Fleming grad curates ‘My Story, My Tattoo’ photo exhibit
Amy Dunlop, Museum Management and Curatorship graduate (Class of 2003), currently works as the Curatorial Assistant at the Wellington County Museum and Archives. Amy served as the Curator and Project Manager of the “My Story, My Tattoo” photo exhibit, which featured 30 amazing stories of people and their tattoos.
“Tattoos are living images that reveal important stories behind our residents and our community. It is our job in the museum field to tell stories behind the objects and images in our community– and that is why it was a perfect fit,” said Amy, who interviewed people from the north to the south end of the county in 2014 for the exhibit.
“The participants represented every walk of life– everyone from cancer survivors, to teachers and their students, to firefighters and truck drivers, and tattoo artists,” she said, adding that participants ranged in age from 26 to 90 years old. Chris Piccinetti, graphic designer for the County of Wellington and photographer, photographed the selected participants in the museum.
Amy’s responsibilities for the exhibit include gathering material, overseeing the creation of the product, exhibit layout and design, assisting in media relations and advertising, and event planning. “It is nice to see it all come together. The opening was a very rewarding and memorable moment in the process,” said Amy.
She added that some of the skills she uses today were gained at Fleming College. “A curator should be thinking 3-dimensionally: about your audience, collections, programming, visitors’ experiences, media and your stockholders. Fleming prepares you to multitask and be able to understand all areas of how a museum operates,” she said.