I’m a sucker for process; even more so when it’s documented well. I came across this video a while back but as of late it has served as a reminder of the importance of process. It was put together by Peter Belanger, a San Francisco based photographer whose portfolio includes more than a few prevalent photos for Apple. My goodness! It is so easy to take for granted the time, energy and talent is invested in crafting something as simple (a gross understatement) as a magazine cover or the landing page of Apple. Ironically, the only reason I appreciate the effort behind this cover is because Belanger took the time and energy to show us how much time and energy it took. ha! Read the rest of this entry »
Today was a super good day. This morning I got to participate in a summit at the Holland Area Arts Council for art educators along the lakeshore. Man, there are so many brilliant / passionate educators living within 50 miles of each other it’s amazing; it also makes me super jealous because my our high school art teacher (graduate from the Art Institute of Chicago) was replaced with a study hall supervisor just as I was freed up to take electives. Meh.
Anyways, Nick Rabkin (who was both intelligent and personable) was the keynote speaker and had some really interesting things to share on the role of art/creativity in student development. His talk spanned almost two hundred years of rationale for including the arts in public education (in the 1800’s it was argued that by teaching music communities could increase the quality of singing in church) and ended with recent studies in cognitive linguistics. Along the way he pointed to the above video of Dan Meyer, a New York math teacher developing an algebra curriculum that helps kids formulate problems in addition to solving them. Inspiring.
It reminded me of a conversation I had last year with Mrs. Propst. After talking through various processes we concluded that art making was nothing more than continuous creative problem solving; acknowledging, exploring, understanding and proposing solutions to the infinite array of problems one confronts when making something of this world. One of the things I loved about having the opportunity to study both art and mathematics was the concrete, abstract and theoretical problems each field forces one to confront. I write all of this to say that as we push forward into the third year (yikes!) of Ambrose we’re going to take a page from Mr. Meyer’s re-written math book and integrate more creative problem solving into our after school art & design program. This route seems most appropriate because regardless of what field we, and our students, enter and exit throughout life there will always need of a toolkit that enables us to ask the right questions.
“If architecture is going to nudge, cajole, and inspire a community to challenge the status quo into making responsible changes, it will take the subversive leadership of academics and practitioners who keep reminding students of the profession’s responsibilities.” Samuel Mockbee
Samuel Mockbee and the Rural Studio have forever changed architecture. The Auburn architecture initiative started in 1993 provides practical experience for architecture students and improves the living conditions in Hale County, one of the poorest counties in the nation. Watch the entire film after the jump.
Usually, when I preference things with “This is going to sound Dutch…” you know something frugal is going to come out of my mouth. I wouldn’t mind if that opener was used to preface things more revolutionary. Case and point: Dutch Design. Can we please bring some of this magic to Holland? Via PSFK.
Posted: August 6th, 2010 | Author:Adam | Filed under:Portfolio | Comments Off
Super big congrats to uncle Jim and the Brainwaves’ crew. After two weeks of sweat and salt water they landed successfully in Kaneohe Bay. This is their second time sailing from San Francisco to Oahu in the PacCup…but first time looking so good. We’re a little biased though.
Thanks for making such terrific shirts for the crew. They loved them! Here’s is a photo of Brainwaves’ crew coming into Kaneohe Bay after 14 days of racing, 11 of those days with big seas and high winds (30+ knots.) The leis sort of cover up your terrific logo, but there’s no avoiding the flowers. Even the boat has a lei.
My friend John Rumery (GR based barbecue guru and champion of all things Grilladelic) just passed on an inspiring NY Times article about the role creativity is playing in rejuvenation of Detroit. Oh. My. Gosh. If the internet hasn’t fine tuned your link-clicking skills this would be an excellent time to introduce yourself to the simple pleasure of digitally submerging yourself in the amazing things people are doing in our state. Read the article. Click to your heart’s content. Learn about awesome stuff like The Heidelberg Project, Design 99 and the Power House. Detroitus no more! Get inspired!
PS. Does anybody know of an old, abandoned, centrally located house we could have? Jonathan? Jeannette?
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