Introducing the Studio for Education as Art

A pedagogical initiative for arts professionals.

Dear Readers,

I am pleased to share the news of the launch of the Studio for Education as Art and our first course as part of this project.

Around 2008 (the period during the onset of the global recession), there was a resurgence of art education projects such as artist-run schools. A similar phenomenon has emerged in recent months: however, the resurgence of pedagogical projects that we are witnessing today is different, no longer interested in the validation from academia and it has a much more entrepreneurial model that, in my view, align closer to the artist-run spaces of the 1970s. They range from small ventures created by individual artists to larger ventures. Explicitly or not, they seek to revise and critique the traditional art school corporate model.

Partially because I have been inspired by these initiatives and want to be in conversation with this new turn of events, but also because it befits my own trajectory and  interests, over the last few months I have both studied to what is on offer and what, in my view, is still currently needed. From my observations, I have concluded that there are four important areas that would be worth emphasizing in a new art/education project. These include, first, fully exploring the meaning of what is education as art, (for which at a moment I proposed the term “Transpedagogy”); secondly, how there is a need to provide continuing education opportunities to trained professionals in the field of studio art, education, and curatorial studies who wish to expand and/or rethink their practice; third, the foregrounding of practice over theory, and —last but not least— the need to also expand and redefine the concept of “workshop”. This new pedagogical initiative attempts to address these four needs.

The Studio for Education as Art is a socially engaged art project the form of an educational organization with three primary areas of focus:  TSEA will offer classes, workshops, seminars on education as art for artists, curators and educators; it will develop exhibitions and public programs in collaboration with institutions or by commission and conduct research and development  for arts organizations; and third, TSEA  will promote art making, research, and critical thinking/ learning as part of an integrated process.    

We are soft-launching with this initial offering, particularly geared toward individuals who have an education practice or expertise and are interested in finding new ways to incorporate it into their artistic practice. We will be also offering courses for studio/performance/socially engaged artists and practicing curators. The course is limited to 25 participants.

I am including the  description registration  link in case you or someone you know may be interested in this new initiative.

Happy weekend!

Workshop as part of the project Theater of the Misunderstood. Tenthaus, Oslo, Norway, 2018

Course link:

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-educator-as-artist-and-the-artist-as-educator-integrated-practice-tickets-853745805687?aff=oddtdtcreator

Course 1:

The Educator as Artist and the Artist as Educator: Integrated Practice

This 3-session online course offers an introduction to the relationship between pedagogy and contemporary art practice and their potential for cross-pollination, with a focus on how you can draw from your education experience to build an artistic language.   Key areas will include gaining a general understanding of what it means to education as art as opposed to art education, employing pedagogical strategies to produce art works designed to exist in  both conventional and non-conventional exhibition formats, understanding the history of experimental art pedagogy and a workshop to develop project ideas and use your education practice to develop art projects.

The online course is structured as follows:

First session (Tuesday, March 12^th, 6-8pm): Historical precedents of education as art/ Transpedagogy

Second session (Thursday, March 14^th, 6-8pm): Case studies/readings. artistic process as a pedagogical methodology.

Third session (Tuesday, March 19^th, 6-8pm): presentation and discussion of individual projects.

A number of readings will be assigned to further explore the topics discussed in this class.

[UPDATE: the class is now sold out, but there is a second section available, to take place in April. Click on the link below for more information:

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-educator-as-artist-and-the-artist-as-educator-integrated-practice-s2-tickets-856355360937?aff=oddtdtcreator