Artists and their work at Lawndale, November 5th
I spent last weekend, November 6 -9, at the Texas Art Education Association conference in San Antonio. I attended some excellent presentations. My attendance at the conference was aimed at acquiring new ideas and keeping up to date with the forefront of art education to better serve St Stephens Episcopal School and its students. Several of the presentations were directed towards AP/IB programs in addition to TAB (Teaching Artistic Behavior).
"Make Something Awesome" was presented by two young IB teachers, Audrey Cisneros and Stacy Rodriguez. They made me glad that I had stayed until the last as they repeated their presentation on Sunday morning. They gave several other workshops including Imaginary Spaces, Making Mini Books and Local Letterboxing.
Olivia Gude was one of the speakers. She is a professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago. I've heard her speak before and definitely enjoyed hearing her again in San Antonio. I attended her workshop, "Seeing Into Through Artmaking: Surrealist Bureau of Educational Research". There is a video on Vimeo of a previous workshop to give you some idea of the content. You can click on the link above to watch it.
My artwork from Olivia Gude's workshop.
Unfortunately I had to miss the St Stephens Episcopal School-Houston Book Fair. I was able to complete the banner and mat some student work to exhibit there on a couple of late nights earlier in the week. Although I couldn't attend the Book Fair I sent my wish list along anyway. I would like to thank the person or persons who bought the David Macauley books for the art room. They will be put to good use.
Now, for local art events and activities coming up in the next week or two:
This Saturday there will be a family art activity at the Museum of Fine Arts Houston from 1 to 4. This is for members at the Family level and above. The activity will be inspired by the exhibit "Monet and the Seine". On Sunday, November 16, from 1 to 4 they are offering a Family Zone + Studio inspired by Treasures from Korea.
The Center for Hearing and Speech will have their annual Via Colori: Street Painting Festival on November 22nd and 23rd. This event is free to the public. If you look closely enough you may even find me at Via Colori! I'll be down on my hands and knees in the street using pastels on Square Number 18 at the corner of Bagby and McKinney at the very end.
The next Hands On Houston at Houston Center for Contemporary Craft will be December 6th from 11-3. No details yet on the activity, but it's always good and a nice free stop for families and kids.
For six days in December, beginning December 8th, Tibetan monks will be creating a sand mandala in the foyer of the Menil Collection. The opening and closing ceremonies of this event will be well worth seeing. Although the museum is closed on Monday and Tuesday special arrangements have been made for viewing the sand mandala. Why not make a day of it? While taking in the sand mandala's creation check out my favorite gallery in the Menil, the Surrealist exhibit and Witnesses to a Surrealist Vision, wander down to the Rothko Chapel, the Cy Twombley Gallery and over to the Dan Flavin Installation. Stop in to the Menil Bookstore for reading material and cards. They have some wonderful and unique small gift items. You might even want to get a bite to eat at the Bistro Menil. The food is excellent. Reservations are recommended.
