Art21 News
January 27, 2010
 
Mike Kelley, Memory


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  Art21 is taking the stage with much excitement tonight as we launch Culture Wars: A Night of Trivia with Art21, a new social program that we hope to continue beyond the pilot, both in person and online. We are also excited to introduce two programs targeted towards educators: a workshop with the Museum of Modern Art, New York, and our own Art21 Educators, open to educators across the United States.

Read on for a pair of videos featuring unique collaborations with contemporary artists, as well as for an overview of recent activity from our blog, which includes a new interview with Art21 featured artist Andrea Zittel by Indianapolis Museum of Art conservator Richard McCoy.

In this issue: 

Tonight! Culture Wars: A Night of Trivia with Art21

Art21 and MoMA Present A Workshop for Educators: A Panel Discussion

Art21 Educators 2010-2011: Now Accepting Applications

Exclusive Videos: Paul McCarthy and Allan McCollum

Highlights from the Art21 Blog

Support Art21

Shop Art21

Banner: Martin Puryear. Art in the Twenty-First Century, production still, 2003. Season 2, Episode: Time. � Art21, Inc. 2003. Left: Mike Kelley. Art in the Twenty-First Century, production still, 2005. Season 3, Episode: Memory. � Art21, Inc. 2005.
 Tonight! Culture Wars: A Night of Trivia with Art21
Culture Wars: A Night of Trivia with Art21
Art21 and 92YTribeca present a trivia event inspired by contemporary art and the culture of our time. In the spirit of Art21's mission to increase knowledge of contemporary art and in combination with the social traditions of game night and happy hour, this multimedia event invites you to test your knowledge of current art, film, music and online cultural phenomena.

Culture Wars: A Night of Trivia with Art21 takes place tonight, Thursday, January 28, 2010, 6:30 p.m., at the 92YTribeca in New York City.

Art:21 Season 5 featured artist Mary Heilmann will be in attendance and is providing a music for the first trivia night.

All are invited to form a team of colleagues, friends, and frienemies--or come solo and join a team on the spot to meet other art appreciators/lovers/aficionados--and compete for cultural greatness...or maybe just a prize.

Prizes are generously provided by 20x200 and the Phaidon Store in SoHo.

Teams will be limited to 5 people. This is not a ticketed event; however, there will be a cost of $5 per team, payable at the bar, to participate.

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 Art21 and MoMA Present A Workshop for Educators
Art21 and MoMA Present A Workshop for Educators
Teaching with Contemporary Art: Through the Artist's Lens
Sunday, February 28, 2010
10:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m.

Art21 is co-presenting a professional development workshop for educators with the Museum of Modern Art. This workshop, which explores the ways contemporary artists are shaping the future, describing the present, and examining the past, introduces educators to a variety of strategies for engaging students with contemporary art. Drawing inspiration from Art21 Artist William Kentridge and his upcoming exhibition William Kentridge: Five Themes (February 24-May 17, 2010), educators will investigate how the artist suggests that the act of looking can serve as a "broad-based metaphor for how we understand the world."

Participants will study works of art in the MoMA's galleries and use Art21's multimedia resources to form dynamic connections between key ideas and the work of contemporary artists. Through discussion and activities, educators will collaborate to identify ways to incorporate contemporary art into the curriculum. Emphasizing inquiry-based learning, thematic approaches to teaching, and lesson planning around big ideas, the session will focus on the multiple ways artists offer new perspectives about the world around us. Please join us!

This workshop is open to teachers of any subject and grade level, but it is most suitable for the art classroom. The $50 fee includes all instruction, Art21 and MoMA resources, and lunch. To register visit MoMA's Web site and download the registration form [PDF].

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 Art21 Educators 2010-2011: Now Accepting Applications
Art21 Educators 2010-2011
Art21 is launching the second year of
Art21 Educators, an intensive, year-long professional development initiative designed to cultivate and support K-12 art educators interested in bringing contemporary art, artists, and themes into their classrooms.

This program provides a unique professional development opportunity for educators to: spend an intensive year working with Art21 and a network of peers which kicks off with a 6-day institute in New York City; share innovative ideas, resources, and strategies with educators from across the country; and use video and other media to document and reflect on your teaching practice.
 
This round of Art21 Educators will be accepting applications from K-12 art and media teachers from across the United States. Emphasis will be placed on creating a diverse group of participants who reflect urban, rural, and suburban communities as well as distinct student populations.

Join a national group of educators to explore, design, and implement curriculum utilizing the visual art of our time. For more information and an application form, please visit art21.org.

Applications must be received by the Art21 Education Staff by Monday, February 26, 2010. Questions? Check out our FAQs or if you're still stumped, email education [at] art21.org

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 Exclusive Videos: Paul McCarthy and Allan McCollum
Our most recent Exclusive videos feature two people who are worlds apart: a Maine craftsman and a Hollywood special effects artist. Each discusses their specialized trade and the unique contributions they bring to making works of contemporary art.

Paul McCarthy | Animatronic Designer Jon Dawe   Paul McCarthy | Animatronic Designer Jon Dawe
Animatronic Designer Jon Dawe reveals the process behind the robotic creature effects in artist Paul McCarthy's sculpture Bush and Pig. Dawes previous work, as part of Stan Winston Studio and Tatopoulos Studios, includes special effects and mechanical designs for the popular films Jurassic Park, Hellboy, Underworld, and Fantastic Four, among others.
 
Allan McCollum | "Shapes Copper Cookie Cutters"   Allan McCollum | Shapes Copper Cookie Cutters
Larry Little, co-founder of Aunt Holly's Copper Cookie Cutters with his wife Holly, describes his experiences working with artist Allan McCollum on Shapes from Maine (2009). Little describes the origins of his home business in Trescott, Maine, the process he developed for making cookie cutters by hand, and his working relationship with McCollum.

Keep up with the Exclusive series on the Art21 Blog, or subscribe to the series via RSS or iTunes (note: link opens in iTunes). A blend of newly-shot original filming and previously unreleased archival footage, videos from the weekly Exclusive series focus on singular aspects of an artist's process, significant individual works and exhibitions, provocative ideas, and biographical anecdotes.

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 Highlights from the Art21 Blog
Flash Points   Flash Points
Our Flash Points topic, "How does art respond to and redefine the natural world?" has come to an end. Check out the full index--Flash Points: Art + the Environment Wrap-Up--on the Art21 Blog.

Call for Writers: Our new Flash Points topic, The Ethics of Art, will be launching soon and we're inviting you to participate.
 
Bloggers' Top Tens of 2009 and the 2000s   Don't miss: Art21 Bloggers' Top Tens of 2009 and the 2000s
 
The Island in 100 Acres: An Interview with Andrea Zittel   Post of the Week
The Island in 100 Acres: An Interview with Andrea Zittel
Indianapolis Museum of Art Conservator Richard McCoy interviews Art21 artist Andrea Zittel about her floating island project
 
Letter from London: Avatarnation!   From our columns
Letter from London: Avatarnation!
Looking at Los Angeles: Pass the Deitch-ie
No Preservatives: Conversations about Conservation: Examining Roles and Investigating Responses: A Conversation with Rebecca Uchill
Teaching with Contemporary Art: Wonder-Igniters: An Interview with Abbe Futterman
 
Guest blogger Karthik Pandian, Artist   Guest Bloggers
Now: Karthik Pandian, Artist
Previously: Joel Holmberg, Artist; Nova Benway, Curator; Kelly Rakowski, Designer and Blogger
 
Think you have what it takes to write for us? Email interest and writing samples to blog [at] art21 [dot] org.

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 Support Art21
Support Art21
Donations to Art21 go directly toward costs for filming artists, producing videos and education materials, and making our work accessible online.                  
 
Every dollar donated helps us to make more of the films you love and bring them to millions of people each year, including students in schools with a limited budget for the arts, as well as lots of ordinary folks who wouldn't otherwise be invited for a private tour or behind the scenes glimpse of an artist's studio or exhibition.

Please consider making a donation to Art21 today!

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 Shop Art21
Season 5 Products
Season 5 Companion Book:
At 224 pages, with more than 400 illustrations, the Season 5 Companion Book features interviews with the artists and an essay by Art21 Executive Producer and Curator Susan Sollins. Edited by Marybeth Sollins. Visit the Art21 Shop for more information.

DVD and Blu-ray:

Season 5 is now available in both standard-definition DVD and high-definition Blu-ray disc formats. Visit ShopPBS.org to view products from all 5 seasons.

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