Winter 2013 Classes!

That’s right! We are up and running for the new year. We had our first session of the Winter term on Saturday. There are so many lovely projects already in the works, and we are only just getting started. The Program has 4 classes running, including Art Explorers (4-6), Drawing Studio (7-8), Art + Storytelling: Puppets (9-11), and Creativity Labs: Design Studio. Here is a look at our first day.

Yeah, Saturday… It was awesome! As always, stay tuned for kid art and PNCA Youth Program goodness over the next 8-weeks. Click the jump for more images of our first day! —>

Drawing a Foundation

Drawing is foundational to a fine arts education in our program, and our instructors excel in practicing and teaching drawing as a means of apprehending and representing scenes from observation as well as from imagination. Hayley Barker, Anna Fidler, Harriet Fishman, Nathan Goldstein, Jef Gunn, Kurt Hollomon, Lynn Kitagawa, Paul Missal and Jerry Sumpter make up what sure is one of the finest group of artists and teachers of drawing and painting in the country. Their convictions and expertise have affirmed drawing as a critical perceptual and procedural skill, especially in the age of digital reproduction of art, and informed the launch of our Endorsement program in Drawing earlier this year.

During our ongoing discussions about the place and value of drawing in our program, Nathan Goldstein declared emphatically: “Every work of art is, in a way, an essay. We simply cannot say everything about a subject. What we choose to include and exclude tells the viewer how we understand our world. And how we draw tells the viewer how well we see and understand our world. Rudolf Arnheim, the great psychologist, was correct when he pointed out that ‘an inability to draw is to some extent an inability to see.’ Our ability as teachers of Art should be based on our ability to teach the student how to see, and a large part of seeing has to do with drawing.”

I know our teachers are doing just that. Our participants’ responses and evaluations are overwhelmingly positive. When recently visiting one of our drawing classrooms, a class participant discretely shared with me: “This class was transformative for me. I have studied art for many years, but the instruction here was different than anything I had experienced elsewhere.”

And just to be sure that I am not simply referring to the important skill of naturalistic representation, but to individual perception and creative expression, I quote again Nathan Goldstein: “Drawing also plays a vital role in abstract, and even non-objective imagery. It is no accident that two of the twentieth century’s most gifted artists, Matisse and Picasso, drew so well. They were well trained in drawing and it shows. A knowledge of drawing informs and influences the judgments in even the most abstract works. A well-trained artist can visit an exhibition of abstract and non-objective art and point out those artists who can draw and those who cannot. The works by artists who understand drawing are invariably better.”

When you are considering your personal and artistic growth, accord drawing its appropriate place and remember that you find an outstanding and committed group of artists and educators at PNCA to enrich and deepen your creative path and practice.

References:
Arnheim, Rudolf. Art and Visual Perception: A Psychology of the Creative Eye. 50th ed. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2004. (ISBN 0520243838)
Goldstein, Nathan. The Art of Responsive Drawing. 6th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Prentice Hall, 2006. (ISBN 0131945610)
—. Figure Drawing: The Structure, Anatomy, and Expressive Design of Human Form. 7th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2010. (ISBN 0136031919)

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Creativity Labs: Design Studio (12-14)

Amy Steel is teaching Creativity Labs: Design Studio for the second time. Amy spent some time talking about the class and what to expect in this iteration.

Can you talk about how you conceived this class and what your students accomplish.
This class was based on a college class I taught a few years ago.  Last year the students did a lot of really fun projects including designing skate decks.  I think the most rewarding project was where we partnered with the humane society and students designed posters for animals that needed homes.

What tools will you be using in the class? 
We used hand techniques like drawing, painting, cutting, and pasting.  We also used the computer lab.  The students learned basic photoshop techniques to create wall paper and poster designs. 

Why do you like working with this age group?
This age group knows that they are interested in art and they sign up for this class because its something they are passionate and enthusiastic about.  Someone in the class last year had met the artist Shepard Fairy which was one of the artists we were learning about in class and was able to to share that story with the class.   Its really exciting when students connect what they are learning to their personal lives.  Its exciting to discuss notions of design with youth.   From billboards to candy wrappers design is something that teens encounter everyday its and I enjoy having thoughtful discussions with teens about how they might look at everyday objects more critically or from an artistic point of view.   

What are some of your favorite projects from past offerings of the class?
The students made Adopt an Animal posters from the Oregon Humane Society website for animals that needed a home.   This was based on Shepard Fairy’s adopt a dog series.   We actually partnered with the humane society to do this.  I think it was rewarding for the students to engage a meaningful project that was for a social cause.  We also designed skateboard decks which was a fun hands on project for the students.  

Creativity Labs: Design Studio (12-14) starts January 26. To learn more about this class and our entire Winter Schedule visit Ce-Reggie.