Hennessy Youngman's "Art Thoughtz Episode On Institutional Critique.

Graphite drawing of a lady with a parasol, made by Paul Klee between ages 4 and 6. Image via Wikimedia Commons.

Read more about the childhood artwork of well known artists in my latest Artfully Learning post here.

Set and props from Jayson Musson: His History of Art at the Fabric Museum and Workshop, Philadelphia, PA. Photograph by Esther Welsh

I went to Philly to see "His History of Art" by Jayson Musson at the Fabric Workshop and Museum and wrote about its pedagogical use of satire to challenge art educational conventions on my blog Artfully Learning. Read about it in the post "Whose History of Art?"

Playground sculptures. A fun, whimsical and culturally universal way to inspire learning!

Fiastyúk (then Thälmann) street housing estate, Budapest, 1960. From the Budapest Municipal Photography Company archive. 

Angélique du Coudray’s La Machine was a groundbreaking obstetric phantom. Read about how this innovative soft sculpture inspired radical changes in medical education in the Artfully Learning post Abrégé de l’art des accouchements (The Art of Obstetrics)

Ruth Asawa teaching paper folding, ca. 1980s [© Estate of Ruth Asawa]

As an artist, educator and art historian my concerns are about symbolically visualizing and accurately documenting experiences that prompt us to consider taking steps towards bettering ourselves and our surroundings. Although art is often symbolic and abstract in its function, it can certainly (and already has) led to transformative changes that benefit humanity and ecology alike. The laborious, creative process itself is an act of perpetuation, which is a main tenet of maintenance. Prior to a work of art entering society, the artist develops an idea behind their work and must nurture that concept by fashioning it into a tangible object or experience. Once the artwork leaves their studio it takes on a new purpose. Whether it is intended for public reflection or the white walls of a gallery, the artwork also requires significant care.

Inspired by renowned social reformer Jane Addams' 1907 essay, “Utilization of Women in City Government,” I wrote a piece about the role that art can have in societal and environmental upkeep. You can read it on Artfully Learning: https://theartsandeducation.wordpress.com/2022/11/06/utilization-of-artists-in-societal-and-environmental-maintenance/

The lineage of many popular educational materials used in schools today can be traced through art history. In a post called "The Art of Child's Play," I wrote about several examples of modern and contemporary artists creating educational toys and learning materials. Read it on Artfully Learning: https://theartsandeducation.wordpress.com/2022/03/24/the-art-of-childs-play/

Puppets by Paul Klee named the Philistine, Matchbox Spirit, and the Crowned Poet — Source: Zentrum Paul Klee, Bern (CC BY-SA 4.0).Puppets by Paul Klee named the Old Man, the Devil with Ringed Glove, and the Monk — Source: Zentrum Paul Klee, Bern (CC BY-SA 4.0).1) 

2) Puppets by Paul Klee named the Ghost of a Scarecrow, Electrical Spook, and Mr Death — Source: Zentrum Paul Klee, Bern (CC BY-SA 4.0).

3) Puppets by Paul Klee named the Philistine, Matchbox Spirit, and the Crowned Poet — Source: Zentrum Paul Klee, Bern (CC BY-SA 4.0).

“And yet for all their fixedness, the figures’ power lies in their yet being infinitely accessible, innocent, and welcoming things; they are children who have survived their childhood, grown old, but retained something of that early state. They are representatives of some world that belongs at once to children and adults, and to some more mysterious world they share within creation. Klee wrote in his diary of 1901: “The future slumbers in human beings and needs only to be awakened. It cannot be created. That is why even a child knows about the erotic.”2″

Puppets by Paul Klee named the Big-Eared Clown, Self-Portrait (of Klee), and the White-Haired Eskimo — Source: Zentrum Paul Klee, Bern (CC BY-SA 4.0).

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Art + Math

Sol Lewitt, Geometric Shapes Within Geometric Shapes 1979 

Joseph Beuys - Untitled (2)

Left: Jayson Musson as “Jay” with “Ollie.” Jayson Musson, in collaboration with The Fabric Workshop and Museum, Philadelphia, His History of Art, 2022. Photo credit: Carlos Avendaño. Right: Joseph Beuys during his performance of How to Explain Pictures to a Dead Hare, Schelma Gallery, Dusseldorf, 26 November 1965. Photo credit: Walter Vogel.

I went to Philly to see His History of Art by Jayson Musson at the Fabric Workshop and Museum and wrote about its pedagogical use of satire to challenge art educational conventions on my blog Artfully Learning. Read about it in the post "Whose History of Art?"