Whitney Museum of American Art: Blogs

Teacher Exchange: Singular Visions and New Horizons

Whitney Museum of American Art — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 16:40:00 -0500

Categories: EducationBlog

We began a fascinating Teacher Exchange meeting in January 2012 with a guided tour of the exhibition, Singular Visions. The twelve works on view, drawn from the Whitney’s collection, are each installed in their own space, creating intimate and compelling encounters with single works of art.

Artist, Critic, Canon: Art History, After Levine

Whitney Museum of American Art — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 11:14:00 -0500

Categories: EducationBlog

On December 15, 2011, in conjunction with the exhibition SHERRIE LEVINE: MAYHEM, art historian David Joselit and artist Zoe Leonard joined curator Elisabeth Sussman to discuss how Levine and other artists of her generation altered the way images are distributed, studied, and understood. From theoretical shifts to fundamental changes in the way artists borrow, reframe, and reproduce imagery, the panelists investigated Levine’s work and its influence on the practice and theory of contemporary art.

Both Joselit and Leonard recalled how Levine’s radical approach to image-making profoundly affected and challenged them in the 1980s, when she first began to re-photograph and re-purpose artwork, and to question accepted notions of authorship, originality, and ownership. Her provocation, they agree, still resonates today, as she produces objects that are, in Joselit’s words, “extremely ahead of their moment.”

The exhibition inspired Leonard to consider the relationship of her own work to Levine’s. She believes they share common interest in the relationship between image and object. Stating she wants her work to: “reconcile or sort of dig into the space between the [three] dimensions and the relationship between photography and sculpture and show how a print is an object in space,” Leonard sees a similar blurring of the distinction between the second and third dimensions in a work like After Courbet 1-18 (2009). Here Levine frames and assembles eighteen reproductions of Courbet’s famous painting, The Origin of the World (1866). The simple plywood frames that surround each image reinforce the physicality of each component, yet they exist simultaneously as images in a two-dimensional form. Leonard also employs a parallel use of repetition in works such as You see I am here after all (2008), an installation consisting of approximately 4,000 postcards that all depict Niagara Falls.

Teacher Exchange: A Meeting in Real/Surreal

Whitney Museum of American Art — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 18:50:00 -0500

Categories: EducationBlog

Our Teacher Exchange meeting in early December focused on the exhibition, Real/Surreal. Through paintings, drawings, photographs, and prints drawn entirely from the Whitney’s collection, the exhibition revealed the fascinating tension and overlap between the real observable world, and that of the imaginary and subconscious. During the meeting, we explored how various gallery-based activities can encourage students to look more closely at a work and dig deeper into the artists’ ideas, materials, and processes. We also discussed the ways that these non-discursive strategies support differentiated learning among students with diverse needs.

The Vlog Project Wins 2011 International Jodi Commendation

Whitney Museum of American Art — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 15:49:00 -0500

Categories: EducationBlog

The Whitney’s ASL Vlog Project was the recipient of a Commendation for Sustainable Growth in the International Jodi Awards for Accessible Digital Culture. Each year, the Jodi Mattes Trust reviews nominated projects from around the globe to celebrate museums, galleries, libraries, and other heritage institutions that use digital technology to provide improved access to information, collections, learning, and creativity for people with disabilities. The Whitney is thrilled to be recognized this year with a commendation.

The award was presented on December 8, 2011 at the Digital Strategies for Heritage Conference in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. I traveled to accept the award in front of an audience of nearly 500 museum and heritage specialists, and had the pleasure of seeing one of our videos screened for the entire assembly. In addition, I was invited to present information about the project as part of a panel presentation on Inclusive Digital Heritage in the Twenty-first Century. It was an excellent opportunity to share our work and learn from colleagues abroad who are also working to expand access in the digital realm.

Teacher Exchange: A Discussion about the Role of Information in Inquiry-Based Learning

Whitney Museum of American Art — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 17:02:00 -0500

Categories: EducationBlog

Can we know too much about a work of art? Do biographical details and historical information get in the way of our personal and imaginative responses to an artist’s creation? The focus of our second meeting for Teacher Exchange in early November was to consider the role that information plays in inquiry-based learning. Teacher Exchange is a year-long professional development workshop for K-12 teachers to learn from one another and exchange ideas about art and teaching.

Walter Annenberg Annual Lecture: Claes Oldenburg

Whitney Museum of American Art — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 16:54:00 -0500

Categories: EducationBlog

On November 1, 2011, at the seventh Walter Annenberg Annual Lecture, the Whitney honored Claes Oldenburg for his achievements and contributions to the field of American art and culture. In his public conversation with Museum Director Adam Weinberg, Oldenburg reflected on his career, revealing a sensibility that—much like his monumental sculptures—combines humor and earnestness.

Oldenburg offered fascinating stories about his own development as an artist, beginning with his days as a graduate student at the Art Institute of Chicago. He explained that, after “copying” the masters from Pablo Picasso to Willem de Kooning, he felt ready to move to New York and create his own art work based “on intuition” rather than imitation.

In his studio on the Lower East Side, Oldenburg found inspiration in the stores, objects, and consumer goods that surrounded him. He created one of his first major installations, The Store, by sculpting everyday objects and installing them in his studio as if for sale. He explained that he sought to “convert [his] studio into a situation that fit into the surroundings.” This consideration of place turned out to be the driving force behind much of Oldenburg’s career, from his performance pieces, to soft vinyl sculpture and large-scale, public projects.

Desert Island Comic Zine Party

Whitney Museum of American Art — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 16:54:00 -0500

Categories: EducationBlog

At the Desert Island Comic Zine Party on October 15, 2011, kids and adults delved into comics old and new. To celebrate the end of the exhibition Lyonel Feininger: City at the Edge of the World, Whitney Family Programs partnered with Desert Island, an independent comic shop in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. After discovering Feininger’s pioneering comic strips in the galleries, families had a chance to meet contemporary illustrators and comic book artists.

Collaborative Mural Project with artist Kenny Scharf

Whitney Museum of American Art — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 12:05:00 -0500

Categories: TeensBlog

On Monday, October 24, Youth Insights (YI) Leaders were surprised with a change from their normal routine of planning Whitney events for other New York City teens. Instead of hashing out the next steps for an artist talk or workshop, we were on our way to complete another mural project at the Details Guild Wall. Youth Insights worked on two previous mural projects with Dan Colen in September 2011 and with Mario Ybarra Jr and Karla Diaz in June 2011.at the Details Guild Wall.

To create this mural we worked with Kenny Scharf, a talented artist whose work is included in the Museum’s collection. He is passionate about art and was very excited to work with YI teens (us!)–Artists, Writers, and Leaders. His style and approach to painting is very interesting, loose, and playful. He doesn’t sketch anything out beforehand. The highlight of our day was getting to know him, discovering what he had accomplished, and hearing about other artists that he had collaborated with in the past, for example, Jean-Michel Basquiat and Keith Haring.

Collaborative Mural Project with artist Kenny Scharf

Whitney Museum of American Art — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 12:05:00 -0500

Categories: TeensBlog

Whitney Docents Visit Storm King Art Center

Whitney Museum of American Art — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 16:13:00 -0500

Categories: EducationBlog

Inspired by the works in the exhibition David Smith: Cubes and Anarchy, now on view at the Museum, the Whitney docents decided to take a trip to see some Smith sculptures in another light—literally! About an hour and a half north of the city at the Storm King Art Center in Mountainville, NY, we had the opportunity to see Smith’s sculptures in the outdoor landscape setting that the artist cherished. Even with Storm King’s prized Cubi XXI (1964) presently on loan to the Whitney for the show, the works on view provided another perspective on thinking about Smith’s range of work.

Teacher Exchange 2011-2012: First Meeting

Whitney Museum of American Art — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 09:44:00 -0500

Categories: EducationBlog

One of the perks associated with teaching K-12 students in New York City is the endless array of creative resources available for both personal and professional inspiration. Conversely, one of the challenges K-12 teachers confront is finding the right times and the most amenable places to nurture our imagination. This is why the Whitney’s Teacher Exchange, a year-long professional development program for K-12 teachers, is such an exciting opportunity for those of us who want to explore new ways of teaching and sharing ideas.

For our first meeting in early October, eleven of us gathered in the Whitney’s lobby to begin our monthly exploration of the Museum’s collection and to collaborate as educators, artists, and explorers. Over a cup of warm coffee and healthy snacks, we learned about one another’s backgrounds, subject areas, and the schools where we teach. With the help of the Whitney’s eager team of educators, it took very little time for us to feel a sense of connection to the whole group.

Youth Insights looks to the future with a long-term research project

Whitney Museum of American Art — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 11:00:00 -0400

Categories: EducationBlog

The Whitney’s Education Department is thrilled to announce a new national research initiative to explore the long-term impact of teen programs in modern and contemporary art museums, including its award-winning Youth Insights program. With a generous National Leadership Grant awarded by the federal Institute of Museum and Library Services, the Whitney will lead a three-year project in collaboration with the Walker Art Center, the Contemporary Art Museum Houston (CAMH), and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (LA MOCA). All four institutions offer teen programs that have been in existence for more than a decade and provide a diverse group of participants the opportunity to learn about art, go behind the scenes at each institution, and take on leadership roles within the museum and in their community.

YI ARTISTS IN SESSION WITH COREY MCCORKLE

Whitney Museum of American Art — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 12:05:00 -0400

Categories: TeensBlog

This semester YI Artists are working with Corey McCorkle, whose work was included in the 2008 Whitney Biennial exhibition. McCorkle’s work includes aspects of installation, architecture, and documentary film-making. Earlier in the term, he asked us to bring in something that we qualified as a “mess.” The assignment was open to our interpretation and we were also meant to consider how to contain and transport our mess depending on what we chose, found, or made for the project. For our regular Wednesday meeting on October 19, everyone brought in their “messes” and we set them up on the work tables in the room. Both Corey and Carda, our youth programs coordinator, recommended that we walk around to view the art before we listened to each other’s explanations so we could create our own interpretations of each piece.

After analyzing everyone’s work, we discussed with each other what our pieces represented. The messes ranged widely from literal to figurative, meaningful to interpretive, and discrete to conspicuous. Many students brought in found objects such as a hair brush, a back pack, or a family portrait. Others made their messes from scratch. Their approaches included making a clay mind by building the shape of a brain with clay and covering it with bits of newspaper and handwritten text to represent information that can bombard a mind all day, or typing “mess” in scrambled bold letters. I found a silly plastic wine glass at home and screamed the word mess into it repeatedly. Immediately after, I taped the glass shut. I was inspired by the vibrations of the word.

COMICS, ZINES, AND THE LIVES OF TEENS

Whitney Museum of American Art — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 12:05:00 -0400

Categories: TeensBlog

On Friday, October 14, Youth Insights participants and other teens gathered at the Whitney Museum of American Art to attend an artist talk by two graphic novelists: Dash Shaw and Jessica Abel. October 14 also happened to be the first day of Comic Con 2011, the largest comics and popular culture event on the East Coast.

Dash was the first to present. The work he shared combined fiction with ounces of his childhood, much of which related to the room full of teens. He highlighted a foreign exchange program in Japan that he participated in during his junior year of high school. As exciting as this may seem, Dash detailed the highs and lows, and was able to laugh at the difficulties he experienced. He also showed several images of an in-progress animated feature.

Afterwards, Jessica Abel gave us an overview of her work and how she became a comic artist. Her influences came from music and other comics prevalent during her teen years. Jessica revealed her hardships, such as relationship breakups, which inspired her to base her characters on an angsty teenager. She described her college years when she developed her own published comic, Artbabe, and began to discover her talent. One thing led to the next, and Jessica was eventually recognized for her outstanding work. Her success has led to published books including Mirror, Window, the graphic novel La Perdida, and even a textbook on comics Drawing Words, Writing Pictures, co-written with her cartoonist husband, Matt Madden.

COMICS, ZINES, AND THE LIVES OF TEENS

Whitney Museum of American Art — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 12:05:00 -0400

Categories: TeensBlog

Pro Tools with Cory Arcangel

Whitney Museum of American Art — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 13:52:00 -0400

Categories: EducationBlog

Brooklyn-based artist Cory Arcangel explores the intersection of technology, Internet culture, and art. His work ranges from drawings and photographs to sculpture and video. On September 10, 2011, families engaged with the artist and his exhibition, Cory Arcangel: Pro Tools, through gallery activities, art projects, and digital technology.

Museum educators led activities that took both digital and analog approaches to Arcangel’s recent work. Upon entering one gallery, kids marveled at the large, high-quality prints that comprise his Photoshop Gradient Demonstration series, and were even more surprised when they found out how they were made. Using the image processing software Photoshop, the artist selected stock color gradients and randomly clicked across the computer screen. The titles of the resulting brilliantly-colored images function almost like instructions for how Arcangel made each photograph, listing the document size, type of gradient, and coordinate points of the mouse clicks. Families used laptop computers and Photoshop to follow these instructions and replicate Arcangel’s gradients. Afterwards, families tried their hand at making gradients with more traditional art materials—paper and colored pencil.

Transforming trash: making a mural with Artist Dan Colen

Whitney Museum of American Art — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 12:05:00 -0400

Categories: TeensBlog

On Friday, September 26, participants in the Whitney’s Youth Insights (YI) program were given a fantastic opportunity to meet artist Dan Colen and assist him in “defacing” his mural. The mural, located on the corner of 13th and Washington Streets in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan, was painted with the phrase “OH GOD!” in large black text. The text was painted on a plain white background and almost seemed welcoming to graffiti artists. That said, Dan seemed a bit dejected as he noticed that no one had defaced the mural prior to our arrival.

Title TK Meets Danny Goldberg

Whitney Museum of American Art — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 19:00:00 -0400

Categories: EducationBlog

On August 10, as part of the My Turn public program series, artist Cory Arcangel along with his Title TK band mates Alan Licht and Howie Chen, chatted with record exec and music industry mainstay Danny Goldberg about working with some of the best known bands in the business. Title TK is a self-proclaimed “banter-prone” band that produces more humorous musings than music, while Danny Goldberg is known for his work as record company president, public relations man, journalist, and band manager. Although Title TK rarely plays their instruments in public, and Goldberg proclaims that he has never been a musician, the speakers all share considerable knowledge of—and reverence for—Rock and Roll’s musical geniuses.

YI LEADERS BACK IN SESSION

Whitney Museum of American Art — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 12:05:00 -0400

Categories: TeensBlog

Around 4 pm on September 19, the next generation of Youth Insights (YI) Leaders entered the building through the Whitney’s loading dock, a tradition unique to YI Leaders. For some, it was a return to routine. For most, myself included, it was a rite of passage. For us all, however, it was a new beginning. Some things remain familiar, like the friends we had made in past YI programs, the colorful paperwork, the arguably delicious cheese sticks and assorted snack bars, and a brief visit to the Singular Visions exhibition, which showcases a rotating selection of twelve postwar artworks on the fifth floor.

Youth Insights at ICA Boston

Whitney Museum of American Art — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 12:05:00 -0400

Categories: TeensBlog

From August 9-13, two teen participants in the Whitney’s Youth Insights program, Sarah and Rebecca (that’s me) attended the National Convening for Teens in the Arts hosted by the Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston (ICA). Every year, ICA/Boston hosts this special conference which brings together teens and educators from nine cultural institutions to talk about the challenges that teen programs face and the benefits they provide.

Our schedules were planned to the minute, our hotel rooms mapped out strategically. Still, the next few days felt like they would be a mystery forever. We had been preparing for so long-writing our presentations, participating in the preliminary online chats, and looking at Google map’s street view of the area around our hotel, it seemed like we might not actually arrive!

Everyone gathered the first night and ate traditional German food. Afterward, we began exploring a city that was new to all of us. This would become a routine over the next few days for both teens and educators. The following day, we began with presentations. Each group was comprised of two teens and an educator representing one of the nine institutions. During the presentations, teens and educators shared images, videos, and experiences of their programs. I watched as four museums went before us, mentally preparing for what I would say. Sarah started the presentation smoothly and I followed suit. I later received a compliment from the ICA’s Artist in Residence, Dario Robleto, who told us we had done a good job! The day ended with Teen Night, an event featuring tours, art activities, performances, videos, and artwork, all of which was created or led by teens from the Boston area. During the chaos of events, I snuck away with two friends to play records at one of the interactive portions of an exhibition that was on view, The Record: Contemporary Art and Vinyl.

The actual conference consisted of four topics: advocacy, skills, experimentation, and challenging subject matter. Teens and educators from around the country shared personal testimonies and discussed possible solutions to problems faced by museum programs for teens. The formality was spliced with a workshop led by Robleto. During the workshop we made record sleeves for imaginary albums, inspired by Robleto’s own work and The Record exhibition.

Our final day started with a dim sum breakfast worthy of heroes. Plates came and went so fast I couldn’t even keep up. Sarah, my vegetarian guardian, made sure everything was safe for me to eat. The afternoon wrapped up with a tour of Boston and a communal ice cream sandwich fest. Pictures were taken in both silly and serious forms, emails exchanged, and everyone went their separate ways.

Since the conference, I’ve remained friends with other participants. I know slang from the Midwest and the South, and I appreciate New York City’s subway system more than ever. I’m honored to have been a participant in the Third National Convening for Teens in the Arts. I guess there’s only one thing left to say: thanks ICA!

by Rebecca

The Fine Art Of Comics

Whitney Museum of American Art — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 11:29:00 -0400

Categories: EducationBlog

Comic fans flocked to the Whitney on July 20 for a panel discussion featuring graphic artists Gary Panter, Art Spiegelman, and Chris Ware. “The Fine Art of Comics,” a discussion about the intersections of comics and fine art, was moderated by John Carlin. This program was held in conjunction with the exhibition Lyonel Feininger: At the Edge of the World, on view through October 16, 2011. Feininger began his career as an artist by drawing comic strips for the Chicago Sunday Tribune and some of his comics, including “The Kin-der-Kids” and “Wee Willie Winkie’s World,” appear in the exhibition. The topic proved to be particularly relevant as Panter, Spiegelman, and Ware discussed how art school, museums, and criticism shaped their careers.

Connecting Collections: Integrating Modern and Contemporary Art into the Classroom

Whitney Museum of American Art — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 13:13:00 -0400

Categories: EducationBlog

During the week of July 11-15, thirty-nine teachers from around the world gathered together to collaborate and learn about integrating art into the classroom. Since 2003, the Whitney has been part of Connecting Collections, a week-long summer institute in collaboration with the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. The goals of this professional development seminar are to deepen teachers’ understanding of contemporary and modern art, introduce object- and inquiry-based teaching strategies, and develop engaging approaches for using works of art in the classroom. The 3rd to 12th grade teachers spent a day at each of the four museums where they participated in guided gallery talks, discussions, and hands-on activities. They also attended seminars in which participants worked together in small groups to create a lesson plan for their classrooms.

Whitney on Site: _Ascension_

Whitney Museum of American Art — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 12:15:00 -0400

Categories: EducationBlog

On July 7, 8, and 9, noted choreographer, Elizabeth Streb transformed a quiet plaza in the Meatpacking District into a fantastic exploration of acrobatics, dance, and performance. The work, titled Ascension, involved nine dancers from the Streb Extreme Action Company, interacting with a twenty-one foot spinning ladder. Ascension was commissioned as part of the ongoing series Whitney on Site: New Commissions Downtown. This series activates the urban space near the future museum site with unique cultural and artistic endeavors. It continues the Whitney Museum’s long tradition of supporting artists and their audiences.

Streb’s piece showcased both the physical and mental strength of the dancers who jumped on and flipped off the ladder in singles, pairs, and groups. Though the audience could feel their exertion, the dancers worked in perfect harmony, gliding past each other in this vertical performance. Notions of up, down, forwards, and backwards quickly became blurred and for a few minutes, New York seemed mesmerized by this precarious dance. A dramatic musical score by composer David Van Tieghem heightened the atmosphere pervading the streets.

Field Trip: The Education Department Visits Governors Island

Whitney Museum of American Art — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 15:56:00 -0400

Categories: EducationBlog

A Friday morning trip to Governor’s Island gave the Whitney’s Education Department a firsthand glimpse into some unique aspects of the New York contemporary art scene. A place seeped in American history, the island passed from Dutch to British to American control, serving as a base for both the army and the coast guard. Now protected as a historic monument, Governors Island nonetheless retains traces of its diverse past and former functions, many of which now serve as the inspiration for artists and arts programs.

The Lower Manhattan Cultural Council (LMCC) is one organization taking advantage of the unconventional setting the island offers. Through its program Swing Space, LMCC has helped to create a thriving community of visual and performing artists just a short ferry ride away from Manhattan. The residency program on the island provides studio, rehearsal, and exhibition space for a period of five months, seeking to encourage experimental and collaborative approaches to artistic practice. Housed in a former munitions warehouse, selected artists can use their residencies in markedly different ways, whether it’s to create original work, or to hone an existing project.

Art is for Everyone: Verbal Description and Touch Tours at the Whitney

Whitney Museum of American Art — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 15:05:00 -0400

Categories: EducationBlog

Each month, the Whitney offers Verbal Description and Touch tours to people who are blind or partially sighted. These tours take place when the Museum is closed to the public, allowing each tour group to move at its own pace through the galleries as they listen to a verbal description of selected works in the exhibition. The tours are provided by trained docents who give in-depth descriptions of selected works. They focus on visual details that are sometimes taken for granted, such as color, scale, and texture.