Students at Columbia are doing some amazing things to keep art alive during the stay at home order, including adapting curated exhibits or a virtual space. We spoke to Vail Olinger about moving the Hokin Honors Exhibition online.

What is Hokin Honors?

Hokin Honors is an annual exhibition, showcasing work from graduating seniors across the many disciplines that Columbia offers.

How do you plan to move the program online?

We are creating a website that will contain all past, present, and upcoming exhibitions. There will also be a tab to see who all is working in the gallery that semester with links to our professional websites.

What has been your biggest struggle with moving the exhibition online?

I think the biggest struggle is communication, which is completely understandable. Everyone is stressed and busy, so I understand when people are late to respond. Other than that, building out the website has been smooth sailing.

Are there any plus sides to having an online gallery?

The exhibition will be up forever, we can link to students’ professional pages that are involved with our exhibitions, and we can link to artists’ websites if the viewer is interested in learning more. This is very beneficial to aiding students in getting their work seen by a larger audience.

Where will we be able to find the exhibition once it is up?

You will be able to go to thehokin.com, and it will also be linked through the DEPS/Manifest website!

The Hokin Honors Exhibition is curated, managed, and installed online by students from BUSE’s Gallery Management Practicum. Course Coordinating curators are Vail Olinger, Micki Harris and Natalie Benson-Greerthis.