studying the 5th-grade programming at the Georgia Museum of Art. While in Austin, she assisted with the public programs at the Blanton Museum of Art. Then, she studied abroad in Choisy-le-Roi, France, and visited world-renowned museums. While abroad, she decided to pursue a career in the museum field. She explained, “It just clicked.” Each of her experiences up to this point contributed to her desire to work in a museum. Steinmann decided that museum education “married my interests in visual arts and education in an informal learning environment.” Today she is working on a Museum Studies certificate program with faculty in History and Historic Preservation, scheduled to launch in 2019. This certificate will help inform and equip students for opportunities in the museum field.
Her return to the Georgia Museum of Art “felt like family.” Athens is much more than a college town — it is a city that embraces growth. Recurring museum programs like Family Day and Museum Mix produce spaces for all generations to appreciate art. From creating a mandala to learning about Buddhist art, each new experience contributes to the education of thousands of individuals. Now Steinmann has the opportunity to create programs for artistic understanding and personal development. While external structural changes are important, Steinmann creates programs for the museum that inspire people from the inside out.