Art and Architecture Program

Creative Practice at the Juncture: Communal Isolation, Reopening, and Art

Faculty Advisor: Award-winning video artist and writer; MFA, NYU Steinhardt School

Research Program Introduction

For this research program, students will work with the extraordinary global health crisis of the past three years and seek ways to use art as a community-repairing force. We will also discuss what art can do to build communities — its powers and limitations. Projects can be approached as dynamic performances, socially-distanced happenings, or aesthetic experiences/fine artworks. We will use writing, video, performance, and the fine arts — but most importantly, discussion and constructive critique. 

All projects can be added to your art portfolio. In one class session, we will cover strategies for portfolio development. We will also share feedback and comments on work and discuss ways of taking and giving feedback.

Each student will be asked to employ writing as an exploratory lens to help develop their project, but writing is not necessarily a requirement for the final project if a student prefers a different way of presenting their research work. Attendance and engagement, discussion, listening, and sharing are as much a part of this creative research seminar as the creation of the artwork. Collaborations are encouraged. Each student will complete two small projects throughout the seminar and one creative research project due after the completion of classes; there will be short readings or viewings each week as well.

Project Topics:

  • How to draw inspiration from your surroundings and circumstances

  • How to build a portfolio

  • How to take and implement feedback on your work

  • How can the tradition and skill of art practice help us make sense of our lives? Can it transform our experience?

  • In what ways do we witness history, and in what ways do we change it? How are we victims of history?

  • How can art help us choose the modes in which we live?

Program Details

  • Cohort size: 3 to 5 students

  • Workload: Around 4 to 5 hours per week (including class and homework time)

  • Target students: 9 to 12th graders who want to show influence and care to their communities and are interested in writing, video making, fine art, global health, and/or social sciences.