PANELS & WORKSHOPS ABSTRACTS
Friday, April 9th, 2 p.m.
Panel: Collaborative/Community (FLEX 106)
Multiplicity in Collaboration and Community, Sang-Mi Yoo, Assistant Professor at Texas Tech University
Globalization has seemingly brought the world closer together and has resulted in a heightened sense of the familiar. This feeling of familiarity provides a bridge through which Yoo can access and magnify her perception of a world derived from personal experience. In her work, the fictive nature of a space that is both idealized and conditioned by our society reflects skepticism and multiplicity as she obscures the distinction between the past and the present, stereotypes and the real, and collective and personal memories. By embracing both personal and collaborative presentations, her work explores the possibilities of an idealized environment.
Borderland Youth: A Social Geography Revealed through Participatory Art Practice, Jason Reed, Assistant Professor of Photography at Texas State University-San Marcos
Guided by a conceptual framework of reciprocity, Borderland Youth at Texas State University is working collaboratively with various communities of youth living in the US/Mexico border region to creatively reflect upon the cross-cultural, human experiences existent within this significant social geography. By utilizing participatory art practices we are able to create a public body of work that functions as a tangible mechanism to activate social awareness and provide access to a more realistic, complex, and complete story of the US/Mexico border and its residents. The resulting work is exhibited, published, and ultimately archived at Texas State University.
Eastland Outdoor Art Museum, Cathi Ball, Assistant Professor at Howard Payne University
Cathi Ball has completed work on the Eastland Outdoor Art Museum, a project conceived in her sketchbooks. This unique Museum is an attempt to make art history accessible to all the children of Eastland, Texas. The museum includes 42 works at 40 locations completed over 3 ½ years with 144 local volunteers and students. The project allows the students of Eastland access to world famous art while advertising the artist ‘work. This community wide project has truly “painted the town”.
Panel: Green Art/Environmental (FLEX 108)
We’re green, participatory and public!, Randy Jewart, Director of Austin Green Art, www.austingreenart.org
The mission of Austin Green Art is to help the community to fully understand the revolutionary calling that defines “sustainability” by visually representing it, inspiring people to engage it, and building participatory programs that give people a real feeling of its transformative power. We aspire to train a new generation of artists who serve their communities and to inspire a new generation of creative citizens. A Green Artist is an agent for change, uniquely qualified to merge environmental, social and economic considerations into collaborative projects that raise social network capital and community standards of sustainability.
Curly, Shaggy, Gleaming, Streaming, The Art of Hair: An Intimate Recycling Program, Rosemary Meza-DesPlas, Artist and educator at El Centro College
This presentation examines the history of recycling human hair to create art. The utilization of human hair in art can be traced back to Queen Victoria’s reign in the mid nineteenth century. The presentation examines the multiple ways human hair is used by contemporary artists. Artists ‘go green’ by recycling a personal part of the human body – hair. Cultural perceptions and myths about hair will be discussed in an art historical context.
Red Listed, Catherine Prose, Assistant Professor of Art & Gallery Director at Midwestern State University
Pulitzer Prize winner Edward O. Wilson is quoted as saying that “destroying rainforest for economic gain is like burning a Renaissance painting to cook a meal.” Art certainly does not have the ability to correct global climate change, but it can educate and inform in an evocative rather than didactic manner. There is an abundant history of using nature as a metaphor to reflect and comment on morals, values and humankind. In the same respect, the use of nature as a metaphor emulates an attempt to place ourselves within nature. Today we face an unknown and unseen nature as it is being lost before we discover it and invented before we understand it.
Panel: Art & Community (FLEX 109)
Appreciating Life Through Art, Terry Barrett, Professor of Art Education & Art History at the University of North Texas
This presentation will look at a diverse group of people responding directly to contemporary works of art and how these works affect their lives. Barrett has been working with elderly in assisted-living homes, cancer patients, autistic teen-agers, business men and women, and students of all ages, pre-K through PhD., in the USA and in Holland (visiting artist position). He is concerned with people building meaningful connections between contemporary art and their personal and communal lives.
The Struggle For Meaning Between The Artist And The Audience, A Balance between Artist and Community, Joe Kagle, Professor of Art at Lone Star College-Kingwood
To understand the artist, we start with what makes an artist the creator that he becomes: the Complete Artist Communicator. To accomplish this, the 21st century artist uses all his/her talents and abilities to serve human beings through a team effort that make up for deficiencies in a single individual. Building this ‘creative-effort-team’, we must understand fundamental ingredients: 1) recruiting a team of dedicated individuals who use all their senses to communicate with each other; 2) mix in the dedication and passion of the focused creative effort; and 3) envision an ideate transcending the surface to universal humanity.
Workshop: Relational Art – Part 1 Roundtable (FLEX 111)
Moving Beyond Image and Into Community With: Relational Aesthetics, Georganna Tapley, Artist and Teacher at Art Alliance Center, Brazosport College, Lee College
This workshop has a structure that deals with the individual person as the artist and the teacher. When catastrophic things occur within communities it affects everyone. When hurricanes IKE and Katrina devastated the shores and lives of thousands, it was impossible for me to go into the classroom with the attitude of lessons as normal. The relational and artist parts of me collaborate with the participants to respond to the events in the world around us. I use these events to teach how artists with conscience might respond. The Art becomes the result and or response to these events.
Friday, April 9th, 3:30 p.m.
Panel: Masters Showcase (FLEX 106)
Virtual Humans and Living Worlds – Graduate Programs in Arts and Technology at UT Dallas, Marjorie A. Zielke, Ph.D., Assistant Professor at the University of Texas at Dallas
The University of Texas at Dallas (UT Dallas) offers a unique masters and MFA in Arts and Technology (ATEC). The ATEC program is one of the fastest growing degree plans at UT Dallas. A Ph.D. program is also in the final phases of development. Students study the application of technology in art to produce interactive exhibits, computer games, training and simulations, web programs, animation, 3-D modeling and other technology-based art media. Students can also combine the study of ATEC with Emerging Media and Communications (EMAC) to study the evolution of text and narrative within the context of arts and technology.
A Growing University – The Graduate Art Programs at UT Arlington, Leighton McWilliams, Associate Professor & Assistant Chair of Art and Art History at the University of Texas, Arlington
UT Arlington is a growing University with enrollment approaching 30,000. UT Arlington has a MFA program that offers study in one of four media areas- Visual Communications, Film/ Video, Glass, and Intermedia. Their large department enrolls more than 800 undergraduate majors and boasts extensive facilities. Arlington is situated directly between Dallas and Fort Worth and is convenient to an extensive cultural experience, many world-class museums, and a growing economy.
Preparing Students for Effective Practice and Leadership in Art Education at the University of Texas at Austin, Christopher Adejumo, Associate Professor of Visual Art Studies/Art Education at the University of Texas at Austin
The mission of the art education program at the University of Texas at Austin is to provide excellence in the preparation of art teachers, art museum educators, and community art programmers. The aim of the program is to cultivate top-rated scholarship through institutional and community partnerships and research-based development of art education theory and practice. The art education faculty members are committed to helping students make connections between knowledge acquired in the classroom, student teaching in the public schools, and experiential learning in alternative settings in the community. The introduction of the program at the 2010 TASA conference will entail a detailed description of the degree options in the graduate art education program, which are school focus, art museum education, and community-based art education.
Lecture: Film Presentation (FLEX 108)
The Returning Vet and FILM NOIR: The Problematic, Dr. John A. Calabrese, Professor of Visual Arts at Texas Woman’s University
Dr. Calabrese will present film noir clips and discourse related to the problematic. This means that the films attempt to deal with a problem without overtly stating it. Ostensibly these are thriller/suspense films, murder mysteries. Beneath many plots are issues dealing with the returning vet to a society that is less than eager to have him, a world in which he does not fit. He is oftentimes forced to assume the position of a criminal who has to vindicate himself by overcoming various insurmountable obstacles. Each film presents variations on this theme.
Panel: Collaboration (FLEX 109)
The Arts Triangle ArtsWalk Project – Texas Woman’s University, Gary Washmon, Interim Chair at Texas Woman’s University
A committee of faculty members was formed from the various departments in the School of the Arts (SOA); Dance, Music, Drama and the Visual Arts to create an identity for this new school and to create an event that would encompass all of the arts in the SOA. The concept of the Art Triangle came about through looking at a map of campus and noting that a line drawn around all of the buildings in the SOA created a triangular shape. Following this theme the concept of a connective experience tying these sites together began to emerge as an interactive tour or artswalk, featuring the various arts in non-traditional settings; in and around the buildings on the map, where virtually anything could happen.
Collaborative Projects, Colby Parsons, Associate Professor of Art at Texas Woman’s University
Colby Parsons is a sculptor who has been involved in several collaborative projects. One in Denmark with sculptor Brian Boldon in 2006, one in Dallas with the painter/sculptor Mark Collop from 2007-2008, and one in Denton with electroacoustic composer Greg Dixon from 2008 up to now. These collaborations have incorporated a broad range of media including clay, glass, video, wood, cardboard, found objects, and light; and each one has taken its own direction depending on the particular interests we share, and the “chemistry” of the collaborative relationship. Most of these have involved installation settings with some kind of interactive element inviting the viewer’s participation in the work.
Low-Rider Bikes in Higher Education: A Project by Throw Away Youth, Future Akins, Assistant Professor of Art Education & Visual Studies at Texas Tech University
Inspired by Chicano youth culture that involves “low-rider” bikes and hoping to motivate junior high students to consider art as a stepping stone towards attending college, Future Atkins co-created an art opportunity for low-income youth in Lubbock, Texas. Fourteen and fifteen year-olds enrolled in an art class where they created low-rider bikes with discarded parts and throw-away materials, while Texas Tech University art studio majors in a kinetic sculpture course created “dream bikes” using metals and fabrication work. Both sets of resulting bikes were displayed along with true low-rider bikes from the local community in a sidewalk parade. This presentation will dissect and discuss both student populations’ experiences and performances, community and academic reactions/feedback, fund-raising efforts and obstacles, cultural considerations and reactions based on social class, race and ethnicity.
Workshop: Relational Art – Part 2 (FLEX 111)
Relational Art, Georganna Tapley, Artist and Teacher at Art Alliance Center, Brazosport College, & Lee College
This workshop deals with the person as the artist and the teacher… The Relational Aesthetics workshop will be offered to individuals uniting them in a common theme of research. They will actively participate in all stages of a creation to be completed during the conference. Although this is the second part of a two-part workshop, if you missed part one, you can still participate in part two.
IRON POUR (meet the van at back of Fleck at 3:20 to go view the iron pour)
Casting Iron at TASA 2010: A Charm Bracelet for Texas
Co-facilitated by: Butch Jack, Lamar University, Amy Gerhauser, St. Edward’s University, and Donnie Keen, Keen Foundry
Some of you may have heard about the in-progress project to cast an iron chain with links from all fifty states; the Charm Bracelet for Texas is an extension of that idea. There are a number of academic iron casting programs in art departments in Texas universities and each can cast a link for the national chain; but Texas was previously a nation unto itself and it deserves a comparable project. Since TASA is the statewide organization of those programs, it seems logical that it should be the venue for the project. St. Edwards University, the host institution for the 2010 conference, has offered to be the agent for the production of this “linked”, but separate endeavor. We would like to invite every school in Texas, attending the TASA this April, to bring a mold of a “charm” that represents their school to the 2010 conference to be filled as part of the iron pour. (Note: participants in the iron pour should go to the site immediately after lunch for set-up)
Saturday, April 10th, 9:30 a.m.
Workshop: Weathergrams (ARTS 110) limit first 15 participants
Weathergrams: A Spring Peace Project, Judy Stone-Nunneley, Artist & Educator
Judy will present a hands-on workshop focusing on the creation of simple printed collages with found images, text, and expressive monoprints. Printed on recycled paper sacks, the Weathergrams are records of contemplation, shared observations of the natural world, and messages of hope. The Weathergrams will be installed on campus for the Spring season and will recycle with the season’s weather.
Panel: Collaborative Projects (ARTS 113)
Imagillaboration- A National Sculpture Collaboration Project, the logistical challenges and rewards of working, exchanging and exhibiting these 3-D compositions on a national scale, Jack Gron, Director/Professor of Fine Art, School of Art at Texas A&M, Corpus Christi
From 2007-2009, 106 sculptors representing twenty-six states across the country have joined together to undertake a collaborative art project of unprecedented proportions. Working in regional groups of five to nine people, the artists have created an immense body of collaborative three-dimensional artwork. Each participant was to create a “seed” element, the beginning segment of a sculpture, which was then passed onto other group members who each added their own artistic element to every piece. Once the cycle of exchange was complete, each artist will have contributed to every sculpture, and there is one finished sculpture for each person participating.
A Cast Iron Chain for America, Meredith “Butch” Jack, Professor of Art at Lamar University
Meredith Jack will present his on-going project to cast a cast iron chain with a link cast in all 50 states of the union. This project is an extension of his involvement with the “Iron Trail to the Arctic” in 2008 and the in-state extension of the “Chain” that is the “Charm Bracelet for Texas”, to be cast during the 2010 TASA conference. The academic iron casting community begun by Julius Schmidt in the 1950’s, has grown and prospered. There are university iron foundry programs in most states and many independent artists have set up their own facilities. The “Cast Iron Chain” is an effort to bring all these disparate individuals into communication for the exchange of ideas, techniques, and aesthetic deliberations.
Taking Iron to the Arctic, Donnie Keen, Director of Keen Foundry in Houston, TX
In 2008 Donnie Keen of Keen Foundry in Houston led a group of artists and artisans north of the Arctic Circle to the Village of Wiseman, permanent population 13, to cast a cast iron public sculpture. Wiseman is known outside of the arctic primarily from the PBS documentary “Gateway to the Arctic: the Brooks Range”, which featured the village and its inhabitants. Collaborating with the Alaskan sculptor Patrick Garley, Keen has been instrumental in establishing a thriving artist/iron casting community in the US’s northern-most state. He will present the planning, logistics, and implementation of this ambitious endeavor and the five year reunion pour set for June 2013.
UTSA Collaborative Editions, Kent Rush, Professor of Art at the University of Texas at San Antonio
Since 1983 the University of Texas at San Antonio has informally run UTSA Collaborative Editions (UTSACE). Professors Dennis Olsen and Kent Rush who head the printmaking program at UTSA have worked with the semester long visiting artist/faculty and faculty members to produce a substantial portfolio of wonderful prints primarily in lithography, intaglio and relief. Recently Kent Rush, in an effort to reach out to the community, offered the press to Dr. Ricardo Romo as a format for printing editions for local and regional Chicano/a and Mexican American artists. The two Master Printers are former MFA graduated printmakers, Neal Cox (two years – now teaching at SFAU) and currently, Steven Carter. Since2004 over 20 prints in editions of 30 have been printed and we are working with more artists with an anticipated total of 32 editions.
Panel: Innovations in Foundations (ARTS 120)
Innovations in Foundation Curriculum, Leslie Mutchler, Assistant Professor of Art & Area Head of 2D Foundations at the UT at Austin
Mutchler’s interests in Foundations derive from the Bauhaus Preliminary Course- and consequently bringing relevance to these ideals. Foundations should be comprised of three equally emphasized components: craft (the teaching of technical proficiency), context (relevant vocabulary and history), and conceptual acuity (art and design as a pursuit of knowledge). For the last forty years many art departments have overlooked the critical potential of Foundations. “I thrive on working with young, fresh talent- students that remain open and observant, malleable and motivated” says Mutchler. “I hope to heighten the status of Foundations within the academic world, to bring about the new Bauhaus.”
From 2D to Cross-Disciplinary Space – Revising Beginning Design, Eric Zimmerman, Assistant Professor at St. Edward’s University
How might two-dimensional design courses better respond to contemporary cross-disciplinary space and student needs? St. Edwards University Art department recently undertook a restructuring of its two-dimensional design course with this question in mind. Emphasizing design process, conceptualization, and the relationship between two, three, and four-dimensional thinking, in a laboratory type studio environment, this restructuring embeds learning hand skills and design principals with reading and discussion. The goal is to provide students with the tools to be both articulate and technically accomplished within a world that is increasingly cross-disciplinary.
Drawing Structure: Beginning Drawing and a DIY Textbook, Hollis Hammonds, Area Coordinator & Assistant Professor at St. Edward’s University
Drawing is possibly the most important foundational skill for the beginning artist. It is also one of the most popular subjects in art, with more drawing books on the market today than most other disciplines. Finding the right textbook for your course however is almost impossible. As faculty we find ourselves piecing together resources for our students, trying to balance technique with concept, and often failing at finding source material that is truly appropriate for a specific course. Sometimes you have to take matters into your own hands, and if you can’t find the right book… just make one.
Workshop: Clay (ARTS 116) limit first 20 participants
Colored Slips And The Clay Surface, Stan Irvin, Professor of Art at St. Edward’s University and Connie McCreary, Artist & Educator at St. Edward’s University
There is a long history of potters using colored slips and engobes to decorate the clay surface. Due to their opacity, sensuous texture, potential for color, and possibilities for application at various stages of drying, these types of liquid clays offer artists and potters many decorative options. SEU art faculty, Stan Irvin and Connie McCreary, will demonstrate various surface decoration and forming techniques using primarily colored clays and slips. They will present options for both low and high-fire. Workshop attendees are invited to participate in a hands on experience with slip decoration that can be employed by beginning students and offer some interesting options for more advanced exploration.
Workshop: Technology (ARTS 121) limit first 20 participants
Teaching Software on the Fly or Resources for Teaching Technology or How to teach computer stuff you don’t know or Computer Instruction for Dummies, Peter Tucker, Assistant Professor of Media Arts at SUNY Fredonia & former faculty at St. Edward’s University
This workshop will provide participants with the tools and resources needed to introduce technology into studio classes. It is designed for the educator that does not use technology in his or her own work, and may not be comfortable with technology, but would like to incorporate digital tools in their classroom. I will discuss what technology is important, what is absolutely necessary, and what you can teach with no budget. The heart of the workshop explores teaching resources, tutorials and on-line opportunities for both teacher and student to learn and explore digital technologies. Workshop attendees will be given access to a website created specifically for the workshop that has links to resources, ideas for assignments, and on-line tutorials.
Saturday, April 10th, 11 a.m.
Panel: Art & Activism (ARTS 113)
Human Rights Art & Community Education, Jenny Bryson Clark, Political Science Professor at South Texas College and Richard Lubben, Visual Arts Faculty at South Texas College
We are entering our 5th year at South Texas College hosting an annual human rights art exhibition in conjunctions with the Human Trafficking Conference sponsored by the Women’s Studies Committee. Jennifer Clark from the STC Political Science Department and Women’s Studies President would present an overview of the Sex Trafficking Conference and how they collaborate with artists to educate the community and bring awareness of this global and regional problem. Richard Lubben from the STC Art Department and Exhibit Curator will show selected images from previous shows and discuss how artists have used their art to communicate a personal experience, open a dialogue or encourage self-reflection about the issue.
“Cash Paid for Rags” A “sketchbook” performance, Carol Flueckiger, Associate Professor Art at Texas Tech University
This “sketchbook performance” is inspired by the nineteenth-century practice of recycling rags for paper. Many early American broadsides, children’s books, almanacs, and newspapers printed the phrase “Cash Paid for Rags” to solicit old cloth for use in paper-making. My project revisits the rag trade by taking discarded or second-hand shirts and blueprinting them with phrases and images from nineteenth-century material culture, creating wearable hybrids of the early American women’s movement and contemporary “artifacts” from my local thrift store. Research and ideas for this project were gathered at the American Antiquarian Society in Worcester, MA, and the TTU Women’s Studies Program.
Deportes Para Compartir and the Albergues Escolares Indigenas (Sports For Sharing and the Indigenous Shelter Schools of Mexico), Roger Colombik and Jerolyn Bahm Colombik, Colombik Studios in Wimberly TX
Working in Collaboration with the Mexican Association of the United Nations and Deportes Para Compartir, we are developing a documentary project that will raise awareness about the cultural heritage of indigenous children that are educated and cared for in shelter schools. The shelters are located throughout the country and often provide the only means of insuring that children living in very remote communities can receive three meals a day as well as a fine general education. Deportes Para Compartir uses group sport activities to promote the United Nations millennial goals that include issues of gender equality and child health.
Panel: Collaboration (ARTS 114)
Art, Aesthetics, Education and Activism dealing with the Border Wall, David Freeman, Visual Arts Faculty at South Texas College
Photography has been a tool for social and political change for many years and it can exude tremendous educational authority. What better time than now for artists to utilize art as a tool of enlightenment and education on the specific issue of the border fence and all the challenges it produces. The border fence strikes at the very essence of our culture and democracy. I ask my class how we can investigate the relationships of image, community, concept, and the cognitive process. In this political climate how do we produce a didactic principle and call authority into question and do it via digital photography.
Can border wall artwork change minds, influence policy and alter popular culture?, Tom Matthews, Assistant Chair and Visual Arts Faculty at South Texas College
The border wall controversy affects every citizen of the United States and Mexico in one way or another whether directly or indirectly. Teaching eight miles from the border in McAllen, Texas has heightened Matthews’ awareness of the effects the wall is having on our two countries and how these changes will impact our lives for years to come. He uses the classroom as an incubator to discuss the pros and cons of the wall and what artists can do to bring awareness to the situation. “Can border wall artwork change minds, influence policy and alter popular culture?” asks Matthews. “Yes, I believe it can.”
The Border Wall and Community Based Art Education, Bret Lefler, Ph.D, Assistant Professor/Art Ed. Adviser/Art Coordinator at the University of Texas at Brownsville and Texas Southmost College
This presentation focuses on how art education majors at the University of Texas at Brownsville have addressed the needs of the community by developing an exhibition using the border wall as a theme. It also includes specific research and curriculum to heighten awareness for the need of community based art and arts education within secondary and upper division students.
What Role Can Art Play? – Border Wall, Scott Nicol, Visual Art Faculty at South Texas College
The art of the modern and postmodern eras sought to establish its autonomy, “art for art’s sake,” leaving behind the societal functions of the past. In our time, art is not supposed to do something, it is merely supposed to be. This has led to the segregation of fine art, relegating it to the rarified world of galleries and museums, as distinct from daily life and the “real world.” This poses a dilemma for artists who seek to engage social or political issues, such as the walls that are being erected along the U.S. – Mexico border. More than 600 miles of border wall have been built, tearing through cities, farms, and wildlife refuges. In the face of something that inflicts itself so powerfully and destructively upon the “real world,” what role can art play?
Workshop: Art & Community (ARTS 120)
Fundred: Engaging in a 300 Million Dollar Difference , Mel Chin, Artist & Keynote Speaker
This workshop will engage Texas artists and educators in a fun and simple art project with a powerful solution based mission. You will leave prepared to mobilize your community! The Fundred Dollar Bill Project reaches out to students of all ages to create Fundred Dollar Bills in hopes of gathering 300 million creative voices from across the country in the form of drawings. The original artworks will be delivered to congress with a request that they are exchanged for their equivalent in goods and service to transform the lead contaminated soils in New Orleans and ultimately every lead affected city.
Workshop: Digital Tools and Design (ARTS 121) limit first 20 participants
Reality Community: Fostering a Sense of Involvement in the Classroom and Beyond, Jana C. Perez, Assistant Professor, Graphic Design, Texas Woman’s University, Department of Visual Arts
Many students today believe that they possess a sense of community through social and screen media such as Twitter, Facebook, blogs and texting – often engaging in several of these simultaneously. Design students in particular, as learners and future practitioners of visual communication, must be able to function in both virtual and real communities. Are students really interacting in a communal way via technology or simply settling for a less active, internal dialogue? This presentation will outline the results of key objectives and projects incorporated into graphic design coursework that utilize both personal relationships and technology to create and contribute to the idea of community in and outside of the classroom.
Blog, Design, Technology, Daniel Lievens, Graphic Designer and faculty member at St. Edward’s University
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