The Huntington

The Huntington

Library, Art Collections & Botanical Gardens

A special tour was held today for CAEA members at The Huntington in San Marino, Ca. The tour was of a small selection of art education books and materials from the Diana Korzenik Collection. The items were beyond words however I will try to describe them for you as best as possible. The collection which was displayed in one of their conference rooms was donated to the library by Diana Korzenik in 1997. It is now part of their prints collection. Several thin art-teaching books and interesting materials were spread about the room. The curator C. Cherbosque eloquently described various items from the collection. Starting with some early art education books by L.S. Thompson Some Reasons Why Drawing Should be Taught and Walter Smith Drawing in Public Schools (You can read one of his other books here Art Education: Scholastic & Industrial which was written in 1873). There were also art school materials displayed (paint sets etc) and an example of Friedrich Froebel's "gifts". (I looked them up and found a few sets here Froebel Gifts and here!) Other items presented to us included books showing the various styles of art taught in schools from line drawing to paper weaving. Then there was the propaganda coloring and tracing books some of which required children to trace images of soldiers or other similar subject matter.

All that I have written doesn't even remotely describe what I have seen today. I wish I could share it with you unfortunately photography was not allowed in the private showing of the collection. The items were enough to leave me wanting to learn and see more. Hopefully these items are shared again with the public so I can make a longer trip out to study these in fuller detail.

Below are photographs I took as I wandered through the gardens at The Hungtington... breath-taking & relaxing ...however it was a HOT day! I hope to go back with hat & cool clothing!

I visited a few of the galleries which housed the artwork of artists M. Cassatt, J.S. Sargent, E. Hopper and so many others. The galleries alone are worth a trip to The Huntington and if you are still not convinced on a trip out that way there was also a Tea Room. The Tea Room had a huge display of sweets ("sweet-bar") and that alone is a reason to head back!!

A time line of Art Education.

Artist Trading Cards

My first ATCs, Circle of Life & Reflection. Circle of Life, 2 1/2"X 3 1/2"; ink, newspaper and tissue on printed card stock. Reflection, 1/2"X 3 1/2"; ink and pencil on card stock.
My brief description of Artist Trading Cards: ATCs are miniature works of art meant to be traded and not sold. M. Vänçi Stirnemann is credited as the first artist to hold a trading session (Zurich Switzerland 1997). There are few requirements for creating these cards (*read below). The cards are created in all sorts of art media: fabric, paper, buttons, sewing, ribbons, paint, ink, rubber stamping, found objects etc. They are traded during sessions held internationally. The first international trading session on record was held in Calgary, Canada which included 80 artists from 10 different countries.

Yesterday I introduced the Artist Trading Card lesson in class. Most students were ready to dive in before they had ideas to put on the cards. Students will create two to three cards based on teacher chosen themes and then we will hold a trading session for students to swap cards. (For this lesson they are required to trade a minimum of 1 card however these rules are up to the teacher). I will post the students work once it becomes available and will include a short description of the lesson.


Close up examples of the two cards shown above.

You can read a brief history of artist trading cards on wikipedia or HERE.
I got some great ATC stuff at European Papers. I bought the stamp for the back of the cards as well as sleeves which arrived super fast and they sent a sweet gift in the package.
Some really great examples can be found all over the internet: CLICK HERE!!
I've been wanting to buy this book but if you know of a better ATC book then please share the name of it. I am trying to collect more class material for this project because I am positive I will use this lesson once I have my own classroom. I will share the student's finished cards as we work on these.

*Minimum requirements for ATCs: Cards must be 2 1/2" x 3 1/2", you must sign and date the back and the card must be thin enough to fit in a baseball card sleeve. Lastly, artist trading cards are traded and never sold!!

Artists celebrate...

A group of us art students from CSUF got together for Korean BBQ and drinks. We had a great time... unfortunately we didn't end up with any pictures of ourselves because most of us forgot cameras and the one camera available was acting up... go figure? Either way I managed to take one picture of the "pistachio art" created by Holly.

These are portraits of most of the artists present. I'm the one on the bottom row (middle) wearing my glasses and hair covering my face. LOL!

That "ART" was ugly!

When discussing the sculptures of Henry Moore with my high school students, a student said, "I didn't like his work!" When I asked her why she didn't like it she replied, "...well...because it was ugly... it was just ugly..." and continued by saying, "...that's NOT art!"


I discussed the important points of Henry Moore's work and how it related to our current lesson. The student listened attentively however I could tell she was not convinced as to why these "ugly" sculptures were art. She was not in my class when we covered aesthetics and the topic of "What is art?" I finished the conversation by saying, "... you don't have to love something, or think it is *beautiful for it to be art. There are many artists whose works I do not like however it doesn't mean their work isn't art or their work isn't significant to art history. I don't have to like it in order to appreciate it." She looked at me and gave me a look which suggested an "I guess" ...I even think she shrugged her shoulder however she did not say anything else about it. The student also did not answer me when I asked her why she thought it was ugly she merely said, "..it just is..."



Would you have replied differently? If so, how? What do you think of art work such as Fountain by Marcel Duchamp?



Remember it's not always about how it looks but the meaning of the artwork.

*Beautiful... what is beautiful to one person is ugly to another if you don't believe me check out your neighbors husband.

More about Fountain

Filler...

Artists...
Stay connected with other artists by gathering for sketchbook chats... get together, sketch & share your ideas!! Visit museums & galleries (often). Stay up to date with current art & artists. Plan shows/exhibit your work.... whatever you do stay active!

Other cool stuff...
An interesting blog about art & travels. Something Nice & Sweet
Visit the link I know you'll like it!!

BLACKLE
Have you ever tried Blackle it's run by google but it is an energy saving search engine!

Robert Rauschenberg...

Robert Rauschenberg passes away.

An article about Rauschenberg from the LA times.

OCDE

Poster for the Orange County Department of Education.
More on that... later.



Art Educators...

Sketching for the Mind and Soul

There are so many things I have wanted to do in the past few months...but because of time, school and "work" I have not had the opportunity.









Things have become overwhelmingly busy... busy...busy!!!









In the meantime I have convinced myself to set time aside at least every other night to sketch. Things started out rocky (with self portraits)... I will spare you and not post those drawings... then I had some rather interesting sketches ...followed by some "fair" celebrity portaits. The 20min-2hrs of time it takes me to do these sketches has helped me enjoy some much needed "me" time!!









There are currently plans in the works for an art show in the FALL. The show will exhibit the work of artists from CSUF. (More details as information becomes available.)