Rock Paper Scissors-Youth Fashion class

So I don't remember what this post is supposed to be about but i am going to reflect upon my last few months here...
So RPS is a member based & volunteer run collective-we have a gallery, store, host classes and participate in collaborations within the community. We also participate in Oakland's ArtMurmur-if you have never been it is a must see-its every first friday of the month.

About two weeks ago I started teaching a fashion class geared for high school aged-youth, but we have gotten interest from all ages-whci is really cool so we are started to extend our programming. So class was good but only two students showed up for the first class-but the week after there were 13! kids in our space with only 4 working sewing machines!!!
Everyone was really enthusiastic to learn how to use a sewing machine and actually make something-And being in that atmosphere reminded me how much I LOVE TEACHING! esp. teenagers:) seems funny but I have a cool bunch.

I think the most difficult part of this class was that I had to do the outreach which I have done before but having no contacts and free day-time hours to go to schools was tough. But I'm starting a nifty spreadsheet with all these people I have met and trying to orgainize who RPS knows and who to contact for what help.

Thats all for now-I plan on taking pix next week with my new digi point&shoot! so virtual tour y'all!

Washington High School

This is my second semester assisting art teacher Todd Elkin at Washington High School in Fremont. The above image is of a poster in progress that a group of students were developing to enter into a contest against drug abuse. I worked with this group of students to brainstorm ideas, enlarge the sketch, and complete it. Unfortunately, the poster fell on the floor from the wall, and the janitor mistook it for trash! Before that happened, however, they did win the contest and received a cotton candy party.

My role in the classroom has been primarily to work more one-on-one with students to develop their ideas when or if they get stuck, and to problem solve with them if they have questions about the assignment, art techniques, or use of specific materials. I also help keep students on task by asking them to tell me about their artwork in general, and then specific questions in regards to their piece. Continually, I am impressed by Washington High School student’s ability to communicate their ideas and thoughts in their work, which is exemplary of Todd’s excellent pedagogy.

I hope everyone has a great rest of the weekend!
Take Care,
–Manon

Rising Tide Conference

The Rising Tide Conference will be dealing with topics related to "art and ecological ethics."
It will be taking place at CCA and Stanford over three days in April (17-19). There will be panels of speakers on such themes as Green Capitalism, Eco-Aesthetics, Environmental Futures and Material Sustainability to name a few. The speakers have been invited from a broad range of disciplines. Artists, designers, developers, theorists, architects, and community organisers will come together for a public discussion. In concert with the panels, there will be ecologically inspired art exhibitions and film screenings on both campuses.
My role with the conference is to act as Community Liaison. In this position I have been in direct contact with all of the scheduled panelists to arrange their biographical information and images which are posted on the conference website. I have also been responsible for general administration such as public registration for the conference and the arrangement of facilities at CCA. I will also be a moderator for one of the panels which will be a great challenge in public speaking. Additionally, I have taken on the project of coordinating two very interesting catering productions on the first day of the conference. This will include a lunch provided by Susanne Cockrell's "Food" class and a dinner performance by OPENrestaurant (a collective from Chez Panisse), both inciting questions and discussion around locavore ethics and offering information on local food systems and small-scale urban agriculture.
I am really excited to meet this massive group of participants and to extend my work experience in the area of interdisciplinary event production. Check out our site at risingtideconference.org
Good luck everyone,
Lauren Marsden

The Factory at BAVC

The Factory has some amazingly talented young filmmakers that come from East Bay middle and high schools. It has been surprising to me to see such great emerging talent from socially consciuous young individuals.
Here I have been assisting some students with basic software needs, and some production assistant work for shoots that the students that have done.

On a typical office day I perform resarch on film schools around the nation and create info packets on each school. This has been very helpful to me as well because I can see the wide variety of Masters programs that are available. I'm happy that I attend an art school such as CCA, but as Media Arts major I can't help but wonder what kind of trajectory my career would have if I would have chosen to attend a film school situated more within the industry. Questions such as this help me in organizing the information for the students that allows them to make the decision for themselves what kind of film education they would like to receive.

Aside from that, I have been doing some basic administrative work on a day to day basis. At times I step in during critiques of some of the films being made by the youth and give constructive input. Once again I can not stress enough on the understandng these kids have of the power of the moving image.


Oscar

Hey, what's up everybody. This is Abdan. I'm returning from a semester off and it feels great to be back in school. I'm assisting Ray Patlan's Temescal Mural class and I'm enjoying it much. I haven't been involved in a project of this magnitude since high school. It's a great learning experience to be apart of this group project. Everyone has a unique perspective and opinion to add to the aesthetic of the project. It's also stimulating many ideas I have on future projects and is influencing me to paint more. The class is a great start for me to get back in my school mode. Ray and all the students in the class are great. Ah yea, and the other TA Vanessa is too. I almost forgot. Just kidding. Have a joyous week folks!!!!!

Abdan Johnson 

Temescal Mural Project

My name is Yesenia Vanessa Ayala, friends know me as Vanessa.  I am a senior Animation major and have been a CSF at California College of the Arts for three years now. This semester I am working with Ray Patlan, a professional mural artist and Abdan Johnson, a fellow classmate, artist and friend. Together Abdan and I are TA's for Ray's Temescal Mural Class. The class meets every Tuesday. We have just completed our designs and are projecting the final drafts onto individual boards to begin painting. When completed our Murals will be installed on the PG&E building on Shattuck and 51st. 

Creative Arts Charter School

My work at the Creative Arts Charter School, in San Francisco, has been gratifying thus far.  I am working as a teaching assistant for two art teachers in separate classrooms, with students grades k-8.  

Both teachers have their own distinct teaching philosophies and styles, so the atmosphere varies depending on which classroom I'm in.  This has been beneficial to my own practice, because it demonstrates various teaching techniques and allows me to define my educational and teaching philosophy based on my observations.  

I have also been reintroduced to the world of public schools.  It is a bit nostalgic packing myself a lunch and wondering the halls of a grade school, but it is also a great learning experience.  Already I have been exposed to some of the difficulties they face, especially being a charter school, which really puts into perspective just how hard it is for students and teachers in those environments. (funding, discipline, support, etc.)  

Although I have only been there for a short time, I feel as though my presence has been a relief to both teachers, because as we all know it is always helpful to have support when working with children.  I also feel as though my help is benefiting the children, because I offer alternative ideas and assistance with their work, as well as a mentorship role.  I have already made some great connections with the kids.   As the weeks progress I'm looking forward to strengthening these connections, and creating a reliable support structure for each teacher and the students.  

Hope everyone is enjoying their jobs!

Madeleine

news at niad

I'm back at NIAD and still very much enjoying being there. For anyone who doesn't know, NIAD stands for the National Institute of Art and Disabilities and is located in Richmond. It's an art center, open 5 days a week and serving adult artists with disabilities. It actually has a pretty amazing set up, it's a big spacious building broken up into 5 main studios: painting, drawing/mixed media, printmaking, ceramics, and textiles/jewelry. There is also a gift shop, a gallery, and an outside garden and work area. Everything that the artists make is then priced and they earn a precentage of the profit if it's sold. Not a bad set up...sometimes I wish CCA was set up like this.
One of the most interesting things about working here is observing the range of skills and styles amongst the artists. While some people stick with the same medium and themes, others move around and change it up. For the most part I feel like I have gotten to the point where I can match a piece of art to it's creator because everyone has a pretty significant style. I've noticed that some people tend to stick with one medium because working with something else is more challenging or requires more assistance. For about half of the day I work with a man who is now making a series of ceramic figures. I help with the more technical aspects of working with clay, like attachments, while also trying to keep him enthused about working.
The other half of the day, I work with a small group on a project. Recently, we've been making collages in bottle caps and then I'm pouring resin in them. People are choosing to use them as pendents and making necklaces, or as metal broches, etc. They're also making sets of coasters with collage and resin.

It's definitely been rewarding working here and being around so much creativity. I also think I'm constantly learning what teaching techniques are most effective which is always good. That's all for now!

Our oakland and Chinese Whispers

My CSF takes place with designer and artist Rene Yung. I like the work because of the diversity of tasks and the insight that I am gaining into all the facets of public and community based art. It is an enormous amount of work to get these sorts of projects going. I'm helping out Rene 

Withe two projects. Our Oakland: Eastside Stories is a project that holds community storytelling events with other local non-profits and uses videos of those stories as content for a social website. This is the temporary website:

http://oaklandspeaks.weebly.com/

I do varied work for this including event organization, book keeping, image editing. We are preparing for an event on the 28th of March where all our planning and outreach will come to fruition. The other project is Chinese Whispers, also centered on community storytelling, but focused on the Chinese communities of the Sierra foothills and their memories and oral histories relating to the railroad and California development. For this I am researching imagery to be used in a future theater performance of the stories. There's quite a bit of multi-tasking working with Rene, but the projects are interesting and it keeps me on my toes! 

Far West!

I just started my third semester at Far West High School (right across the street from CCA) and am loving it, as usual! I work mainly in the after school program, but I do help out in some of the daytime classes when the other CSF, Lizzie, can't make it. Far West's after school program is an awesome resource for students; it offers tutoring as well as a number of art classes and sports. I teach in the fashion class, and am also helping kick off a creative writing workshop. Right now the fashion class is working on a makeover project for the teachers. Several of the teachers are getting all new looks that will be presented in a mini fashion show on March 11th. There will also be a larger fashion show at the end of April; some of the students who I taught how to use a sewing machine when I started at Far West are going to be presenting their first collections! It's amazing to see how far they've come so quickly.

Here's a video promoting the after school program. You can check out a little CSF action right around 2:41.

ProArts Gallery

Hi!

This is my third week at Pro Arts Gallery and so far I've worked with installation and sequencing of the Annual Juried Exhibition curated by Ali Subotnick of the Hammer Museum.  Right now I am working on the Directory of East Bay Arts.  This is a publication released in conjunction with my site's signature event, East Bay Open Studios, which takes place in June.  The directory lists arts events happening in the East Bay by the month.  I encourage you guys to stop by and see the show!!! hope you all are having a good experience at your sites.

Change it Up With Obama: Continuing the Movement

As you will see on all of our sites and flyers, Change it Up With Obama is a Video/Oral history project founded by Opal Palmer-Adisa. My colleague Blaz Pirnat and I, Sarah L. Webb, are conducting videotaped interviews of CCA students, faculty, and staff, as well as members of the Bay are community. You can watch all of our videos at  

http://www.youtube.com/user/changeitupwithobama.

This project is significant for me because it's not just documentation. It's great to have a video history of this time that we're living in, but my hope is that it becomes a way for concerned and inspired people to connect, share knowledge and resources, and spawn new initiatives for change on a local, national, and global level. Furthermore, what this project conveys is the fact that none of us are alone in our desire for change or in our efforts to bring about change.

On a more personal level, this experience has been SPLENDID for the opportunity to meet and talk with such unique individuals. I've enjoyed meeting folks where they work, in studios or offices, or any place that's their "natural element." I'm more inspired by people's everyday brilliance with each encounter. I've also developed my communication and technical skills as a result of the past month of work and I look forward to the rest of the semester (and beyond?). 

We want to conduct as many interviews as possible from a wide array of individuals. So contact us if you're interested in participating: changeitupwithobama@gmail.com.  

Our blog, changeitupwithobama.org, is still developing but check it out any time. 

What's happening at Peralta?

My CSF site is at Peralta Elementary School, I am most closely working with two 3rd grade classes. With these classes, my supervisor and I are in the process of making a stop motion animated video about recycling, that should be finished in several weeks. Also, for the past months the 3rd grade students have been working on in class project that includes text and photos, and now we are introducing bookmaking to compliment their photos. I designed a simple book making project where the students make a step- by-step instructional guide on how to fold paper correctly to achieve accordion style pages. The final product will be put into hard bound bindings that have been in the storage room for some time, and now will be put to use.

This year every grade level at Peralta Elementary are going on a field trip to the De Young Museum. I had the pleasure of going with the 4th and 5th grade classes, to take 8 4th graders on a self-guided tour of the museums California collection. This was especially exciting for me because it gave me the opportunity to research the these relics of California history, and teach the students about each piece. I was happy to find that all the students on my tour were engaged for the entire 2 hours that we spent in the gallery. The next step in the tour I did, is to take the information the student learned, and follow through to the classroom to do an art project incorporating California history.

That's all for now. I will inform all when the recycling video is completed. It may be put into a gallery show at some point in the near future.

ChangeItUpWIthObama

Hello Everyone,

Just say zoom and this semester will be over soon.I can't believe how quickly everything is going.
Anyway, I am having fun collaborating with Opal and Sarah. Shooting videos is very rewarding as I get to know new faces on both campuses, and I catch up with my old friends. While I was a little shy at the beginning, I feel enthusiastic for the most part to listen what people have to say. I am glad, that there are differences of opinion. People are generally looking forward to Obama's presidency, at the same time they realize that the current situation our nation is faced with is very challenging - to put it mildly.
While I don't consider myself a pro by any means, I am learning a lot about the filming/editing process. Because I have been doing video now for two semesters through CSF program, it is easier to try different approaches and to experiment. Opal has been a great support, and she is great to work with.
A video/oral history of this time is an important document of our fast paced culture. Opal's vision to broaden the spectrum of people who would want to contribute their opinion to our project is an ambitious goal. The question is how can we interest more people in participating?
We are looking into many ways to make it more visible on the Internet. For now we are continuing with the video production, and all of you can visit our site at http://www.changeitupwithobama.org. If you have any creative ideas, please let us now or post a comment on our site.

Thank you Blaz