Director's Statement - Calarts

CAP’s
TEACHING
ARTISTS
FORUM
And so are the headlines,
their capital letters (and capital angst)
screaming from newspapers,
blogs, radio casts and TV.
KAREN ATKINSON In lieu of being depressed as hell, I trudge
on as a faculty member, mentor and workshop leader to help artists find
their particular voice. I am not sure that the headlines will ever be more
cheerful, because we are living with a really stupid government, and people
don’t work with each other any more. There is a sense of entitlement in the
new generation, fighting for what is theirs, or what they can get. Actually I
am not sure that it is much different than previous generations, but that is
what the statistics are telling us. So, as a post 50 year-old that is employed
as an educator, what is my role?
Ah, I put my curmudgeon attitude aside, keep my wacky laugh at my side, and
try to find out what artists want. I am more interested in what my students
want rather than trying to educate them on what they should think. That
does not mean that I don’t give my opinions, but I am careful to make sure
they know where my ideas come from, and to take them with a shaker of salt.
The whole shaker, not just a grain or two.
I have always operated with a sense of optimism. I know that artists and
art are not going to change the world with one swoop, but I have seen a lot
of audiences and viewers change a lot from an experience of an artwork. I
know that artists can have a voice if they don’t let that voice be squashed by
the art world at large. I also remind artists that there are many art worlds,
and they get to make a choice of just which ones they want to operate in.
It seems important to share the consequences of their choices, based on
experience and knowledge of many years.
I love the diversity of artists these days. Not everyone is making the same
work at the same time, and artists are making choices of how to disseminate
that work. They are going in smarter at times. I find just as many artists
making work for the market as ever however, but this is the nature of capital.
A lot of artists are still after fame and fortune, but I am finding many more
artists who have different agendas and that is refreshing.
In the early 90’s, there were very few artist-run spaces in Los Angeles. I
started Side Street Projects because there were a lot of artists who were
not being shown, and who needed a place to engage with each other and try
new ideas . Now, there are at least 20 more organizations, not necessarily
nonprofits, which are taking their ideas and making them into reality. They
are trying new strategies which support a growing number of artists, and
working with others to create something much more dynamic. This means
that those artists who are not just market driven are taking things into their
own hands and really making things that matter. The diversity is what is
important here, and I think CAP has helped create those opportunities.
I like that artists are starting their own businesses based on their experiences
and perspective. Using their creativity in all aspects of their lives, and using
what they learn from the creative process to take on new challenges both
within and outside the art making process. I call a lot of things art. Starting
a nonprofit organization was the largest installation of my life. Starting
a business is just as consuming, and you make about as much money as
a nonprofit. Even though many of my peers question these activities as
art, I don’t separate my creative endeavors (teaching, curating, writing,
programming software for artists) into separate lives. I would go nuts. (Well,
maybe that is a done deal.) I think the more exhibition and art spaces run
by artists the better.
Oil Prices
Creep Slightly
Higher!
Abbas Hopes for
Peace Before
Bush Term Ends!
Bush Signs
the Border
Security Act!
What is our place as artists –and specifically as teaching artists- in the context of these headlines? Is it our responsibility
as “cultural superheroes” to move, solve, discuss, question, react, investigate, or educate? Should we re-write our
mission in these paradoxical times of abandoned utopias, record prices for the art market and the omnipresent
monochrome monolog of corporations and mainstream media? With these and other questions I approached this group of
inspired artists, all fundamentally aware of the political and social context in which they operate as teachers and artists.
Here are KAREN ATKINSON, NANCY BUCHANAN, and VIRGINIA GRISE’s thoughts on the questions posed.
I think it is smart for corporations to realize that artists have something to
offer. Now that the MFA has been touted as the new MBA, it is interesting to
see how creativity is going to become the new revolution, i.e. the post industrial
revolution. There is currently a lot of writing being done about these ideas.
I think it is imperative that the arts have been put back into the school system
(with a mandate in California by 2009). We lost so much when the arts and
things like woodshop disappeared from our education. Companies began
hiring 70% of their employees from overseas because while we were teaching
our students how to use technology, we were not teaching them how to be
creative with those tools. Artists are still the tool users.
The more artists begin to participate in all aspects of a community, such as
running for office, running businesses, creating workshops, making work,
engaging in politics and education, the better off a community will be.
Artists have been silent for a long time. They have operated in a small
context called the art world. They have shown work in spaces where a small
percentage of like-minded people visit. Work outside these spaces is often
dismissed, even by smart, educated folks who are decision makers in the arts.
Is it because of fear?
I am not sure that I am a hero to anyone, and I am not sure that this is my job.
But I am good at working with artists on their own terms, and this I believe is
important. Even if I don’t agree with their perspective, it is important for me
to challenge them to find their own voices. This is what I feel I can do in the
context of these headlines.
NANCY BUCHANAN Kurt Vonnegut once wrote an essay in
defense of the National Endowment for the Arts' fellowship program,
characterizing the artist as "the canary in the coal mine," who warns of
toxic social conditions. While we see plenty of art these days, in the US, it is
more likely to play into the celebrity game than to criticize our society.
One of the most difficult concepts to accept seems to be the reality that
we are all very small—not super heroes at all, but members of the larger
community. And it is within communities that we can best contribute
to change. Those movements of past decades, such as the Civil Rights
movement and the Black Panther Party, elevated and honored the group;
unfortunately, powerful leaders within those groups were murdered and
the energy dissipated. But the lesson remains of "each one, teach one,"
passing along knowledge.
Sometimes I wonder if it is the profound isolation of the narcissistic individual
that fuels such incredible selfishness—when recognizing that one can play
a part in change could bring wholeness. I wish the efforts of art groups to
keep their members anonymous could have been more successful; perhaps
there will be more attempts to work collectively in the future.
The internet offers us new opportunities for forming community,
collaborating, and doing much more creative things than tooting our own
little horns. Let's link up!
I've been encouraged by the wit and energy displayed by many CalArts
students, and the altruism expressed by the high school students I've met
through CAP. In many of the new alternative spaces created by the current
generation of artists, there's a marvelous spirit of generosity and hope.
Mel Brooks
Back on Broadway With
'Frankenstein'!
Rise Expected
in Homeless
US War
Veterans!
Iraq Death
Toll reaches
130 000!
US Abortion
Debate
Intensifies!
Should We
Welcome
Undocumented
Immigrants?
edited by EVELYN SERRANO
Assistant Director of Programs, Newsletter
Director and CalArts School of Art Alumna
VIRGINIA GRISE I believe it is our role as
citizens, as critical thinking human beings and as artists
to "move, solve, discuss, question, react, investigate, and
educate" the world around us. I have always believed this,
despite who is in office, though I feel a greater sense of
urgency in these times, when voices are being silenced
without protest, when civil liberties are being handed
over, and a climate of fear and terror "of the other" are
being perpetuated and sanctioned through institutional
doctrine and law.
One of the cultural centers I work at in East LA received
threatening phone calls days before they threw a huge
Family Day event. "We are going to call the INS on you."
Just months before, a school down the street received
bomb threats and violent phone calls. "That school is
going to smell like burnt tortillas and beans. I hope you
all burn." The hate in these threatening phone calls is
rooted in a legacy of violence and cultural genocide in
the United States. The threat - a community that is truly
self-determined and autonomous, a community that is
culturally grounded and strong.
As a Chicana, my work is rooted in the work of liberation
and my writing was born out of necessity. I am writing and
creating despite the headlines. I am writing and creating
against the headlines. I am writing and creating for the
people whose stories never make the headlines.
I believe in the revolutionary potential of an art that
is created from communities that have been traditionally
silenced, in an art that is transformative, that teaches
us something about who we are and the world around
us. I believe in an art that is deeply rooted in experience/
lived reality.
My art is my spiritual practice. My art is my political practice.
It is my life practice. I do not believe that art is separate
from life so I work daily at being open, vulnerable and
honest, listening, working to actively support my community
the best I can. This type of art requires one to be fully
present, to walk into the room with one’s fullest self, and
it demands that we enact our fullest potential.
As a teaching artist, in the classroom, I am armed with an
understanding that our word has power, that there is an
inherent power in the claiming/reclaiming/telling of our
stories/histories that have been actively erased. When
I teach, I am teaching against forgetting. Words and
memories, poetry and history do not stop the bombs or the
bomb threats but in the act of creation, we are challenging
ourselves to imagine another world and in that imagining,
we open doors to possibilities and new hopes and dreams.
I believe in a radical hope for a better tomorrow, that we
actively create today.
KAREN ATKINSON is a media, installation
and public artist, independent curator,
collaborator, and has published and guest
edited a number of publications. She has
exhibited and curated internationally
including South Africa, Australia, Europe,
Mexico, Canada, and throughout the USA,
and exhibited in the Fifth Havana Biennial in
Cuba. She was a co-founding director of Side
Street Projects in 1991, a non-profit artistrun
organization in Los Angeles, which is still
up and thriving today. She has been a faculty
member at CalArts since 1988 and taught in
the CAP program from 1991-1996. She is
the board president of NAAO, the National
Association of Artists' Organizations. She
has served on the board of directors of
LACPS, Side Street Projects, Installation
and serves on many advisory boards of arts
organizations. Atkinson currently teaches
classes and workshops titled "Getting Your
Sh*t Together" and has created software for
visual artists of the same title. Her company
GYST Ink, is an artist run company for artists.
www.gyst-ink.com
NANCY BUCHANAN received an MFA from
UC Irvine, where her studies with Robert
Irwin inspired her to think of artwork in its
social context. She has participated in many
artist groups, including F Space Gallery,
Double XX, a feminist collective, and the
Artists Formerly Known as Women. Her
work is in various media, including video and
installation, and she has curated exhibitions
when she felt important ideas were not being
seen. She is a member of the faculty of the
CalArts School of Film/Video and leads the
CAP/Bell High School Video Program.
VIRGINIA GRISE is a Chicana cultural
worker, installation artist, writer and
teacher who has facilitated organizing efforts
amongst women, immigrants, incarcerated,
working class, Chicano, and queer youth.
She is an MFA student in the Writing for
Performance program at the California
Institute of Arts, under the mentorship
of Carl Hancock Rux. Virginia currently
teaches theatre and writing classes to high
school and junior high school students in the
Eastside of Los Angeles through the CalArts
Community Arts Partnership (CAP).
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1 Work by Jon Gomez,
CAP instructor and
CalArts School of
Film/Video alumnus
{ }
2 sandy and siouxsie
by Shizu Saldamando,
CAP instructor and
CalArts School
of Art MFA alumna
3 Airborne Toxic Event
CAP Channel now on YouTube!
Now everyone will be able to view videos by CAP students
on CAP’s new YouTube channel. The channel will serve as a
virtual “video gallery” where students and the rest of the
world can see the work made by participants at all of CAP’s
sites. Check out CAP’s channel at http://www.youtube.com/
CalArtsCAP
Airborne Toxic Event releases first album
and is spotlighted in Los Angeles Times
Noah Harmon, CAP instructor and CalArts School of Music
alumnus, released his first record with his band Airborne
Toxic Event on December 15 and will be aired on local radio
stations throughout Los Angeles. Recently, Airborne Toxic
Event was named one of three “bands to watch” in L.A.
by the Los Angeles Times. Noah teaches music classes
in CAP music programs at Art-in-the-Park and Plaza de
la Raza. Check them out at http://www.myspace.com/
theairbornetoxicevent
Jon Gomez exhibits at Green Sea Gallery
CAP instructor, former CAP youth participant, and CalArts
School of Film/Video alumnus Jon Gomez celebrated the
opening of his solo show at Green Sea Gallery in Montecito,
near Santa Barbara, on Friday December 14, 2007. Most of
the work consisted of powerful drawings in various media.
The show is up through January 18, 2008. Jon is a graduate
of the Character Animation program at CalArts.
CAP Students win Barbara Schreter
Scholarship from Inner-City Arts
Wednesday Torres and Alan Ruiz were awarded the Barbara
Schreter Award at Inner-City Arts’ Gala event on November
3, 2007. Wednesday and Alan are both participants in
the CAP Animation Program on Saturdays at ICA. Each
participant received a check for $1,500 for tuition, supplies
and books. Now in its second year, the award supports
graduating seniors in their pursuit of higher education and
honors the memory of former Inner-City Arts board member
Barbara Schreter.
Shizu Saldamando featured in Giant Robot
Shizu is one of the artists featured in Giant Robot
Magazine’s latest issue celebrating its 50th issue. The issue
includes an interview with Shizu, entitled “Loca Motion” by
Giant Robot’s co-founder, Martin Wong. Shizu is a graduate
of CalArts’ School of Art MFA program and was a CAP
instructor in Self-Help Graphics & Art Digital Media and
Printmaking class. This feature comes after a slew of group
shows included her work across Los Angeles and a solo
show this past summer at Tropico de Nopal.
CAP Youth Participant, Gabriel Torres,
shines on the big screen
If you went to the movie theater last fall, you might have
seen a very familiar face filling the movie screen. It is the
face of CAP participant Gabriel Torres acting alongside
Ben Stiller in “Heartbreak Kid.” Gabriel is putting his acting
skills learned from CAP’s Theater Program at Plaza de la
Raza to use on the big screen, and already has performed
in four films, including “Walkout”. At only fourteen years of
age, and a high school freshman, Gabriel is also a member of
the Screen Actors Guild and has his own agent. So keep your
eyes open for this rising young actor!
If you are a CAP youth participant, a former CAP youth participant,
CAP student instructor, CAP alumni instructor, or CAP faculty member,
please send your news to cap@calarts.edu for the CAP Activating section.
Joan Dooley receives
Teacher of the Year Award
Joan Dooley is the winner of the 2007 Patron Saint of
Photography Award, awarded by Center, a non-profit
organization dedicated to recognizing outstanding teaching
in photography. This annual award recognizes and rewards
a high school, college or post-graduate level educator for
their dedication and passion in the teaching of photography.
Ms. Dooley has taught photography at Bell High School
Humanitas Academy for eleven years and is an outstanding
partner in CAP’s video class at Bell High School led by School
of Film/Video faculty Nancy Buchanan. As this year’s firstprize
winner, Joan was also awarded a cash prize. We are so
proud of Joan for receiving this award and all the wonderful
work she does with so much care for all her students.
“The Three Little Pigs vs. Godzilla”
takes Japan by storm
Finally, Godzilla has met his ultimate match. The Three
Little Pigs show no mercy to this feared monster in a short
animated film entitled “The Three Little Pigs vs. Godzilla”
by Sony Pictures Media Arts Program/CAP animation
students and guided by CAP instructors Jenny Walsh and
Steven Brown at William Reagh Los Angeles Photography
Center. On October 6-8, 2007, “The Three Little Pigs vs.
Godzilla” was screened at the Kids for Kids Animation Film
Festival at Otemae University in Kyoto, Japan. The film is
also a candidate in the festival’s Animation Contest, in their
category for 13-15 year olds.
“May Not Be Suitable For All Audiences”
On October 13 and 20, 2007, many CAP instructors, faculty
and former participants organized, performed and exhibited
their work in “May Not Be Suitable For All Audiences.”
The multi-disciplinary group show took place at the Market
Gallery in the Garment District of downtown Los Angeles
and included performances by Douglas Kearney, Vicky Grise,
Luis Lopez and included photographs by David Jovel. CAP
instructor and CalArts School of Art student C. Francisco
Martinez was one of the organizers.
Romina de los Santos is honored
with Graduate Enrichment Fellowship
at Top Dance Program
Former CAP youth participant Romina de los Santos was
recently accepted to Ohio State University’s MFA Dance
Program this fall with a prestigious Graduate Enrichment
Fellowship. OSU’s Dance Program is currently the top ranking
dance program in the nation.
CAP Youth Participants elected
best musician and best artist of the year
at Hart High School
CAP youth participant Alessandra Barrett just received
Hart High School's Best Musician Award. Alessandra has
participated in the CAP/Santa Clarita Valley Arts Partnership
Photography program. Another CAP youth participant,
Chelsea Kowitz received the Best Artist Award, also at
Hart High School. Chelsea is a participant in the CAP photo
program. Their proud smiling faces can be found in Hart High
School’s “Best of” section of their yearbook.
Damian Berdakin, New Assistant Conductor
of the Santa Clarita Valley Youth Orchestra
Damian Berdakin, CAP instructor and CalArts School of Music
student, has been hired as the new Assistant Conductor
of the Santa Clarita Valley Youth Orchestra. Damian has
been working at SCVYO since 2006 when he began teaching
lower strings (cello and bass) to high school students as
a CAP instructor. This past summer, he was invited to
teach at their summer music program where he was able
to put his skills to work by conducting two pieces in the
orchestra’s summer concert. Now, Damian will be conducting
and assisting SCVYO conductor Paul Sherman. He will
also continue teaching in CAP’s Saturday Music Program.
Congratulations, Damian!
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