New Art Center Proposal

Greg Thielker , Clark University Faculty
Under Mountain Road , 2007, oil on canvas, 36 x 48 inches

Jessica Wolf, Clark University student
Untitled, 2008, ink on paper, 16 x 16 inches

Here is the finished proposal for the New Art Center

Other possible venues might include
Fort Point Artists Center
Bristol Community College
New Hampshire Institute of Art
MassArt Space
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Interplay: Connections between art-making and teaching

Curated by Gregory Thielker

Artists include Resa Blatman, Jennifer Caine, Jarrett Min Davis, Courtney Jordan, Cathy Lees, Lindsay McCulloch, Mary O’Malley, Gregory Thielker,
And
Maria Guerriero, Tatyana Leykin, Alyssa Ferris, Elizabeth Leblanc, Alison McCarthy,
James Barrile, Becky Gibbs, Jessica Wolf

Exhibition Proposal Summary

Interplay, an exhibition featuring the work of 8 artists and their students, considers the ways that art-making affects teaching. Each of these Boston area artists has invited one student to participate. The two will display their artwork side-by-side along with a written statement by the teacher about the way that his or her artwork informs teaching. The exchange created by these 8 pairs of teacher and student artworks can be a way to think about this interesting set of questions: How does being an artist affect teaching? How does teaching affect studio work and art-making? Finally, how do students interpret the teaching methods of working artists?

Background

Art-making has always been connected to teaching, but for a long time favored an atelier style where young artists like Da Vinci studied under Verrochio, and where Van Dyck studied under Rubens. This didactic relationship has developed in complex ways in today’s art programs and universities. Now, artists do not simply teach students to do what they do themselves. Instead, the goal is broader: to try to facilitate student learning by instilling values about ideas, process, and the final-product. Some individuals, like Joseph Albers, may be better known for their roles as teachers than as artists.

Artists are often very aware of how teaching feeds into their own art-making. They are also conscious about how their studio work may affect their teaching. Each of the artists in this exhibition plays this role as artist/teacher in the Boston area and beyond. The group began as a format to critique one another’s studio work, but this activity quickly expanded to include discussions about art-making and teaching. This exhibition evolved out of this dialogue and a desire to expand the conversation to the public.

Concept

Interplay will be a way of examining how the artist’s values and interests are captured in his or her student’s work. This concept will be framed through basic questions posed in the opening wall text, “How does art-making affect the way that we teach? How does teaching affect art-making?” The exhibition thus becomes an exploration of these questions and asks viewers to find connections, both obvious and subtle, between the teacher’s work and the student’s. Each pair of works will be displayed side-by-side with a brief statement by the artist/teacher that answers the opening question. By creating a number of pairings from artists who teach in different kinds of programs, the viewer can begin to draw conclusions about the link between art-making and teaching. These comparisons will not be simply a repetition of subject or style. Instead they expose underlying issues and processes essential to contemporary art.

Exhibition Design

This exhibition has been designed to take advantage of the educational mission as well as the particular layout of the New Art Center Gallery. Since the New Art Center offers classes and art events as well as exhibitions, it is appropriate that Interplay takes these other goals of the institution into consideration.

In the exhibition, each artist’s works will be displayed next to the selected student’s. The specific works have been chosen with the Main Gallery in mind. Most range from medium to large in scale. Larger, more intensely colored works will take advantage of large wall spaces in the front and rear of the gallery, while small to medium works will be placed on smaller walls on the window sides of the gallery. The wall text, where each artist answers the opening question about art-making and teaching, will be placed near to the teacher/student pair. Since each artist has answered this question in a different way, viewers can consider a number of perspectives on this issue.

All works are of high quality and will be visually compelling from close and far distances. In addition, several of the Center’s freestanding “L” shaped walls will be used to further the concept of comparison / exchange between artworks. By viewing the works at right angles to one another, it will be easier for a viewer to see the artist and student works simultaneously. In cases where an artist/teacher’s work differs in scale from the student’s, the student’s work will be arranged in a grid or spaced more broadly. These visual dynamics will enhance the concept of the exhibition as well as the overall viewing experience.

Panel Discussion and Outreach

Interplay will be complemented by a panel discussion with selected artists and students from the exhibition. This discussion will be a way to verbalize many of the questions and issues raised by this exhibition. In addition, it will be an opportunity to generate ideas from visitors, many of whom will be artist/teachers as well. This discussion will further the ideas in the exhibition and also access a broader debate about the role played by many artists. Part of the exhibition stipend will be used to create an Interplay website where visitors can continue the conversation online, even after the exhibition closes.

Teaching is a common profession for many artists, but this dual role rarely receives the direct examination it deserves or generates a structured dialogue between artists. Interplay will be a way to highlight this exchange and expand the discussion to the New Art Center’s teachers, students, artists, and visitors.