Swiss Institute, Contemporary Art Topics: “In Living Color: Considering the Use of Color in Contemporary Art Practice”

Location: Online/Swiss Institute, NYC

Date: Summer 2021

Ages: Adults

This virtual class, offered through Swiss Institute's "Contemporary Art Topics" program,  began through a partnership with the Sirovich Center for Balanced Living - a community center for older adults in the East Village, NYC. The goal of the partnership is engage with students that are eager to gain more knowledge of and exposure to contemporary art. During the early phase of the pandemic in 2020 the class was moved the class from in-person to virtual, and registration became open enrollment to anyone interested. The program has evolved into a rich multigenerational learning environment, with folks from all backgrounds, as well as a few international students.

“In Living Color: Considering the Use of Color in Contemporary Art Practice” was a continuation of a course I taught the season prior titled “History of Color Materials: Ancient to Contemporary”. Both courses were centered on color materiality throughout history, with a particular focus on contemporary artists who consider color materials and their unique histories in their respective practices. The class culminated in a booklet published by Swiss Institute titled “Color of the Day”, based off of an assignment where students posted a color to our “Color of the Day” Padlet that represented their day: a color for their mood, a memory, something from nature, something they made, something they ate, or anything colorful that made an impression on them. The publication presents these collective colors as a community-based project.

Other courses I have taught within this series over the years are: “As Above, So Below: Regenerative Life Cycles in Art Making”, “Materials and Process”, “Rethinking Craft in Contemporary Art”, “Elemental: Four Ways of Seeing and Making”, and “Soil as Art/Art as Soil”.