FATE 2011 • St. Louis

Excavating Kindness, Caring and Cooperation

In Contemporary Art Theory Dr. Lori Kent • Moderator

lorikent@gmail.com

Jane Hesser Rhode Island School of Design

jhesser01@risd.edu Rick Salafia

Kutztown University of Pennsylvania

salafia@kutztownedu

Laura Ruby University of Hawai’i lruby@hawaii.edu

NOTE:thetwovideosmaybeavailableonYouTubeunder9tleofindividualpresenta9on

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?What can be taught through art?�

…Foundations-level skill-building activities benefit from content that is meaningful to the student, right?

CarrieMaeWeemsfromtheKitchenTableSeries

RobertMapplethorpeSelfPortrait(1978)

Gerhardt Richter From the Baader-Meinhoff Series

?Should morality/ethics be left in the hands of “experts”?�

? How can art/design address very complex problems?�

? Can artists/designers save the world?�

Dr. Lori Kent • Asst. Prof. of Visual Studies • is an artist/researcher • And working on models for digital-based embedded education within the advertising industry

!

Christine Borland English Family China (1978)

..”explores life, death and how social systems and institutions exploit and devalue life.”

Mierile Laderman-Ukeles As Artist-in-Residence at the NYC Department of Sanitation .

Mel Chin Safe House (2008)

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William Kentridge Drawing for Stereoscope (1998-99)

.

What else?

Excavation...

Rousseau and Freud: Past informs present?

TELEVISION... I turned off the television

Smart radio and web... Turned on

Giveback,volunteers

…participate in TEDx culture

…look for models.

SchoolinSeaEle

…find daily inspiration.

…participate.

Coomon,KIva

…a book or two.

…re-shape curricula to emphasize Social Justice.

Focus on CARE

Jane Hesser • Rhode Island School of Design

Jane Hesser

RISD, Photography (RISD) and Clinical Social Work (Simmons) , teaches of 2D and “Psychology of the arts.

Jane Hesser is an artist, psychotherapist and teacher with ten years of experience teaching art and design at the college level. She has taught at Brown University, Montserrat College of Art and The Rhode Island School of Design. Jane combines her interests in psychology, art and education in her writing and presentations. She also teaches a popular psychology course during the summers at RISD, in which students earn liberal arts credit while a major portion of the coursework is studio based. Her current focus of study is the relationship between empathy and the teaching and learning of critical thinking skills, especially as this relates to the process of critique. Her clinical focus is on group work and women's mental health.�

Jane Hesser: A Supremely Kind Moment

Ivolunteerforanon‐profitcalledGirlsRock!inwhichgirlsbetweentheagesof11and18,whohaveliEleornomusicalexperience,learnhowtoplayaninstrumentoftheirchoice,formabandandplayaconcertoverthecourseofoneweek.Themajorgoalsaretofosterempowerment,cri9calthinkingskillsrelatedtosocialinfluenceandthemediaandtohelpgirlsbuildselfesteem.LastsummerIcoachedabandoffivegirls.Thedrummerwasveryquietand9mid,thebassistwasau9s9candstruggledwithsocialskills,thesingerwasafraidtospeakintothemicrophoneforthefirstthreedays.Oneguitaristwasquietandshyandtheotherwasconfident,outgoingandexpressive.Aninteres9ngmix.Allweeklongthetwelveyearoldguitaristwasinfinitelypa9ent,kind,generousofspiritandhelpedherband‐matescomeoutoftheirshellsandworktogether.Shecoachedthememo9onallyandleadthroughexample.Shewroteagreatsongandcarriedmorethanhershareofthetheworkload.Whenitwas9meforthebigshow,witheveryonetheyknewandapackedhallofstrangerscheeringthemon,the11yearoldsingerdevelopedparalyzingstagefright.Thebandcommuned,literallyputtheirarmsaroundherasshecriedandfiguredoutawaytogoon.Theguitaristwouldsingandplaythesongatthesame9me.Withsomehelp,thesingergatheredupenoughcouragetositnearthestageandwatch.Attheveryendofthesong,withonechorusleVtogo,theguitarist,whohadbeenquietallweeklong,lookedatthesinger,siWngbelowthestageandsmiled.Thesingerranonstage,theguitaristwhohadbeensingingquicklysteppedaside,andthesingerfinishedthesong.Thecrowdwentwild.Therewasnotadryeyeintheplace,andeveryoneinvolvedwaschangedforeverbyfiveliElegirls.

Jane Hesser (via pre-recorded video)�The Role of Empathy in the Teaching of Critical Thinking Skills in Foundation-Level Art Education �

Focus on COOPERATION

Rick Salafia • Kutztown University of Pennsylvania

Rick Salafia Associate Professor of Foundations, Kutztown UniversitySculptor,

RutgersMFA,Fatheroftwoteenagers…kindtome.

A kind moment: wheniwasaseniorinhighschoolitookmyfirstartclass.the

firstdaywewentoutsidetodrawalargetreeinfrontoftheschool.wheniwasdonemyteacherlookedatitforamomentinsilence,thenlookedatmeandsaid"wherehaveyoubeenforfouryears?"yearslaterifoundthedrawingandrealizedhowincrediblykindandgeneroushehadbeentome.

Rick Salafia�The Self Selection Bias: Fostering the Collaborative Instinct (see link below)�

hEp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXCeshATP0E

Focus on KINDNESS

Laura Ruby• Department of Art University of Hawai’i

Laura Ruby

is the 2008 recipient of the Hawaiÿi Individual Artist Fellowship (the highest honor in the visual arts). Her prints and sculptures have been shown in national and international solo, juried and invitational exhibitions. Some of her artworks are: her "Nancy Drew Series," about the art of art-making and the art of detection; her ongoing "Diamond Head Series" which currently has over 60 prints, drawings and site-specific installation sculptures, and is about land and power in Hawaiÿi–about the exploitation of land, and its resources and people and their livelihoods; her “Image and Word” series; and her upcoming “I’m Always Thinking of Chaucer” series May 1 about the conjunction of The Canterbury Tales, jazz and art-making. She also has large commissioned site-specific sculptures, among them Chinatown–Site of Passage. She has taught art at the University of Hawaii since 1977, and she recently edited the book, Mo‘ili‘ili–The Life of a Community, and is currently working on a book entitled Honolulu Town.

a kinder gentler art theory and critical practice:

the circle model

http://www.dailygood.org/

http://www.donorschoose.org/

http://www.randomactsofkindness.org/

http://www.payitforwardmovement.org/

http://www.volunteermatch.org/

http://www.ehow.com/how_4881033_donate-books-prisons.html

http://www.child.net/volunteer.htm

Resource list and copies of this presentation:

www.slideshare.com •  loriakent (after Sunday)

Photos: Lori Kent, Central Park Conservancy Tulips, 1998-2006