Academic Engagement

Enjoy your own self-guided exploration of our galleries with your class during the museum's open hours, Wednesday through Saturday, from 10 AM to 4 PM. Simply fill out the scheduling form to reserve a date and time, receive the required confirmation from us, and bring your class to the Lowe!

Led by a museum educator, this 45 minute to 1 hour tour features selected museum highlights to give attendees an overview of the Lowe's permanent collections and temporary exhibitions.

Collaborate with our museum educators to craft a curated tour or develop an assignment that engages students with the Lowe’s collection. Whatever the objective of your visit, we can help you enrich your curriculum using our collection and galleries.

This type of academic engagement will involve the following process: 

• Planning meeting with a colleague from the Lowe’s Education Department to discuss your course and to identify your objectives for the museum visit. 
• Pre-visit virtual introduction to familiarize faculty and students with the Lowe, the objectives of the visit, and protocols for safety during the COVID-19 pandemic. 
• Development of assignment with Lowe staff and faculty to aid student learning.
• Museum Visit that is tailored to your course topics and learning objectives or Guided virtual interactive discussions using works of art from the Lowe's permanent collection or exhibitions that connect with course curricula, themes, or topics.
• Collections-based assignments to be completed by students either online or in-person at the Lowe. We encourage faculty to use the Lowe’s permanent collection and exhibitions for class assignments before, during, or after your museum engagement. We can work with you in developing these curriculum-based assignments for your students.
• Post-visit virtual de-brief to synthesize experiences from the visit, how the visit related to course content, and feedback from faculty and students.

The Stella M. Holmes Art Research Center (ARC) is a dedicated classroom and exhibit space for teaching and learning inside the museum. The classroom features a 25-person capacity, desks, seating, computer, high-speed Wifi-access, and wall-mounted monitor. There are two exhibit cases in ARC that faculty may use to display artworks to enliven their curriculum. Your checklist of desired objects must be received two months ahead of time to give our Collections team time to review and pull objects from storage. Use our digital emuseum to identify desired artworks, then contact us to request use of the ARC classroom and/or the exhibit cases.

Let the Lowe be the catalyst for your interdisciplinary ideas! Our dedicated Technology and Engagement team can work with you to create a project or bring your developed idea to life. Explore our long history of exciting interdisciplinary projects and digital exhibitions below.

• GeoMuse
• Digital Exhibitions:
  • De-Compose
  • Animating Antiquity
  • Myrna Palley Collaborators Award Program

Each fall semester, the Lowe makes available one hallway exhibit case to University of Miami faculty for them to curate in connection with their concurrent course. Because of high demand, the Lowe developed a selection process. We announce the Call to Curate in spring semester, with applications due near the end of the term. The selected applicant can then prepare their Fall course with their curated exhibit case as a central component. Applications are judged on how well the selected artworks correspond with their course topic and on suitability of objects for the exhibit case. Please note: the exhibit case is limited in size and not all objects and media are suitable. Questions about this opportunity should be directed to educationlowe@miami.edu

Internship Opportunities:

The Lowe Art Museum Internship Program provides students with opportunities to gain knowledge, skills, and professional experience for careers in museums and other cultural organizations. We offer a variety of internships per semester. The time commitment is on average 10-15 hours per week, totaling 120 hours for the semester.

Areas of Focus:

• Curatorial Department: Curatorial Department Interns will work on a variety of research-based projects including collating research on collection artists, exhibition histories, and past exhibition didactics and catalogues. The intern will also help to provide access to digital archival collections by creating ­nding aids to assist online researchers.
• Collections and Exhibitions: Collections and Exhibitions Interns will work on a variety of projects which might include research assignments, material gathering, database entry, document drafting and preparation, and rights and reproductions assignments, among other tasks as needed.
• Museum Education: Museum Education Interns will learn about museum education methodologies and work on projects such as planning and facilitating Community Days and Family Workshops; researching artworks in the collection; assisting with public programs; conducting program evaluations; analyzing survey data; and working on academic engagement initiatives.
• Marketing and Communications: Marketing and Communications Interns will work on projects such as social media research, management, and analysis; editorial tasks;  the preparation of documents and other materials; event documentation; or graphic design tasks.

Interns earn college credit for their work at the Lowe through two pathways:

• Earn 3 credit hours towards your degree by signing up for a relevant course. Please check with your department for specific requirements.
• Earn 1 credit hour (not towards your degree) through the UM Toppel Career Center program.

How To Apply: Submit a cover letter and resume or CV to tolaporter@miami.edu

We are happy to provide object information and access to images from the Lowe’s collection for research purposes. Museum staff are also available via appointment to meet with you and discuss your research focus or area(s) of interests. 

• Search the Lowe Art Museum’s  Online Collection Database for information about artwork in the Lowe’s collection. 
• Request information on objects and artworks at the Lowe Art Museum (if available).
• Request a high-res image of artwork from the Lowe by visiting the museum’s  Collection Research Policies page; email requests should be directed to collectionslowe@miami.edu.
• Access Art & Art History Research Guides from the University of Miami Libraries.
• Propose a digital or interdisciplinary collaborative project.

The Lowe Art Museum engages students and faculty through Visual Thinking Strategies-based (VTS) educational discussions and programming. A participant-centered teaching methodology, VTS encourages students to look carefully, think critically, communicate effectively, and listen actively. VTS also offers opportunities to practice team-building skills and self-awareness. 

Object-based learning uses artworks, artifacts, and archival materials to inspire deep critical thinking and learning experiences. Wonder, awe, curiosity, and engagement are central to this approach. Unique or rare objects serve as testaments of creativity, inspiring a connection between the past and the present. Object-based learning methodologies are central to how the Lowe engages with faculty and college students. Please see this overview on object-based learning developed at the University of Miami.

Approaches for Object-Based Learning:

The following approaches provide interdisciplinary options for object-based teaching and learning. While these are only examples, there are many other possibilities for collaborating with the Lowe!

• Visual Literacy: How do object-based learning, research, and scholarship inspire deeper observations, descriptions, analyses, and interpretations?
• Art, Law, and Ethics: What legal and ethical concerns govern the possession, stewardship, and display of specific works of art?
• Creative Expression: How do you respond to an object? How does artwork at the Lowe connect with your interests? How does creativity move you to think about innovation?
• Communication: A visit to the Lowe can inspire a desire to learn more and catalyze lively, engaged discussion, dialogue, and debate with and between students.
• Cognitive Science: What is the impact of what you see and experience at the museum? How does your knowledge shape what you see? How do the sensations you experience during your visit affect your perception and memory?
• Technology: How can technology enhance our understanding and interpretation of objects?
• Materials and Techniques: Which materials did the artist use? How was a specific work of art made? How did the object’s design elements contribute to its final form?
• Context: Who made a specific work? When was it made? Where was it made? Why was it made? What are the cultural, social, religious, or political contexts that relate to it? What are potential interpretations of the work? Who has owned it? Why is it in the collection?
• Curatorial: Which criteria inform decisions about how and where to display a given work of art? What do we know about the object and what is the source of this information?

The Lowe Art Museum is open to all academic disciplines. The Lowe Art Museum is an inspiring resource for faculty and students from all disciplines across the University of Miami’s three campuses. We invite you to consider how engaging with the Lowe can help you achieve your teaching and learning goals. Click below to download our free resource, "Learning with the Lowe: A Guide for Faculty"

"Learning with the Lowe: A Guide for Faculty"