From the Executive Director
I spend ample time thinking about the future. To do that well, one needs a deep understanding of the present moment. What is happening right now? Who is shaping our moment? What are our shared experiences? In the first weeks of 2022, responding to those questions with any assurances is impossible. I toggle between the macro and the micro, spend a lot of time listening, and hope in the end to build in enough flexibility for a pivot or refresh when the occasion arrives.
The same is true of our production teams in the field. And, same too, for those teachers we learn from and support. Sometimes being reactive is the best thing you can do. It’s key in the art of the on-camera interview and true too of any classroom lesson, especially when it comes to art and its lessons in critical thinking.
Behind the scenes, exciting things are happening. Cameras are abuzz and the transcripts are rolling in! Our next session of the Art21 Educators Summer Institute in NYC has been announced and applications are now live. Stay tuned for next week’s message about our newest film releases in 2022. We got you.
Tina Kukielski
Susan Sollins Executive Director and Chief Curator
February 16, 2022
Deepen your connection to Art21
Mark Bradford listens to the quieter voice
IMAGE: Mark Bradford in his southern California studio. Production still from the “Art in the Twenty-First Century” Season 4 episode “Paradox.” © Art21, Inc. 2007.
Using a combination of signage from the city streets, twine, and glue, Mark Bradford produces wall-sized paintings and installations that are a reflection of “the conditions that are going on at that particular moment at that particular location.”
“My art practice is very detail, labor intensive and I think that that’s a way of slowing myself down so that I can hear myself think,” says the artist in our “Paradox” episode. “That quieter voice has sometimes the more interesting idea, if I can get to it.”
Event: Art as Exchange/Exchange as Art
Join us on March 22nd at 7:30 PM E.T. for an Art21 Virtual Teacher Workshop
How can students explore contemporary art practices by engaging in collaborative exchanges? Inspired by the participatory strategies of a diverse array of contemporary artists, hear how two alumni of Art21 Educators use exchange in their classrooms.
Presenters will model a variety of flexible, exchange-based art curriculum that are engaging, empowering, fun, and help build creative communities of practice in classrooms.
The program is free and will take place via Zoom.
Playlist: Essence of a History
IMAGE: Jack Whitten in his Queens studio. Production still from the Extended Play film, “An Artist’s Life.” © Art21, Inc. 2018.
Shaping a new narrative of the Black experience, the artists in this playlist monumentalize everyday heroes and icons alike—embracing Black histories, while not being defined by them.
Push abstraction into new territories with Jack Whitten, channel Miles Davis with Stan Douglas, and illustrate the multiplicity of Black male experience with Jordan Casteel in our Essence of a History playlist.
Art21 Educators: Application Open
Art21 Educators is an intensive, year-long professional development initiative and learning community. The program is designed to support K–12 educators in any subject area who are interested in bringing contemporary art, artists, and themes into classroom teaching and learning.
The application deadline for the 2022–2023 year of Art21 Educators is March 31, 2022 at 11:59 p.m. ET.
