Alyson B. Stanfield wrote: "I am curious about other university art museums who do regular exhibitions of works by students on campus. I am particularly interested in how the students are prepared for the submitting their work to a museum exhibition. In other words, what is the educational value of their experience?" The Williams College Museum of Art and the Art Department put on an annual spring show by senior art majors. As an art major exhibiting work in the show and a student employee of the museum, I got an interesting perspective of the process from both sides -- exhibitor and exhibitee. For me the "educational value" was mostly in what it feels like to work up to a show, and then to have it displayed for a general audience. Art students are used to showing work to fellow students and professors, but the opportunities to show to a larger and less specialized audience (at least in Williamstown, Massachusetts) are more rare. In my year, most majors took a senior tutorial (one-on-one work with a professor) to develop a specific project for exhibition in the senior show. In this respect, the show was a "real-life" goal to work towards. And it's always an ego boost to see your work displayed in a "real museum." At the same time, the process was non-competitive - all majors were automatically in the show - so what it didn't teach was the labor involved in pounding the pavement to get your art shown, along with the kajillion other former art students who are doing the same thing. That's perhaps the most important lesson - but I guess there's always plenty of time for that outside the ivory tower. I view it like the graduation ceremony itsef - the capstone to a four-year course of study, equal parts education and celebration. Hope this helps. Nicole M. Bouvier Scheduling and Exhibitor Relations Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service (SITES) <[log in to unmask]>