Our school has been involved in ESP for a number of years, but we started a new partnership this year with Hallwalls Contemporary Arts Center. Hallwalls is a great fit for our school, they have programs dealing with all of the areas our students major in (theatre, dance, music, new media, and visual art), so there are tons of opportunities for us to work with guest artists. They also work with a lot of local artists, and we have had tons of opportunities already to bring guest artists in. Most importantly, the staff at Hallwalls sees this partnership as a priority, so they have gone out of their way to make artists and other resources accessible to us.
I’ve personally loved being involved with the ESP because I get to learn about contemporary artists, and to see first hand that many of them work in a very interdisciplinary way.The project that has me most excited right now is a guest artist visit this week, Megan Greene, who has a show called RAPPACINI’S DAUGHTER (hallwalls.org for details). She’s coming in on Thursday to talk with art and English students about where she gets the ideas for her work. Students are reading Hawthorne’s story of the same title in English class. She is going to be doing larger group presentations, but also spending time just with my AP Class during lunch. I’m really excited about the chance they have to work in a small setting with her. I love her work, and I can’t wait to hear from her about it. The students are also really excited, especially the ones who have the special “lunch pass” to meet her in a small group.
5 responses so far ↓
1 Phil // Feb 15, 2008 at 4:34 pm
Thanks for your post, Rachel. I haven’t read the Hawthorne story– could you provide a 1 sentence synopsis? Also, I’m curious to hear how the meeting with the artist went. What questions did the students have? Are they developing a project?
2 Rachel // Feb 20, 2008 at 7:27 pm
In the story, there is a scientist who does experiments that cause things to be strangely beautiful, but also very poisonous. He has a really twisted garden, and also has done something that makes his daughter breath poison. The rest of the story deals with the fall-out from her and a young suitor falling in love.
The kids were very excited to meet Megan Greene. One of the nice things about doing the small group was that they got to talk to her more individually. I was unfortunately out sick the day she was in
, but talking with my students, they really liked the chance to get to ask her about her art and where she got her ideas. Sandy Ludwig may be able to post a response with more specific questions, because she was there that day.
Different classes are going different directions with the visit. My students are working on their concentrations right now for AP Studio in Art, so they are each working on their own theme. It was really helpful for them to hear about where she gets ideas, but some of them are also choosing to incorporate her techniques (such as white pencil on black paper) into their work.
3 Kerry // Feb 22, 2008 at 10:36 am
My 11th grade Graphic Design students are beginning their Megan Greene inspired project next week. We are considering using the book (or movie) Dead Man Walking as inspiration for their white colored pencil drawings on white paper. We discussed corporal punishment and symbols associated with that. We might combine the contrasting symbols of a dove or butterfly and handcuffs or prison bars etc. Megan Greene combines organic subjects with high gloss man-made metals in her work. Our school is putting on the play Dead Man Walking to coincide with a visit from the author of the piece. Help me with her name please. My hope is that their drawings will be used to promote this event in a poster.
4 Phil // Feb 26, 2008 at 4:52 pm
Hi Kerry,
Do you mean Sister Helen Prejeanne (Sp?)? She was the author of the book, I don’t know if someone else was the author of the play.
I think white pencil on white paper sounds fascinating! How did you come to choose that combination of media, and why for this project?
5 Kerry // Mar 31, 2008 at 10:43 am
Sister Helen Prejean will be our– Special Guest Speaker this month at BAVPA . This event is Co-sponsored by Sister Klimczak and the Center for Non-Violence.
Megan Greene’s series of drawings in her recent show titled Rappacini’s Daughter at Hallwalls were done with white colored pencil on black paper. Students were eager to work with the same media and surface.
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