By: Amalia Wojciechowski, assistant director and collections curator
I have a confession: I am and always have been a nerd. I didn’t have much choice in the matter. I grew up listening to the BBC’s audio version of The Lord of the Rings on car rides from Chicago to Wisconsin to visit my grandparents, and the memories of seeing the Star Wars trilogy for the first time—camping in the basement to avoid an especially humid string of Chicago summer days—are emblazoned in my mind.
Begrudgingly ready for adventure at a young age.
The road from consuming to creating these stories was a short one. Somewhere tucked away along other elementary school projects are plenty of stories involving swords, sorcery, and far-off worlds, and I always gleefully orchestrated my fellow classmates into whatever game of imagination I could con them into that day on the recess playground.
It is not a surprise, then, that I took to TTRPGs like a fish to water. TTRPGs, like Dungeons and Dragons, which began here in Wisconsin in the 1970s, provided an outlet for all that fantasy storytelling and bossiness, and have become a lifelong hobby. But it’s more than just the natural outgrowth of my confessed-to nerdiness—it’s also been an invaluable way to connect to people throughout my life and career. Whether living in Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Wisconsin, or sometimes even out of the country, I’ve made lifelong friends through this shared hobby wherever I’ve found myself. It’s also informed my practice as an art historian—telling collaborative stories between the audience and artist is at the heart of what I do as a curator, just as it’s at the heart of a good TTRPG experience.
Behind the “Dungeon Master” screen of a Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition Spelljammer game.
That’s why, when curating Myth & Folly—an exhibition focused on storytelling—I thought immediately of TTRPGs as a contemporary means through which we tell ourselves the types of stories featured in the galleries. As we near the end of the exhibition, I wanted to use my powers of nerdiness for good, creating an event—Myth Making: Tabletop Roleplaying—that is an invitation to pull up a chair to the table at 1 pm this Saturday. Whether you’ve been crafting characters since the 80s or have never picked up a dice set, Saturday’s event is a chance to step into the world of collaborative storytelling. Come roll with us, explore the exhibition, and discover how your imagination fits into myth, magic, and shared adventure.
Featured image at top: Deep in conversation and dice rolling in a sci-fi adventure.
