SCARC is delighted to share a behind-the-scenes look at the how and why of exhibit curation through the lens of the 18 exhibits we have hosted since 2012!

When: The 2025-2026 academic year (Fall 2025 – Summer 2026)

Where: The Valley Library 5th Floor SCARC Exhibit Cases (open during SCARC’s open hours, Monday – Friday 10am-4pm)

Bonus! Across the avenue, in the exhibit alcove is a complimentary exhibit featuring the title posters.

Exhibit Curation: Tiah Edmunson-Morton & Natalia Fernández   

Graphic Design: Amber Taylor

A Look Behind the Curtain!

Throughout the exhibit we answers many common questions about the exhibit curation process:

• Who Creates an Exhibit?
• How Is an Exhibit Organized?
• Where Do Exhibit Ideas Come From?
• How Do We Choose Exhibit Titles?
• Who Designs SCARC’s Exhibits?
• How Do We Design for Different Audiences?
• What Makes It Into an Exhibit (and What Doesn’t)?
• How Has the Exhibit Space Changed Over Time?
• Do you have exhibit spaces beyond the cases in this foyer?
• How Do We Promote Exhibits?
• Do You Ever Reuse or Reinterpret Past Exhibits?

More Images of the Exhibit!

As a complimentary exhibit to “Looking Back, Looking Ahead: A Retrospective of Exhibits in the Special Collections & Archives Research Center” featured in the SCARC Exhibit Gallery, the exhibit alcove features the title posters of the 18 exhibits we have hosted since 2012.

When: The 2025-2026 academic year (Fall 2025 – Summer 2026)

Where: The Valley Library 5th Floor SCARC Exhibit Alcove (across from the SCARC Reading Room and open during The Valley Library’s open hours)

SCARC’s Exhibits, 2012-2025

• Manuscripts to Molecules: The Four Signature Collecting Areas of SCARC (2012-2013)
• Benjamin A. Gifford: Chronicler of Oregon’s Natural Beauty (2013)
• Activism in Action: Voices from the Collection (2013-2014)
• Applause! An Exhibit Showcasing Two Performing Arts Organizations in Oregon (2014)
• The Rural World: For the Farmer, Orchardist, Gardener, Poultryman, Dairyman, Apiculturist, Brewer, Housewife, and the Children (2014-2015)
• The Art of Beer: What’s on the Outside (2015)
• The Nuclear Age: Seventy Years of Peril and Hope (2015)
• Heartwood: Inquiry and Engagement with Pacific Northwest Forests (2016)  
• Catching Stories: The Oral History Tradition at OSU (2016)  
• Beautiful Science, Useful Art: Data Visualization through History (2017)  
• Uprooted: Japanese American Farm Labor Camps during World War II (2017)  
• Community – Collaboration – Craft: A Glimpse of Art at OSU (2018)
• Women’s Words / Women’s Work: Spaces of Community, Change, Tradition, Resistance at Oregon State University (2018) 
• Catching Birds With a Camera: Finley, Bohlman, and the Photographs That Launched Oregon’s Conservation Movement (2019)
• Piles to Files: Behind the Scenes at the Archives (2019)
• Legacy of an Oregonian Photographer: the Chuck Williams Photographic Collection (2020-2023)
• Colegio César Chávez: The Legacy Lives On / El legado sigue vivo (2023-2024)
• Anti-Racist Description: Activities in the OSU Special Collections and Archives Research Center (2024-2025)

Photos of the Exhibit!