Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
one of the great things about this class is
its complete departure from the hypothetical.
Students are not designing projects as if
they're going to do something for the community
instead they're designing projects for the community.
There are many advantages to this, to the student,
teacher and the community itself.
The teacher for example doesn't have to be all things to all students.
If a student designs a project revolving around art conservation
a subject with which a teacher
doesn't necessarily have direct experience
they can go out and actually assist
in the conservation process as part of a group or internship.
This means they can surround themselves with experts and be able to have a
more holistic learning experience.
For the student the advantage is clear.
They get to not only have we have real
world experiences with the projects they design
but have to encounter all of the difficult
obstacles that they would when they do this outside the classroom environment.
You simply cannot teach the challenges that these huge projects present.
The student is then armed with
first hand knowledge and experience.
There actually is a community that desires these projects.
We've worked for the Center for Service Learning
who brought in the necessary contacts and opportunities
that we needed to implement the end result.
Besides that, the community then directly benefits from the end project
even well after the student leaves the class.
Students actually get to leave their mark
on the community.
Bus Shelters were chosen for this service learning project because of their
direct integration with community life.
People will see the painted shelters whenever they are in them
as well as passing them on foot, on bike by bus or car.
Bright colors and blocky, recognizable shapes were used to accentuate the fact that this
is art in motion,
art meant to enhance a commuter's trip
rather than just for art's own sake.
It was also a recognized that the natural shape of the shelters was conducive to different themes.
One of the shelters was designed as a homey living room complete with window and pet.
Another along a busy thoroughfare
was designed as more of an art billboard.
Still others were meant to represent the natural beauty of the surrounding area through
paintings of scenic vistas, wildlife
and local recreational opportunities.
It's very rare for a college or university to have a chair collection.
Although ours was quite large and covered many
influential designers and manufacturers, it had been banished to the
dungeons below the art department and we wanted to show it to the community.
These are some of the works that I worked with.
I felt that it'd be good to have some visual for the specific paintings and drawings that I worked with.
And so this work is from 1968 and shows a lot of evidence of residue
and dirt which has built up over time.
The matches are taped on with scotch tape
and in doing so it has discolored the matches.
And if you can see right here there are
there's separate pieces of paper
which are taped together and from the chemicals which are in the paper has discolor the art itself.
So what I ended up really doing is just
making a guide for the FA student at this school because
it takes so much work to be able to put a show together
and they, i don't think that, there's really nothing
out there to say, you know, you have to do this and this and this.
My project was to create some posters,
and poster ideas for a couple of coming Western Gallery shows
one centered around surface tension.