Graphic Design and the Archive in the Community College Classroom

The “Museum Paper” is a central activity within any introductory Art History course, yet this assignment proves difficult for the History of Graphic Design as this artwork rarely appears on museum walls. These problems are compounded for community college students, who often have limited time outside of class in which to travel to a museum. However, a class trip to a museum archive allows them to view Graphic Design objects while performing key research practices. This presentation will describe an assignment in which students produce research on Graphic Design objects selected from the collection of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.