Teaching with Contemporary Art

Art21 William Kentridge: Anything is Possible

Catching Up

Laurie Simmons, "Woman/ Red Couch/ Newspaper", 1978 courtesy the artist and Sperone Westwater Gallery

This week I’d like to share a quick update on some recent Art21 Education news and highlights ….

First of all, we are all set to announce our new group of Art21 Educators for this summer. Sixteen teachers from all over the country will join us in New York City from July 6-13 and then embark on what has been described as an intense, year-long professional development initiative. Stay tuned for a full report and some introductions to our new teachers right here on the blog! It should also be mentioned that our current group of Art21 Educators from this past year are busy teaching units of study they developed last summer and sharing their progress with the entire group in monthly online meetings. Very exciting and inspiring stuff!

Last week from April 19-21 I was honored to serve as the Artist-Educator in Residence at Massachusetts College of Art and Design. During the visit I got the opportunity to sit in on some exceptional classes, meet several students during informal studio visits, and even take part in a faculty meeting for the Art Education department before presenting a two-hour workshop on facilitating discussion using Art21 films.

Art21 recently partnered with the Jacob Burns Film Center’s Media Arts Lab to offer a two-part workshop series incorporating our new film, William Kentridge: Anything Is Possible. The second workshop, scheduled for June 4 at the Media Arts Lab, will also include a small exhibit featuring student works inspired by the film.

Finally, School Arts magazine recently published an article by yours truly about ideas for teaching with Mark Dion’s work. Check it out in the print version of the April issue!