Art Educator Workshop: Art and Identity (in partnership with the Minneapolis Institute of Art) (in person)

Course description

Examine what might influence or inform our identities and experience a visit to the special exhibition Giants: Art from the Dean Collection of Swizz Beatz and Alicia Keys. This special exhibition highlights nearly one hundred significant works by Black diasporic artists, including Gordon Parks, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Lorna Simpson, Amy Sherald, and more. The exhibition reflects the Deans’ passion for supporting established and emerging artists while fostering important dialogues about art, culture, and identity. Learn to think differently about identity through an exploration of various cultures and eras, and through a range of lenses, such as the physical body, family and friends, environments and communities, faith, gender, cultural heritage, and socioeconomic status.

After gaining inspiration from the exhibition, spend time at MCAD exploring traditional and nontraditional approaches to portraiture with a focus on identity. Projects include a collaborative community building activity with all students contributing a piece to a larger work that reflects the individual identities and perspectives represented in the class. Another project expands the idea of self-portraiture and how to communicate what self-portraits mean using paint and canvas. Explore the idea of personal history and memory through readings, as well as looking at contemporary artists whose work functions in an autobiographical framework. This workshop includes broad-ranging discussions and studio practice that will help connect works of art and art making to students’ lives and identities.

This class has a one-hour lunch break each day. / Graduate credit is available. / Material fee of $5 is included in tuition. / We strongly encourage you to contact us and confirm your workshop has met minimum enrollment to run before making any travel arrangements.

Open to students ages 18 and above. View complete policies before completing your registration.

Art educators need to take their work with them on the last day of the workshop. Participants should consider bringing extra money if mailing work home will be necessary. Any work remaining after the workshop will be disposed of.

Prerequisites

Previous drawing and painting experience is helpful, but not required.

Class meeting details

This course will meet in person at both the Mia and MCAD and the schedule will be split in two parts:

• Mornings: 9:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m. gallery tours at Mia, facilitated discussion on artworks and artists and lesson planning that support state art standards.
• Afternoons: 1:00–5:00 p.m. studio time at MCAD, creating collaborative and individual works by examining identity through painting.

Required materials

Supplies for the first class

• Pencil
• notebook or sketchbook
• canvas 16 x 20"
• a roll of white artist's tape
• 12 x 16" or 9 x 12" pad of disposable palette paper
• cloth rags
• palette knife
• a selection of natural bristle brushes ranging from #6–14 (mid-range in price brushes are best)
• acrylic paint:
  • alizarin crimson
  • phthalo green
  • titanium white
  • yellow ochre
  • ultramarine blue
  • hansa yellow light

Optional supplies

• 18 x 24" drawing board

Students should expect to spend approximately $100–$150 on supplies in addition to course tuition.

What to wear
Clothes appropriate for messy creativity; an apron if preferred.

Class savings

Art Educator Workshops are not eligible for the early or multiple class registration discounts.

This class does not qualify for the $25 tuition waiver or the alumni discounts.

Questions?

Contact MCAD Continuing Education at continuing_education@mcad.edu or call 612.874.3765.