FOCUS: Critical Conversations with Art (2020-2021) was an exhibition series that examines and highlights a single work of art, allowing visitors to delve deeply into how we look and how we can develop critical thought, questioning and discussion through art. With multiple perspectives, backgrounds and ways of looking presented, FOCUS invites the viewer to look closely and think deeply in response to the visual world.
Aligning with the Visual Literacy Program goals of developing valuable skill sets for visual thinking, this exhibition series challenges and encourages visitors to better understand how they look at art and to focus on building connections and conversations using the lens of art. With several short-run exhibitions each year in the Reiman Gallery (lower level of the Christian Petersen Art Museum), FOCUS: Critical Conversations with Art features a diverse array of works of art and artists from the permanent collection, shown one at a time.
