Alternative Knowledge Access

Working together to create an atmosphere for free expression and self knowledge.

Tyler Art students Elisa Mosley and Amy Borch, students in Professor Pepon Osario‘s Community Arts class, initiated a “community intervention” on the front lawn of Tyler School of Art during the Annual Student Show.  Made of reclaimed and salvaged material, the space was designed to, according to Mosley and Borch, “allow students, faculty, and community at large members to lead discussions and teach-ins on various topics.”  They noted that “Lately there have been many student organizations that have emerged from the Occupy Movement, but we don’t feel protests are enough to fully realize the potential people have when they come together to change things; especially education.”

During its time at Tyler, the temporary space hosted, among other things,

• Buddhist Meditation with Professor Vishma Kunu
• Schooled, a discussion about alternative art schools vs. traditional art schools, hosted by grad student Suzanne Seesman and Professor Philip Glahn
• Potluck Student Organizing and Activism Workshop with students from Rutgers University
• Break Dance and Hoop Jam hosted by the B-Boys
• Jam Night with John Mann
• Self-Defense class with Amanda Nardone
• a Rust and Compost Printing Workshop with Sienna Martz
• free painting sessions held by Elisa and Amy

It also served as an impromptu discussion space and hangout.  As the students noted, “If more places like this existed more people would feel accepted, more children would be able to nurture soul expanding curiosities and more people would be making art! “

There’s been quite a bit of buzz about this project.  You can read more at

• The Official AKA Tumbler Page
• The Philadelphia Inquirer
• Philly.com video by Charles Fox
• The Temple News

Congratulations on a great project, and on garnering the great press for Tyler!

Annual Student Show Closing Reception & Mixer

Join us Thursday, September 29 from 6 – 9 pm for the Annual Student Show Closing Reception and Student Mixer.  Students from PAFA, UArts and Moore College of Art have been invited to come and see all the wonderful work Tyler students have done!  We’ll have a large spread of food for your enjoyment, jazz music, and other goodies!

Please join us THIS Friday night, for the opening of BANG!

BANG is a group invitational exhibition showcasing the work of the Tyler School of Art’s 2012 MFA candidates.
This group exhibition will also act as a preview for the upcoming thesis exhibitions, this Spring, at Tyler School of Art’s Temple Gallery.

Where:
Power Plant Productions, Basement
230 North Second Street
Philadelphia
(Entrance in back, on N. Bread St)
Gallery Hours: Open Daily 12pm-6pm

BANG Show Dates:
Wednesday, February 29 – Thursday, March 8, 2012

Opening Reception – Friday, March 2, 6pm-9pm
Closing Reception – Thursday, March 8, 6pm-9pm

www.TYLERMFA.com

We hope to see you there!
Sincerely,
The Tyler School of Art’s 2012 MFA candidates

Temple Art Education Faculty and Students Participate in an International Colloquium

On September 30, 2011, an international virtual exchange, Contemporary Issues in Art Education: Practice and Theory Colloquium, occurred between Graduate students at Tyler School of Art, Philadelphia, USA and Doctoral students at ELTE University, Budapest, Hungary. Four presenters from each University presented their research study. Prior to the virtual seminar, students exchanged their powerpoint presentations, abstracts and references. At the time of presentations, Skype was used to broadcast the seminar internationally. The colloquium was facilitated by Dr. Lisa Kay and Dr. Andrea Karpati. More information can be found at www.tylerarteducation.blogspot.com.

Dr. Lisa Kay is an Assistant Professor in  Art/Art Education/Visual Studies at Temple University/Tyler School of Art and a Fulbright Scholar to Hungary, 2011-2012.  Dr. Andrea Karpati is a Professor at the Centre for Science Communication/UNESCO Chair for Multimedia in Education, ELTE and Fulbright Scholar to the USA, 2009-2010.  Photo above is of Dr. Lisa Kay and the Temple University, Tyler School of Art MEd Graduate Student Presenters: Jasmeen Rekhi (Teaching Multiculturalism through Photoshop Layers: An Intersection of Technology and Art Education), Lindsay Sparagana (Collaborative Learning in an Arts-based Community/University Partnership), Kelly Steinlage (Is silence golden? Talking about Controversial Topics with Early Adolescents in the Art Room) and Courtney Todd (Characteristics of a Rich Art Program for children with Autism in a Museum Setting).

Daniel Roman, MFA Candidate in Painting, In Frieze Magazine

Bernardo da Bicci, 'Let This be a Space of Light, Beauty and Truth’
installation view (2011) (From Frieze Magazine)

Daniel Roman is an MFA candidate at Tyler in painting.  His alter ego, Bernardo da Bicci, had a solo show in Rome this past summer, which was recently reviewed by Mike Watson in Frieze Magazine, a prestigious international art journal.  You can read the full review here, but here’s a taste:

Da Bicci presents an interesting constellation between art, politics and mysticism, a feat which can only be all-consuming for the artist himself. Indeed, one cannot be sure quite where the artist – who was born in Chicago to Mexican immigrant parents – is heading, such are the diverse ranges of references within his work and his enigmatic nature. Yet the boldness of the installation at extraspazio heralds the emergence of a talent for whom the resolution of various disparate elements may contribute a social significance which goes far beyond the evident personal psychical development of the artist.

Erica Prince at The Delaware Center for the Contemporary Arts

Erica Prince, an MFA Candidate in Painting, is participating in a major juried show of MFA Candidates at various regional institutions which explores the role of art education while asking the question: What does it mean to have an MFA?  You can see the Exhibit at the Delaware Center for the Contemporary Arts in Wilmington, Delaware from this Friday, October 7 through February 5, 2012.  Admission to the center is free.

From the official description of the exhibit: In contrast to an exhibition that seeks to find the next Art Star, Masters of the Visual Universe explores the constellation of artistic mediums, concepts, and practices rotating around 2011. Drawing upon themes of mastery in art, Masters of the Visual Universe probes the notion of art education, aesthetics and display. Conventionally, Masters of Fine Arts programs train graduate students to gain control of a particular medium such as painting or sculpture, and monumental thesis exhibitions like biennials strive to showcase the “best” examples of art under a particular theme. Such traditions in art have long been critiqued through a postmodern lens, yet these practices still persist in the art world and academia. Masters of the Visual Universe questions whether educational mastery in and of art is still a fact or a science fiction relic in the eyes of many young artists today. The exhibition also queries if an MFA Biennial can adequately reflect an awareness of all of the art being made in MFA programs in this geographic region. The viewer is asked to form his or her own opinion of educational traditions and museological practice today. Masters of the Visual Universe explores how recent graduate students and MFA candidates approach aesthetic traditions in ways that go beyond the creation of precious objects to mine the gallery of ideas as a free and galactic space.

Mollie, a curatorial intern at the DCCA, interviewed Erica about her work, and posted it on the DCCA blog.  Here’s an excerpt from the blog:

Q: tell me a little bit about the ideas behind your work and what you hope to convey to your audience. How would you describe your art to someone who had never seen it?

EP:A lot of the ideas behind my work are focused around the idea of the utopian society. I think it’s important for art to be able to explore utopian ideals because that’s the only place they can exist. The primary piece that I am showing, Permission Granted, has 35 images in a grid installation. It contains imagery of architecture, landscape, invention, monument, celestial bodies, alchemical devices, etc. …..

Q: How has the MFA influenced your development as an artist and as a person?

EP:I’m still in the midst of it so it’s hard to have a completely clear perspective. It’s given me the opportunity to focus on my work without having a billion distractions. It has allowed me to figure out what I’m truly interested in, and I’ve started pursuing these things more intensely. I’ve developed a lot of respect for different types of work that I was never interested in before. When I came to Tyler I thought I knew what I liked and what I didn’t like, what was good and what was bad. But now, I am more curious about the wiggly line between “good” and “bad”. I’ve discovered that what I like and don’t like might be a little less concrete than I thought.

Exhibit Celebrates Temple’s Program in Rome

Temple University’s Office of University Communications made a great video about Tyler’s Festa di Roma exhibition/celebration last week.  You can read more about it and see the video here: Exhibit celebrates Temple’s program in Rome.

Temple Gallery Exhibition Identity Selected for National Publication

Print Magazine has selected the Surface Deposit Exhibition Identity as a winner in their 2011 Regional Design Annual! This identity program was created to support last year’s Surface Deposit exhibit at Temple Gallery by Lead Pencil Studio’s Annie Han and Daniel Mihalyo. The identity program was created by Tyler’s Publications and Design Director, Kelli Cavanaugh (Tyler BFA ’94) along with her student assistant Nina Reck (Tyler MFA ’11) working with former Temple Gallery Acting Director Shayna McConville.

Print Magazine is one of the most respected magazines about graphic communication and visual culture in America, and an authoritative inspiration for designers everywhere. The Regional Design Annual is one of the most comprehensive survey of graphic design in the United States—and one of the biggest magazine issues to hit the graphic design industry every year. It’s the only design competition organized by region of the country, from New York City to San Diego, Miami to Seattle.

Tyler Student Included in National Juried Exhibition For Emerging Artists With Disabilities

First year graduate student Rea Walsh, who is hard of hearing, has been included in the annual juried show presented by VSA, the international organization on arts and disability, and Volkswagen Group of America, Inc.  Rea earned her BFA in Metal and Jewelry Design at R.I.T, School for American Crafts.  She is currently working towards her MFA in Jewelry/Metals/CAD-CAM at Tyler.

This year’s theme was Momentum, which asks emerging artists to examine the vital creative spark behind their work.  This exhibition features the work of 15 emerging artists with disabilities.  Rea’s sculpture, The Wall, (pictured above, 20.5″ x 7″ x 21″) was created in 2009 of steel, spray paint, water and smoke.

Besides Rea, this year’s honored artists include Dimelza Broche (Florida), Holiday Campanella (Pennsylvania), Will Copps (District of Columbia), Angela Godoy (Maryland), Brian Kellett (Ohio), Krista Kuskye (Indiana), Emily Gail Lyles (South Carolina), Artur Matveichenkov (Puerto Rico), Emily McPeek (California), Caitlin Miller (District of Columbia), Xi Nan (Maryland), Sonya Seitz (Pennsylvania), Jansen Smith (Florida), and Beth Zarden-Benson (Wisconsin).

VSA, the international organization on arts and disability, was founded more than 35 years ago by Ambassador Jean Kennedy Smith to provide  arts and education opportunities for people with disabilities and increase  access to the arts for all. With 52 international affiliates and a network  of nationwide affiliates, VSA is changing perceptions about people with  disabilities around the world. Each year, 7 million people of all ages and  abilities participate in VSA programs, which cover all artistic genres. VSA is an affiliate of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

Momentum is the 9th exhibition in this series presented by VSA and Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. The partnership supports young artists at a critical time when many are deciding whether to pursue the arts as a career. The award validates and supports that life-defining choice. Presented in coordination with the Kennedy Center and the Smithsonian’s Office of Accessibility.

Commencement 2011!

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322 people graduated from Tyler this month (including those who finished in December, 2010 and those who will finish in August 2011).  The commencement ceremony, which was held in the beautiful Temple Performing Arts Center, was held on Thursday, May 12.  As you can see, lots of family and friends were there to cheer on our awesome graduates!  Good luck and best wishes to all the (former!) students–we know you’ll do great things as you embark on this next chapter of your life!

And take a look at our awesome faculty in their regalia!  Thanks for helping to make this day special for all the graduates!