Whose Art? Whose Story? Ethics in Museums and the Arts
Description
Title: Whose Art? Whose Story? Ethics in Museums and the Arts

Date: June 22 - 26, 9 a.m. - 3 p.m.

Students: Rising 9th - 12th graders

Instructors: Carey Gates and Karen Rezach

Location: Kent Place School

Description: What makes something “art,” and who gets to decide? This five-day summer course explores the ethical questions at the heart of artistic creation, curation, and display. Through discussion, museum visits, and hands-on projects, students will examine issues such as the repatriation of artworks taken in antiquity, the autonomy of museums to shape public narratives, and the impact of government and private influence on cultural institutions. Field trips to the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Montclair Art Museum will offer contrasting perspectives on access, power, and community engagement, culminating in a student-designed exhibition project that puts ethical thinking into creative practice.

Cost: $1200/week

Headcount: 16

Bios:
–Carey Gates is a talented educator and artist with over twenty years of experience teaching art and art history. He studied at the University of Pennsylvania, earning a BFA, and at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, earning an MFA. He has served as the Chair of Visual Arts at Kent Place School for the past twelve years. He revels in guiding students through their process of discovery as they grapple with the challenging questions of creating meaning, assigning value, and applying ethical thinking to the visual arts and visual culture.

–Dr. Karen Rezach joined the Kent Place community in 2000, and is the Founding Director of The Ethics Institute. She has a Master’s in Divinity from Yale University, an EdD from Seton Hall University and is an ordained Episcopal priest. Her doctoral research, Spiritual Leadership as a Model of Effective Leadership in Independent School, explores the ways in which educators can bring values and moral awareness in non-religious ways into a variety of school settings, and was the catalyst for the founding of The Ethics Institute.

Dr. Rezach has over 25 years of experience as an independent school administrator, including Director of the Middle School at Kent Place and Assistant Head of School at St. Philip’s Academy in Newark, NJ. She has been teaching and facilitating workshops on ethics for more than a decade.
Dates:
6/22/2026 - 6/26/2026
Ages:
Grades 9th - 12th
Cost:
$1,200.00
Availability:
Registration will begin on 12/8/2025.