Teaching with Contemporary Art

Thoughts from the classroom on the intersection of art and education

Teaching with Contemporary Art

What’s “The End” Good For?

by Joe Fusaro | Jun 10, 2009

Teaching with Contemporary Art

What’s “The End” Good For?

by Joe Fusaro | Jun 10, 2009

June can be a real catharsis of both the most beautiful and ugly kinds, but it doesn’t have to be a week-to-week whirlwind waiting for the next test. The last …

Teaching with Contemporary Art

Playing with Contemporary Art

by Nate Morgan | Jun 3, 2009

Teaching with Contemporary Art

Playing with Contemporary Art

by Nate Morgan | Jun 3, 2009

Season 3 artist Jessica Stockholder states, “What kids do with play is a kind of learning and thinking. It is a kind of learning and thinking that doesn’t have a …

Teaching with Contemporary Art

Summer Reading Part 1

by Joe Fusaro | May 27, 2009

Teaching with Contemporary Art

Summer Reading Part 1

by Joe Fusaro | May 27, 2009

As we get closer to rounding out another academic year, it’s probably a good time to think about some of the books that might make it onto our summer reading …

Teaching with Contemporary Art

Reality Hits at CCS Bard

by Joe Fusaro | May 20, 2009

Teaching with Contemporary Art

Reality Hits at CCS Bard

by Joe Fusaro | May 20, 2009

In the final workshop of our three-part series at Bard College, titled “Teaching and Learning with Contemporary Art,” we were lucky enough to have Olafur Eliasson speak with us about …

Teaching with Contemporary Art

Make Less Art

by Joe Fusaro | May 13, 2009

Teaching with Contemporary Art

Make Less Art

by Joe Fusaro | May 13, 2009

At one point in my panel conversation with Olivia Gude, Mark Bradford, and William Crow at the National Art Education Association’s annual  conference in Minneapolis, the discussion got around to …

Teaching with Contemporary Art

Authoritarian?

by Joe Fusaro | May 6, 2009

Teaching with Contemporary Art

Authoritarian?

by Joe Fusaro | May 6, 2009

As I mentioned last week, the Teaching with Contemporary Art column over the next few weeks will focus on questions generated at the recent NAEA conference in Minneapolis. This week’s …

Teaching with Contemporary Art

Getting Beyond

by Joe Fusaro | Apr 29, 2009

Teaching with Contemporary Art

Getting Beyond

by Joe Fusaro | Apr 29, 2009

Last week I promised to begin addressing some of the questions that came up at the recent National Art Education Association conference in Minneapolis. One of our first questions comes …

Teaching with Contemporary Art

Burn Baby Burn

by Joe Fusaro | Apr 22, 2009

Teaching with Contemporary Art

Burn Baby Burn

by Joe Fusaro | Apr 22, 2009

As I was thinking about Art21’s recent visit to the National Art Education Association’s annual conference in Minneapolis, I came across this quote from Season 4 artist, Mark Bradford: Once …

Teaching with Contemporary Art

A Live Feed: Art21 Tweets Mark Bradford

by Marc Mayer | Apr 18, 2009

Teaching with Contemporary Art

A Live Feed: Art21 Tweets Mark Bradford

by Marc Mayer | Apr 18, 2009

Art21 is presenting at the National Art Education Association’s convention in Minneapolis. We are working with Mark Bradford at this year’s convention on a couple presentations as well as shooting …

Teaching with Contemporary Art

The Hope Hippos Head to NAEA

by Joe Fusaro | Apr 15, 2009

Teaching with Contemporary Art

The Hope Hippos Head to NAEA

by Joe Fusaro | Apr 15, 2009

Beginning this Friday morning, I will be joined by my equally energetic and optimistic colleagues, Jessica Hamlin and Marc Mayer, as we descend on the National Art Education Association’s Annual …

Teaching with Contemporary Art

Art21 Educators 2009-2010 – Apply Now!

by Marc Mayer | Apr 9, 2009

Teaching with Contemporary Art

Art21 Educators 2009-2010 – Apply Now!

by Marc Mayer | Apr 9, 2009

Art21 Educators: Contemporary Art in Contemporary Classrooms 2009-2010 Are you interested in contemporary art? Are you a K-12 art and/or media teacher? Do you teach in Los Angeles, Chicago, or …

Teaching with Contemporary Art

Vacation, Just in Order to See

by Joe Fusaro | Apr 8, 2009

Teaching with Contemporary Art

Vacation, Just in Order to See

by Joe Fusaro | Apr 8, 2009

Around this time of year, many teachers take a vacation of some kind. Some people go to the warm sunshine, some people go to Minnesota, and some go to the …

Teaching with Contemporary Art

Art21 at NAEA 2009

by Marc Mayer | Apr 6, 2009

Teaching with Contemporary Art

Art21 at NAEA 2009

by Marc Mayer | Apr 6, 2009

Art21 @ NAEA Convention, Minneapolis April 18 & 19, 2009 Once again Art21 is bringing contemporary art to this year’s National Art Education Association Annual Convention. Season Four artist Mark …

Teaching with Contemporary Art

Teaching with Film, Teaching with Objects

by Joe Fusaro | Apr 1, 2009

Teaching with Contemporary Art

Teaching with Film, Teaching with Objects

by Joe Fusaro | Apr 1, 2009

Last week, it was my pleasure to begin working with the CCS Bard Hessel Museum at Bard College to initiate a three-part workshop series for teachers titled, Teaching and Learning …

Teaching with Contemporary Art

Remixing. Transformation.

by Joe Fusaro | Mar 25, 2009

Teaching with Contemporary Art

Remixing. Transformation.

by Joe Fusaro | Mar 25, 2009

This week two of my classes will visit the Museum of Art and Design’s first major exhibit in its new space at Columbus Circle, Second Lives: Remixing the Ordinary. Among …

Teaching with Contemporary Art

Power(ful) Painting

by Joe Fusaro | Mar 18, 2009

Teaching with Contemporary Art

Power(ful) Painting

by Joe Fusaro | Mar 18, 2009

In a recent unit with an introductory Studio Art class, my students created paintings that redefined power visually in a variety of ways. After looking at the work of Season …

Teaching with Contemporary Art

Notes on a workshop (Part 2)

by Audrey Chan | Mar 14, 2009

Teaching with Contemporary Art

Notes on a workshop (Part 2)

by Audrey Chan | Mar 14, 2009

(continued from Part 1…) My students and I had knocked on the door of the Éloignement office of the Préfecture in Nantes. The woman who answered asked us what we …

Flash Points

Teaching with Contemporary Art

Making Artistic Noise Part 2: Contemporary Activist Art

by Lauren Adelman | Mar 13, 2009

Flash Points

Teaching with Contemporary Art

Making Artistic Noise Part 2: Contemporary Activist Art

by Lauren Adelman | Mar 13, 2009

To continue from my first post, at Artistic Noise, we teach a curriculum that focuses on issues relevant to the lives of incarcerated and system-involved youth and uses art to …

Flash Points

Teaching with Contemporary Art

Making Artistic Noise Part 1: Art and Social Activism with Incarcerated Youth

by Lauren Adelman | Mar 12, 2009

Flash Points

Teaching with Contemporary Art

Making Artistic Noise Part 1: Art and Social Activism with Incarcerated Youth

by Lauren Adelman | Mar 12, 2009

noise [noiz] noun – a loud, surprising, irritating, or unwanted sound In 2001, I was approached by Fran Sherman of the Juvenile Rights Advocacy Project to help develop an arts …

Teaching with Contemporary Art

Notes on a workshop (Part 1)

by Audrey Chan | Mar 11, 2009

Teaching with Contemporary Art

Notes on a workshop (Part 1)

by Audrey Chan | Mar 11, 2009

I’m also teaching a course at the École Régionale des Beaux-arts de Nantes called, “Workshop: I am curious… (The Artist as Ethnographer).” Each Friday morning, my students and I have …

Teaching with Contemporary Art

Save Us from Ourselves (Making a Mess)

by Joe Fusaro | Mar 11, 2009

Teaching with Contemporary Art

Save Us from Ourselves (Making a Mess)

by Joe Fusaro | Mar 11, 2009

I’m not very religious, but just the other day I was “given” a prayer that somehow spoke volumes about life, the life of teaching, and the life of artist-educators. Eleanor …

Teaching with Contemporary Art

On representations of the artist at work (Part 2)

by Audrey Chan | Mar 6, 2009

Teaching with Contemporary Art

On representations of the artist at work (Part 2)

by Audrey Chan | Mar 6, 2009

Following up our discussion about documentation of the creative process in the cases of Mark Bradford and Jackson Pollock, my students and I talked about what we might include in …

Teaching with Contemporary Art

On representations of the artist at work

by Audrey Chan | Mar 5, 2009

Teaching with Contemporary Art

On representations of the artist at work

by Audrey Chan | Mar 5, 2009

[youtube:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aX9SVg6L5vA] In the Art:21 Season 4 episode Paradox, artist Mark Bradford cites the legacy of Abstract Expressionism as an influence on his process-oriented paintings and collages. On a formal level, …

Teaching with Contemporary Art

Working Without Warhol

by Joe Fusaro | Mar 4, 2009

Teaching with Contemporary Art

Working Without Warhol

by Joe Fusaro | Mar 4, 2009

Last month, five different Art21 artists were featured in the first five pages of Scholastic Art magazine, an issue that celebrated contemporary women artists including Laylah Ali (featured on the …

Teaching with Contemporary Art

What Light?

by Joe Fusaro | Feb 25, 2009

Teaching with Contemporary Art

What Light?

by Joe Fusaro | Feb 25, 2009

On Monday I had the pleasure of attending the last edition of this season’s Art21’s Salon Series with Robert Ryman and Urs Raussmüller. Going into the evening, I kept thinking …

Flash Points

Teaching with Contemporary Art

Hope and Change, Part 2

by Joe Fusaro | Feb 18, 2009

Flash Points

Teaching with Contemporary Art

Hope and Change, Part 2

by Joe Fusaro | Feb 18, 2009

On February 13th I received this message, as many of you did, from Americans for the Arts: Just moments ago, the U.S. House of Representatives approved their final version of …

Teaching with Contemporary Art

It Takes Two…. or Two Hundred

by Joe Fusaro | Feb 11, 2009

Teaching with Contemporary Art

It Takes Two…. or Two Hundred

by Joe Fusaro | Feb 11, 2009

Recently I saw the Mark Dion segment from Season 4 for the sixth or seventh time. I love the Dion segment. I was sharing the video with teachers in a …

Teaching with Contemporary Art

What’s an Art Contest?

by Joe Fusaro | Feb 4, 2009

Teaching with Contemporary Art

What’s an Art Contest?

by Joe Fusaro | Feb 4, 2009

Contests. Art Shows. Expos. Special Exhibits. Art Festivals. It’s crazy. While they are called by different names, art educators often have a similar reaction: Someone has a big idea and …

Teaching with Contemporary Art

“I do that.”

by Nate Morgan | Jan 28, 2009

Teaching with Contemporary Art

“I do that.”

by Nate Morgan | Jan 28, 2009

I tend to be very impressed with how the Museum of Modern Art presents artwork to elementary aged students. The museum educator picks images based on a theme, they lead …

Teaching with Contemporary Art

Teaching With Contemporary Art Guest Writer: Nate Morgan

by Joe Fusaro | Jan 27, 2009

Teaching with Contemporary Art

Teaching With Contemporary Art Guest Writer: Nate Morgan

by Joe Fusaro | Jan 27, 2009

Tomorrow we welcome Nate Morgan as our guest writer for Teaching With Contemporary Art. Nate has been teaching art at Hillside Elementary School in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York for the past …

Teaching with Contemporary Art

Rolling Up Our Sleeves

by Joe Fusaro | Jan 21, 2009

Teaching with Contemporary Art

Rolling Up Our Sleeves

by Joe Fusaro | Jan 21, 2009

Since this column gets posted on Wednesdays (and believe me, I didn’t arrange it this way), it’s been my pleasure to contribute posts directly after the November 4th election (see …

Flash Points

Teaching with Contemporary Art

Interview with Eleanor Antin Part 2

by Joe Fusaro | Jan 15, 2009

Flash Points

Teaching with Contemporary Art

Interview with Eleanor Antin Part 2

by Joe Fusaro | Jan 15, 2009

 Following is the second part of my conversation with Eleanor Antin, continued from Part 1 yesterday… JF: One thing that has been important in my own work with students and …

Flash Points

Teaching with Contemporary Art

Myths, metaphors, and more: Interview with Eleanor Antin, Part 1

by Joe Fusaro | Jan 14, 2009

Flash Points

Teaching with Contemporary Art

Myths, metaphors, and more: Interview with Eleanor Antin, Part 1

by Joe Fusaro | Jan 14, 2009

Last month I had the good fortune to speak with Eleanor Antin (Season 2) in a series of lively and engaging emails that included her thoughts on preparing for exhibitions, …

Teaching with Contemporary Art

In-Progress

by Joe Fusaro | Jan 7, 2009

Teaching with Contemporary Art

In-Progress

by Joe Fusaro | Jan 7, 2009

Teaching in the arts requires, at one ugly point or another, to have veiled conversations called critiques. They are hideous things that most students from middle school through graduate school …

Teaching with Contemporary Art

All I Want For Christmas

by Joe Fusaro | Dec 24, 2008

Teaching with Contemporary Art

All I Want For Christmas

by Joe Fusaro | Dec 24, 2008

  All I want for Christmas is to catch up. The break between Christmas and the New Year provides teachers a time for catching up with family and friends, but …

Flash Points

Letter from London

Teaching with Contemporary Art

Art21 Extended Play

Best of the Art21 Blog, 2008 edition

by Kelly Shindler | Dec 23, 2008

Flash Points

Letter from London

Teaching with Contemporary Art

Art21 Extended Play

Best of the Art21 Blog, 2008 edition

by Kelly Shindler | Dec 23, 2008

With our blog’s redesign in February, we hoped to see the site take off this year with a slew of new features. Following are some of our favorites, all of …