Henry Art Liaisons

Active 2020-2024, the Henry Art Liaison Program was a year-long professional development internship offered by the Henry’s public programing department to University of Washington undergraduate students. The program used the lenses of equity, antiracist museum practices, and collaborative learning to introduce selected Henry Art Liaisons to contemporary art interpretation and community engagement within the museum setting. Henry Art Liaisons received mentorship and training to lead dynamic, community-centered engagements. With museum tours as the cornerstone of the program, these and other engagements were pathways for school and student groups, intergenerational audiences, and the general public to connect with the concepts and conversations found within the museum’s exhibitions and beyond in the larger arts ecology of Seattle.

CORE LEARNING OUTCOMES:

• a foundational understanding of current debates surrounding the role and implications of museums in society,
• growing art interpretation and visual analysis skills that critically connect visual culture to sociopolitical and personal events,
• internship-level experience facilitating community-centered museum engagements,
• behind-the-scenes knowledge of museum operations across departments; and
• increased public speaking and project execution capabilities through experience and training.

ANNUAL PROJECTS

Each cohort produced an annual project that extended the boundaries of equity-focused community engagement beyond the walls of the Henry. Annual projects from over the years can be accessed below.

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT PROJECTS 2022 – 2024

Developed by Programs Manager, Danielle Khleang, Community Engagement Projects were an opportunity for liaisons to own conceptualizing, planning, and implementing a museum engagement for an affinity group of the liaisons' choosing.

2023 – 2024

• Intersecting Visions: Dialogue at the Art-STEM Crossroad Rosaline Dou & Ayla Tanurhan
• Wearing Who We Are: A UW Community Fashion Expo Kae Yu, Sorel Nica & Sven Holmgren

2022 – 2023 

• Crafting Ceremonies of Food Shreya Balaji & Em Chan
• Community Engagement Plan Fal Iyoab & Cas Haddad

COLLECTIVE ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY 2020 – 2022

Assigned by 2020-22 Program Manager, Berette S Macaulay, the first two cohorts of Henry Art Liaisons co-curated an archive of materials and sources as Collective Annotated Bibliography to help readers think critically about art and museum-related topics.

• ENTROPY CAB Vol. III, 2021-22 | Edited by Huma Ali and Asher Stein, Designed by Shreya Balaji
• IN CONVO CAB Vol. I, and Vol. II | 2020-21, Edited + Designed by Em Chan

COHORTS

• 2023 –2024 Isabella Couto, Rosaline Dou, Sven Holmgren, Sorel Nica, Ayla Tanurhan, Kae Yu
• 2022 – 2023 Shreya Balaji, Em Chan Dickson, Cas Haddad, Fal Iyoab, Jonathan Kwong, and Hayden Stern
• 2021 – 2022 Huma Ali, Shreya Balaji, Marlowe Barrington, Em Chan, Moe'Neyah Holland, Kathryn Reyes, Asher Stein, Hadi Yusri
• 2020 - 2021 Inaugural Henry Art Liaison Cohort Cassidy Correia, Devan Kirk, Em Chan, Grace Fletcher, Jessamyn Gilbert, Michelle Ma, Tony Lasley, Sasha Fiona Lavassar-Clinton

PROGRAM MANAGERS

2022 – 2024, Danielle Khleang 

2020 – 2022, Berette S Macaulay

WHO ARE THE HENRY ART LIAISONS?

Henry Art Liaisons are University of Washington undergraduate students who spend a year interning at the Henry. Their tours prioritize conversation and co-creation of knowledge by encouraging visitors to connect their life experiences, expertise, and emotions to the exhibitions.