Last week, University Museums opened their new pop-up reACT gallery in the Christian Petersen museum, with the gallery’s subject being “leadership”. A week later, the gallery’s role as a conversation space for current events was tested. 

On Friday, Sept. 8, the reACT gallery opened from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. to allow Iowa State students to express their feelings about President Trump’s recent announcement of the end of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA.

Posted on the wall was a printout of ISU president Ben Allen’s response to DACA in relationship to Iowa State students. Aspen Pflanz, Education Intern for University Museums, said that the two themes of DACA and leadership weren’t exclusive, and the gallery seeks to intertwine both themes.

“That’s him showing his leadership within this situation,” Pflanz said. “The idea of the reACT gallery is to have a place for people to react to different current events.”  

The staff of University Museums wasn’t sure how students would respond to the gallery, but so far students have been engaged by the museum space. Pflanz said students have told her that the gallery was thought-provoking in a way that was different from other museums.

“A lot of people on campus, they’re not scared, they’re hesitant. They think ‘I don’t know anything about art,'” Pflanz said. “We don’t want it to be the traditional feeling you get when you go to a museum, where you think ‘oh, that’s nice,’ and then leave.”

As an interactive space, the reACT gallery provides a place for people to process art in a way that’s comfortable for them. Some people can write their thoughts on a post-it note, while others can discuss it with museum staff or fellow visitors.

While the reaction has been positive so far, a lasting connection with the viewers is what Pflanz hopes the exhibit will achieve.

“If we have 10 people come through that’s great, but if we have even one person who comes and really gets it or makes a connection, then we’ve done what we’ve set out to do,” Pflanz said.

The gallery currently has four themed exhibits planned, with two for the fall semester and two for the spring. The next theme, “Water,” will open in November. Pflanz said that this theme is already evolving, especially in relation to Hurricane Harvey and Hurricane Irma displaying a more violent aspect of water.

For more information on the reACT Gallery, visit the University Museums website.