Teen Voices:
MAD Advisory Counsel emerged pretty organically. After four months of settling into my new responsibilities in my new position as Manager of School, Youth and Family Programs, I had been thinking of the next step in the Artslife program, an internship for teens whose pilot program began last summer 2009. Two teens from the Beacon High School had just dropped off volunteer applications at MAD’s visitor’s service desk. Though, not a customary practice to accept interns in the Museum in this fashion, the timing seemed appropriate. Why not respond now, call and interview these two students; they could certainly give me added insight into what it would be like to have teens interact with staff at the museum.
Both students are exceptionally smart, responsible, and interesting teen-agers. I arranged a meeting between the alumni of Artslife, myself and my two new teenage interns. After introductions and discussing the positives and challenges of the Artslife program in the summer of 2009, we decided upon a regular meeting time, and some initial ideas regarding the role and responsibilities of the Advisory Counsel. Delighted to have the Artslife Alumni back into the fold, I look forward to their continued counsel on matters that have to do with youth audiences for the museum, and their contribution on the interview process during the 2010 Artslife application process at MAD.
February 6th, 2010
clewis
I participated in a walk-thru and critique with the students from Bridget Malloy’s Honors and drawing class at The Beacon School. I was invited to attend the tour, but; since I was there I participated in the dialogue. The exhibition at Beacon was inspired by their recent visit to MAD to see the exhibition Slash: Paper Under the Knife. The Beacon work is ambitious, well executed, sometimes political, sometimes beautiful and very inventive. All of the work, done with paper, looked at the exhibition for inspiration.
February 1, 2010, Andrea Dezsö a featured artist from Slash: Paper Under the Knife conducted a morning seminar with teachers at MAD. Dezsö shared not only the amazing tunnel books that she is known for; but also the smart, witty and beautiful embroidery pieces that she creates, all the while sharing funny anecdotal stories about growing up with Hungarian folklore and myths spun by and about women.
ED: Teaching artist Rachel Miller worked on a collaborative project between Young Audiences New York (YANY) and MAD, where students were introduced to cut-paper art through the exhibition ‘Slash.’ You can come and see the student work in the Seth and Sarah Glickenhaus Education Center on the 6th floor of MAD.
When I saw how well the students could draw, as well as seeing how excited the teachers and students were when they viewed Dezso’s and Coron’s work from Slash, the decision to create a project based around the creation of tunnel books came naturally to me.
That was the title of our Studio Sunday session for January 24th. The Studio Sunday group as usual was a mix of families, couples, group of friends and adventurous individuals who come alone (for those of you who have never joined us for Studio Sunday, you get more entertainment value here than going to the movies on a Sunday afternoon).
On a Sunday in mid-January, over 25 enthusiastic visitors joined me for Studio Sunday. The classroom was overflowing with happy faces from young to old.
Secretary Albright generously discussed her career as Secretary of State, the use of her pins as a means of personal and diplomatic expression, and the current foreign policy challenges facing the United States with 155 high school students in the Museum’s Theatre.
Still enjoying the long relaxing Thanksgiving weekend, 20 or so happy faces joined Studio Sunday to make some wearable pieces made of paper. And wow were these creative bunch of people of all ages!
After an inquiry based discussion in the exhibition Slash: Paper Under the Knife, Museum educator Catherine Rosamond’s intergenerational group made astonishing paper sculptures that were inspired by the work in the exhibition. “GREAT session and everybody left smiling and appreciative. The parents were raving about how much they and the kids learned by making, and how much more they understood the artists’ processes.”
In my new position as Manager of School, Youth and Family Programs at MAD, I was very excited to host a professional development seminar for New York City Teachers on November 3, 2009. Béatrice Coron, one of the artists from Slash: Paper Under the Knife led an interactive discussion and hands-on-workshop for teachers.
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