Repurposing Education

The discussion of education has made us ask the question 

"How do you introduce sustainability to children?"

We ask ourselves this as we begin to develop one of our education programs for the CCAC. This program will introduce sustainability to 6-8 year olds over the summer. The goal of the program will be to continue our mission of combining art practices (in this case kinetics) with sustainable design (recycled materials).

The program will first introduce wind powered technologies... and will follow up with a hands on workshop where children will create moving pinwheels made entirely out of recycled/repurposed materials.

This idea of using recycled materials in creative ways, both as art and as an education tool, is not a new idea. One particular project, that has some similarities, will be introduced to the city of Cincinnati on April 8th on Fountain Square. The group Cincinnati Energy Alliance presents EcoSculpt, in celebration of earth day.  Groups and individuals are asked to create sculptures that are made entirely out of recycled and/or recyclable materials. The project will continue thru April 28th.

Last years 2nd place was awarded to
Christopher Daniel and Sandra Gross with
"Vitro House," a card house made of reclaimed glass windows.













Thanks,

 parProjects 

The Electric Hotel

It's containers. It's dancing. It's voyeurism. It's performance
...and much much more.



It is the Electric Hotel! And after our latest meeting today with Pones Inc., it seems appropriate to mention the artist group.  With performance currently being developed into the "Movement!" programming, we are extremely optimistic about what the body in motion can teach us about how to relate to physical movement. We are excited about education possibilities in the future.

Relevant links include:
http://www.ponesinc.com/
http://www.shunt.co.uk

Thanks,

 parProjects 

Growth

And then there was four...

Today, parProjects sat down at the CCAC with several key entities that will be involved in "Movement," the future Kinetic exhibition scheduled to open in mid June. The program will include exciting educational programming that will be introduced in conjunction with the exhibit. Sustainability was emphasized as a key theme to the education out reach in the meeting. There were several elements discussed...  and we would like to share an initial outline of what is in the works.

• Ages 6-8 - Sustainability Workshop - Art (working with recycled materials)

• Ages 14-18 - Docentitos (Learning to Teach) A program that would be modeled after the    Weston Art Gallery, Docentitos (of the same name).  High School student will give tours of the exhibit and learn about artists, artworks, and sustainability.

• Ages 18-UP - "Kinetics and Sustainable Design" - Project Outline (previous blog entry) Learn to build PV Solar Panels

• All Ages - Examples of sustainable design  (Use of Solar and alternative uses of energy through participation, interactive artworks in the exhibition)

• All Ages - Solar powered Kinetic Sculpture (Lasting Imprint of the Project... An example for the Community, Public Artwork Project)

Please don't hesitate to contact us if your interested in participating or volunteering in our educational programming. Contact us at parProjects1@gmail.com.

Thank you,

 parProjects 

ARC

Artist Reaching Classrooms is the Taft museum's stellar example of making real impact in young adults lives. This gem of a program goes the extra step to deliver young artist to adulthood with experience.

The High School focused program is divided into several components: 

Participating schools meet with local professional artists. These artists share their experiences and artwork in the form of presentations and studio visits. Many artists know and remember the value of being in the studio and seeing the art making process first hand. 

The program seeks to engage students in thinking and discussing the visiting artist's methods & techniques. The dialogue is an examination of the relationship among artist, art, and society.

The museum is opened up to the students as a resource for artists to draw-inspiration. In this process students are invited to create art that draws from the experience of visiting artist, the taft museums collection, and beyond. This experience all comes together in a widely celebrated professional exhibition held at the Pendleton Art Center in Over the Rhine. 

Educational Model

Hamiltonian immediately comes to mind as an inspirational model of educational programming. This nonprofit space founded by Paul So resides in the U Street corridor of Washington DC. The focus of the space is to develop and advance the careers of emerging artists ...all of which is anchored by its prominent exhibition space. Featured Hamiltonian programming includes: Artist Fellowships, Professional Development, Panel Discussions and Speaker Series. 

Artist Fellowships:

The two year fellowships allow for focused development of emerging artists. Hamiltonian fellows are expected to participate fully in the fellowship program, which provides a schedule of exhibitions as well as opportunities to participate in gallery operations and other activities to further their careers and knowledge of the business of art management. 


Our artist in residence program has similar goals in growth for artists' work ...as well as sharing the form of an exhibition with overlapping educational projects.

Professional Development: example, Taxes for Artists:

Hamiltonian features an annual workshop that focusses around the subject of tax structuring for artist. We support this type of pragmatic programming, leading to more educated artist able to survive in the industry as well.

Panel Discussions and Speaker Series:

At Hamiltonian, the discussions involve a diverse group of professionals. Past speakers include gallery owners, established artist and art professionals in the field. In Hamiltonian's speaker series artist fellows are also asked to share their thoughts on their work and development. 


Our project shares a similar mission within the artist residence program; however, in contrast, we ask artist to participate in teaching projects and team building to share their knowledge with the community. This is done in weekend tutorials, artist talks and demonstrations.

Thank you,

 parProjects 

A little more education...

Around this time last week, we presented a basic outline of our proposed educational programming that will happen in conjunction with the kinetics show ...based at the Clifton Cultural Arts Center. It all revolves around the creation and use of solar PV panels (to power a kinetic sculpture). But if you missed that post, you can find it here.

A few developments have come together since -- related & unrelated to this particular program -- so we thought to share them with you tonight.

For starters, it's been suggested, by a few, that we use ready made kits for the project, but upon further investigation, we've found it's much more affordable (and seemingly more explorative) to use a much more bare-bones approach. Still, for those in the know, we won't be approaching the project at the extreme bare bones level ...starting with single sheets of copper.

For our panels, we've decided to use broken solar panels, which can be found for as little as $5 - $10 for a bag weighing a few pounds (direct from certain manufacturers). To note: with simple welding/wiring, our research has found that these panels still function at a high level. This approach not only emphasizes basic ideas of recycling, but it also gives more possibilities as far as creativity is concerned. Ideas of mosaics come to mind. Plus, it's one of our educational goals to provide inexpensive options ...in materials, etc.

--
Aside from the educational program, our curiosities have been raised about the his/her "facilities" of our structure ...and whether or not we'll have a "green" approach to this concern. For that, we've decided to present you with an inspirational presentation delivered by Green School co-founder, John Hardy (at a recent TED Talk). It's a little long, but we implore you to give it a chance. Its a beautiful idea/concept for a school ...something worth copying for sure!



...And if you missed what we're mentioning, it was introduced around the 4:40 mark ...and it involves composting. We hope you enjoyed this video as much as we did. The Green School's holistic approach to  education is undeniably inspirational.

Cheers!
 parProjects 

pROJECT oUTLINE

parProjects would like introduce you to our educational outreach programing. In addition to our commitment to the arts... we are also aware of the importance of community and collaboration. We plan to introduce the following educational project along side of the Kinetic Exhibition planned for the summer. 

"Kinetics and Sustainable Design"

Description

+ Learn about the advantages of solar powered technology 
+ Work in teams to build functioning solar PV panels.

Create and Participate

Work together to power a permanently displayed kinetic artwork, powered by solar PV panels built by you.

Outreach project 

 Partnering with: 
Clifton Cultural Art Center 
& surrounding businesses and organizations

parStudents will:

• Learn about solar energy and receive  hands on experience with harnessing the suns energy
• Create and parTicipate in a public sculpture that will use custom made solar PV panels to create "movement."
• Awesome...

Selected Artist & Artwork: TBA

Location: TBA

 parProjects 

Prefab Environmental Education Pavilion

The PGA PRAIRIE HOPPER by Anderson Anderson Achitecture  is designed to be mobile. It can be folded up and transported just like an ordinary shipping container. Therefor, with this mobility feature, it can be placed anywhere and everywhere it is needed...

"The structure is intended to be fun, functional and educational and is constructed of re-used components, high-recycled content steel, recycled content shade cloth and modular, xeriscaped planting trays.  Protected within a limestone-composite thermal and evaporative-resistant mass, native prairie grasses, cactus and several hundred additional species thrive without regular irrigation. The project was deployed 55 days from napkin-sketch, through detailed design, fabrication, assembly, and delivery. Remote team collaboration was facilitated by a central BIM database and various social networking applications.  All professional services were pro-bono in the interest of advancing environmental education and construction prefabrication technologies. The shade screens variably articulate to provide optimized shading whatever the pavilion orientation, then fold flat for transport. Ganged, evacuated-tube solar thermal collectors provide potable, sanitary hot water. The pavilion is self-powered by building-scale wind turbines and high-efficiency photovoltaics."  

-Courtesy of Anderson Anderson Architecture

This project, again, demonstrates how a great idea and some fearlessness towards innovation can transform shipping containers into great spaces for education. Because they are design with such internationally stringent specifications, shipping containers make great building blocks. Upon purchase, you know exactly what you will get as far as size, shape and load/weight capacity. And because the containers are designed for transport, they make great tools for educational outreach.

Bringing education and creative experiences to people in their own communities is a great way to collaborate and further fuel conversation about various topics.


Fly Away,
 parProjects 


("Ka-kaa!")

Educational Aspects

A substantial part of our mission as parProjects is to offer educational components as they relate to the arts ...within the realm of specific projects and events. The glass blowing demonstrations and open studios that worked in conjunction with our glass exhibition, The State of Matter, are examples of this.

Within our proposed center though, we'll have the ability to offer more focused training and learning opportunities geared towards educating adults both young and old ...who practice arts professionally and/or can simply gain value from creative problem solving in their day to day work/life.

Below is an outline of how we plan to approach our educational services (taught by paid staff, community volunteers and/or visiting artists).

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parProjects Education
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To date, our overall structure is as follows:

 + Each calendar year will be divided into 8-week scheduling blocks.
 + Each calendar year will host 5 blocks of scheduling

 + Classes will run either two, four, or six weeks ...meeting once a week.
 + All classes will take place weekday nights ...or during the weekend.

Our 4 and 6 week classes will fall within one of the following categories:

 + Creative Development and Skills Training for professionals

 + Practical Design Fundamentals and Planning

 + Multimedia: Merging Traditional Materials and Digital Technologies

 + Creative Solutions in Sustainability

Within these four categories, we'll be able to offer classes such as:

 - Creative Instruction Techniques for Art Educators

 - Practical Web Development and Planning

 - When Digital Media Collides With The Canvas

 - Creating Solar and Wind Energy at Home

 - Urban Gardening and Planning

Our 2 week (tutorial) classes will address:

 + Practical Development for Professional Artists

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Within this structure, we're confident we can put our years of University-level teaching experience to good use for the community.

We've found a lot of creative resources are geared towards educating our youth ...which is great. But we feel that our adults (oftentimes the parents of these same children) don't have as many valuable resources available to them. We'd like to help fill this void.

Thanks again,
 parProjects