Friday, May 30, 2014
January 23rd What is "Art"?
- Students defined “art” and worked collaboratively to rank works based on their definition.
January 24th What is public art? And what is the Encounters Project?
- Students were introduced to public art and learned that this is a large and all encompassing genre. They saw public art sites from communities all over Pittsburgh like sports statues, mosaics, murals, and community projects like Knit the Bridge.
January 30th Berlin war memorials classroom activity
- Students were introduced to war monuments and discussed the voices that are present in the World War II memorials. Focusing on Berlin, students identified different ways that artists could make the past present. The activity asked each student to mimic a Berlin artist by creating a plaque and placing it within their community.
January 31st Site visit to Carnegie and Tip
- Students visited Tip and Carnegie and analyzed the two works together using their five senses. They identified similarities and differences between the works and saw how two artists used the same material to make two very different statements.
February 6th Site visit to Stephen Foster Memorial and Library
- Students studied the Stephen Foster Memorial and visited the library dedicated to his work. The activity for this lesson asked students to make a positive alteration to the statue and discuss how this might affects the statement and reception of the work.
February 7th Humans of New York classroom activity
- Students looked at the Abraham Lincoln: War Veteran Projection to identify and critically examine artistic choices. Then students were given photographs and stories from the Humans of New York Project and asked to pick their favorite person.
February 13th Site visit to Light Up
- Students visited Light Up, located on Pitt’s Campus, and discussed how public art fills empty spaces within the urban landscape. In the activity for this lesson, students were required to take on the role of artist, journalist, and community viewer. They created a public work for an empty space in their community and then speculated about the reception of the work.
February 14th Site visit to the Carnegie International
- Students visited the Carnegie International and were free to examine works that interested them. Here they could see how artists make statements in a gallery space, and the multiplicity of materials and mediums that are used by contemporary artists today. Students were encouraged to write about the works they liked the most and the least during the visit, and cite why they did or did not like something.
February 20th Site visit to the University Art Gallery
- Students identified some methods of display (like projectors, pedestals, and speakers) typically used in the University Art Gallery. They were introduced to the space where their works would ultimately be displayed, and completed an activity arranging works from the Carnegie International in the University Art Gallery.
February 21st Brainstorming the project’s big idea
- Students began brainstorming social issues they care about and reflecting on the voices and narratives from the previous lessons. They were also encouraged to think about the materials that they wanted to work with for their final projects.
February 27th and 28th The project’s big idea
- Most students handed in a detailed sketch of their project and completed artist interviews to talk about their work. We also ordered materials and prepared to start the production phase of the project.