When I sat down to write this artist statement I found I was using the same prefix over and over to describe my work and artistic motivation. MULTI>>> “multicultural,” “multimedia,” “multifaceted,” “multi-surfaced,” “multiple viewpoints,” “multiple perspectives,” and “a multitude of factors” were all in my initial draft.

In many ways this age is defined by the global mass of digital experiences and information we instantly access and participate in. Yet there are ancient and traditional paradigms that continue to hold sway in today’s world. My work aims at representing this confluence using the conventional two-dimensional picture-plane as a ground on which pluralism is made visual.

The vessel is one art historical trope I utilize to portray multiple viewpoints within a single surface. I am drawn to the form because it lacks a singular reference; every society, in every age, has utilized the container in one form or another making it universal and multicultural. The vessel serves as a link between the inner and outer, the old and new world. The viewer can perceive an image painted on the surface of the vase, the room where it rests, the contents therein, and the focus of the figures who are often engaged in technological interfaces.

I am also drawn to the vessel and other utilitarian forms because of their association with domesticity and femininity. My work often behaves like a Trickster– wiggling through faux techniques or alternative constructs outside traditional painting. A piece can proclaim “I am not a painting, I am a mosaic!” or “I’m not an artwork, I am a stained glass window!” My rug paintings are literally walked upon– made from narrow slats of wood glued to the canvas. The pieces can be rolled up, stood on end, or laid flat on the floor. This transformability allows the work a flexibility and utilitarianism not often associated with painting. Through this “downgrading,” away from “high” art, I seek to elevate the common place and highlight the magic of the everyday.

My pieces have a dense and mosaiced surface derived from collaging printed and painted material with machine and hand stitching. I am drawn to pattern and to intense color creating a fast-paced viewing experience where details and meaning arise as one’s eyes move about the canvas. This is where distraction mets contemplation. While there is a found-objectness to my work, all the material is generated by my own hand creating a feedback loop of remixed artwork. In this world that is at once fast and antique, virtual and dated this allows me to synthesize a portrait of self where the multiplicity of experience becomes whole. – Paula Wilson

BIG LADY
batik (dye and wax resist process), oil, acrylic, monoprinted stencil on machine sewn canvas laminated to pine, brass-hinged “stick figure”
48″ x 91″
2011

NEW DEVELOPMENT
intaglio, screen print on Somerset Textured
Produced in collaboration with MassArt’s Master Print Series
30″ x 15″
2012

MassArt’s Master Print Series

PROMENADING
reduction woodblock print on Kitakata mounted to Somerset Satin
Produced in collaboration with City College, NYC’s City Editions
19 1/2″ x 15″
2012

BATHING WITH WORDS WITH FRIENDS
monoprint, acrylic, oil on canvas laminated to pine slats
49″ x 80″
2013

(detail)

LIFE FORCE WARRIOR VASE
woodblock, acrylic, oil on canvas, machine and hand stitching
41″ x 58″
2013

PRAY FOR ME
monotype, acrylic on cloth with machine stitching, pine rod
53 1/2″ x 41″
2012

PRAY FOR RAIN
monotype, acrylic on cloth with machine stitching, pine rod, oak hanger
55″ x 42 1/2″
2012

(detail)

BAZAAR
monotype, ink, acrylic, oil, machine stitching on canvas, cherry wood
41″ x 62 1/2″
2013

CRAZY RUG
acrylic, oil on canvas laminated to pine slats
72” x 46”
2012

BUFFALO GOURD OVER EVENING STAR
acrylic, oil on canvas laminated to pine slats
66” x 92 ¼”
2012

Paula’s website: http://paulajwilson.com/

interview by Damon Locks                                                   photos by Arthur Mullen

This Chicago jewelry maker has been creating her wares for sale since 2009. I have admired her work for years and decided that it was high time to spread the word about this talented artist/designer.

Your designs are very sculptural, did you grow up with a background in sculpture? How did you arrive at this combination of materials for your jewelry?

I was never formally trained in either sculpture or jewelry design but consider my parents and upbringing to have had a large influence on my work; both of my parents are self-employed glassblowers. I grew up in rural Massachusetts, where my family was always outside playing in my father’s tree farm or our vegetable garden. I first remember creating sculptures inspired by these surroundings using the elements at hand such as wood, moss, and clay.

At seven my parents taught me the basics of glassblowing. The malleability of glass when heated with a flame was entrancing to me. This love of glass continued into my twenties where I found myself searching for new techniques to express myself artistically. I came across stained glass and really took to it; I liked that the properties of stained glass and soldering had many similarities to molten glass in the ways it can be manipulated. This continuous process of exploring and developing my vision for my work has recently brought me to experiment with torched copper enameling, which involves melting glass powder onto copper sheets to create striking colorful patterns. I love the transformative properties that occurs with all of these methods of manipulating glass and metal.

For me, I see your work having a futuristic, science fiction aesthetic mixed with elaborate jewelry from an imaginary ancient culture – the perfect accent to a ceremonial outfit on a far off planet. That is most likely a reflection of my own interests that I impose on your work. Knowing you a little bit, your personal style feels more organic, closer to the countryside than to interplanetary exploration. How do you envision the feel of your work? Do you have a context in mind when you are designing?



When I started experimenting with making jewelry I was initially inspired by tribal jewelry and adornments I had collected from South Asia. I loved the strength in the shapes and the feeling of empowerment they give to the wearer. I strive to create jewelry that incorporates both these bold shapes as well as more delicate and organic elements. The patterns in the copper enamel and the more intricate metalwork that I do tend to emulate things I see in nature.

Are there resources that you go to for inspiration? 



Definitely a change of scenery whether to a different neighborhood in the city or a new state energizes both myself and my work. My last visit to Colorado inspired me greatly. The multi-colored lichen growths on rocks I came across influenced the patterns I now make with copper enamel. I also feel that I am influenced by the architecture and shapes that I see while living in Chicago- it definitely contributes to a more industrial look with many of my pieces.

What does your average work day consist of?



I work out of my apartment so it’s easy to get caught up in my work. I can spend hours in my studio, which is great because I really enjoy it, but I am striving towards a more balanced approach. It is something I have yet to master.

Would you ever want your business to be larger so you would have to have others involved in production and sales? 

My jewelry feels like an extension of myself and at this point I feel if I had others working with me it wouldn’t feel as personal. Right now I am really enjoying the solitude and satisfaction of creating everything on my own.

You can find Etta’s work at Etta Kostick Jewelry: http://www.ettakostick.com/

Last fall, after attending one in a string of local Chicago design events, I was wondering why the tenor of such events had mutated over time. My recollection of shows that presented new and local design ideas, specifically of furniture, objects, interiors and architecture, is that they were often subversive, stylish, stimulating affairs.  Yet this particular experience seemed quite the opposite, with the requisite amenities of any Chicago street fair: the zip car booth, beer in plastic cups, and the sounds of a local band bouncing and distorting off the surrounding buildings and dissipating into the air.

Physical surroundings, context, people and multisensory experiences all play a role in the way we absorb new work, and can either serve to reinforce or detract from what it is we are seeing, tasting or hearing. In the case of designed objects, their context certainly cannot be ignored, as they are created to coexist amongst other objects, in a space, used by people. It therefore seems vital that the presentation of such objects and ideas must be carefully curated, and not just placed happenstance in a tent alongside tie-dyed t-shirts.

It was this initial realization that led me to consider what a show of Chicago-designed furniture and objects could be, if presented with the utmost consideration for their context and proximity to one another.  Rather than displaying a series of independent pieces on pedestals, I was curious to see what a grouping of furniture and objects, all designed in Chicago, would look like together in one functional, unified space. Would a larger aesthetic emerge as a result? And would the careful consideration of each piece juxtaposed with the others bring about a more meaningful experience, the whole show being greater than the sum of its parts?

These questions resulted in the decision to curate a show called Objects in Space at the Living Room Gallery, in which a series of rooms or living “vignettes” would be presented, displaying objects and furniture designed and produced exclusively in Chicago. Eager to find shared characteristics, either stylistic or process-driven, between different Chicago-based designers’ practices, I was optimistic that a New Chicago Modern might emerge as a result of the show.

As is the case with designing spaces and objects, the process of curating became at times more significant than the final outcome. In addition to discovering a multitude of talented Chicago designers, I was struck by two consistent elements: the genuineness of the people, and the powerful, visceral experience of the spaces in which they were working. With the people, there is a collaborative spirit and sense of community that permeates the world of Chicago’s furniture designers. And, unlike the constrained spaces necessitated by cost and density on the east and west coasts, in Chicago there exists a vastness and abundance of large converted industrial spaces, with streams of natural light, wonderfully aged structures and patinated materials. Such a combination of people and space, of openness and humility paired with powerfully inspiring and functional spaces, yields a unique outcome of well-crafted, carefully and honestly designed pieces. Although the formal aspects of the pieces I selected for the show vary greatly, the commonalities are there in the materials, craft and detail.

As a result of this curatorial process, Objects in Space showcases pieces by 30 different designers, many of whom do not sell retail and therefore lack exposure beyond their clients’ spaces.  The gallery is arranged in living and dining room spaces that are dynamic yet cohesive, with materials ranging from felt to concrete, steel to antique paper.  The gallery is transformed into a place of domesticity, divided into two spaces by a permeable room divider / jewelry cabinet made by Tim Cozzens of workshop/Cozzens, which provides a visual connection with functional separation. The living room is comprised of a seating area, displays and functional wall space with hooks to hang coats and purses. The dining room’s centerpiece is a beautiful table made by Doug Thome of Thomeworks, created out of salvaged wood from the Hammond Organ factory, with chairs by 8 different designers surrounding it, and displaying the ephemeral papier maché and ceramic pieces by Susan Dwyer of Up in the Air Somewhere. The positioning of each piece in relation to the others enables the space to take on a life of its own, with details and textures ranging from the rough hewn to the obsessively finished. With a huge range in scale, the pieces all appear to have been worked, detailed and formed to perfection, but not beyond.  The designs of benches, chairs, cabinets, light fixtures, vases, tables and textiles all present new ideas while adhering to traditional practices, with approaches that seem more about materiality, craft, and well-edited forms than trends or easy digestibility.

On the opening night, a soundtrack of Chicago music filtered through the beveled walnut speakers designed and made by Bryan Boline of B2 Concepts, with people setting their drinks on coasters made of leftover veneers from Furniture Revival, under the lighting of Beau Hale, Arlan DeRussy and MODified Originals. The architectonic quality of Dennis Johnson’s paintings and Sonnenzimmer’s prints served to reinforce the concept and feel of the space. As a unified experience, the evening simply made sense.  The resultant aesthetic is indeed a New Chicago Modern, yet perhaps not as much new as a point on the continuum, updating of the culture of craft, holistic space, newness and longevity that exists in the wide-open density of Chicago.

photo of teacher Cecily Langford, 2008

survey by Damon Locks

The discussion continues regarding the pros and cons of educating.

_______________________________________

Eve Fineman, 

age 38

What subject/s do you teach? I teach upper level studios in an undergraduate Interior Architecture program, including furniture design, portfolio, thesis and independent design studios.

Where do you teach? The Illinois Institute of Art – Chicago

What age group do you teach? 20 – 50 year olds. Many of my students are non-traditional college students, on their second degrees or careers, so the average age is in the mid-twenties.

How do you measure success as it pertains to being an educator? Great question! One benchmark for me is the highest level of quality I can get my students to produce, as measured not by the strongest students but by the ones who find it the most challenging. If I can teach them to tap into their abilities and discover new strengths and a higher level of confidence, then I think I have been successful.

Additionally, my success is measured by the outcomes of the students, and whether they have gained new knowledge or skills during the course of my time teaching them. Sometimes it takes a long time to see these come to full fruition. I love seeing their talents and abilities mature once they have graduated and are putting them into practice.

What is a major factor that impedes your work as an educator? Most of my students are putting themselves through school and are taking out major loans. As a result, their schedules are insane, where they are working full-time jobs and taking 4 studio courses at a time. That is not right, and causes them extreme stress and fatigue. They are not able to put as much into the class material as I’d like them to. But I don’t blame them, I blame the system that has caused higher education to be prohibitively expensive.

Do you think you will be a teaching in 10 years? YES!!! If I am lucky, I will be teaching alongside some of my brilliant former students.
_______________________________________

Therese Quinn, age 52

What subject/s do you teach? Art education classes related to teaching art in schools, like fieldwork and apprentice teaching seminars, and histories, theories and philosophies of American public education, and sometimes classes that connect to museums.

Where do you teach? School of the Art Institute of Chicago

What age group do you teach? College, both undergraduate and graduate levels

How do you measure success as it pertains to being an educator? Through the engagement and successes of my students, such as when they go on to teach in public schools across the city and country, and develop exhibits for museums, and publish their writing about teaching and everything else they do.

What is a major factor that impedes your work as an educator? Our national lack of regard for teachers of any subject, and specifically, the way our social understanding of “artist” is so limited (only for a few very special people, and not a way of understanding and responding the world that all of us should be able to access) and often precludes other identities, like “teacher.”

Do you think you will be a teaching in 10 years? Yes, teaching is intellectually challenging and political work, and always dynamic. And teaching people who will go on to be teachers, and doing this in Chicago–well, there’s nothing more exciting. Chicago has always been at the sharp edge of thinking about public education; from Jane Addams and John Dewey’s work in progressive and socially engaged education, to the initiation of elected Local School Councils in the 1980s, on through to Mayor Daley’s takeover of the Chicago Public Schools and Arne Duncan’s failed attempts to raise scores by closing public schools and opening quasi-private charter schools–this is the city where all education ideas and practices, good and bad, get tested. I can’t think of any kind of labor that is more interesting right now.
_______________________________________

Nicole Mitchell

What subject/s do you teach? Jazz History and Jazz Ensemble

What age group do you teach? I teach high school and at a university.

How do you measure success as it pertains to being an educator? I measure success by enthusiasm, independence, inspiration and development of the students.

What is a major factor that impedes your work as an educator? The major factor that impedes my work is the complication of being a professional artist in my field and teaching. Teaching schedules can be very strict which limits my accessibility to students. If institutions can be more supportive and flexible with active artists, students will be able to benefit more.

Do you think you will be a teaching in 10 years? I will be teaching in 10 years because teaching and mentorship is part of the balance in my lifestyle. It’s important to give to the future.

_______________________________________

Kelly Kuvo a.k.a. Ms. Richardson, age 40

What subject/s do you teach? Fundamentals of Art, Arts and Crafts, Ceramics

Where do you teach? Baltimore City Public Schools, currently at Heritage High School

What age group do you teach? Middle/High School students ages 13 -21

How do you measure success as it pertains to being an educator? Students completed art projects & improvement in art skills over time, student understanding of principles of art/elements of design/aesthetics: describing, analyzing, interpreting, and judging their own and others artworks both verbally in class and in writing on a critique worksheet. Student work being chosen to represent my school in city and state-wide art exhibitions.

What is a major factor that impedes your work as an educator? Inept school administrators that have no interest in understanding what I do as an art teacher, nor the amount of supplies I need and why I’ll need them, and no concept of the extra time it takes to prepare art materials before each lesson in contrast to other subject area teachers who simply work with paper worksheets and pen/pencil everyday.

Do you think you will be a teaching in 10 years? Yes, in New York City or Los Angeles. Definitely not in Baltimore

_______________________________________

Diane Lena, age 42

Where do you teach? Early Childhood Montessori, Oscar Mayer Magnet school in Lincoln Park

What age group do you teach? 3-6 year olds

How do you measure success as it pertains to being an educator? I measure my success as an educator by observing my students and my classrooms environment. Are my students happy? Are they excited about learning new things. Are they working together as a community? I know I am successful I see my students teaching each other, talking to each other about what they have learned, and asking question to deepen their understanding.

What is a major factor that impedes your work as an educator? Developmentally inappropriate expectations. Many administrators do not have or even try to a thorough understanding of child development.There is a trend to make preschool more academic. I do believe it is important to challenge children, but not pushing to the point of frustration.

Another impeding factor is the lack of appreciation or understanding of the importance of the creative thought process in education.

Do you think you will be a teaching in 10 years? I do think I’ll be teaching or involved in education in 10 years. It will hopefully be in my own school or a school that has been developed with people that share the same educational philosophy as me.

_______________________________________

Olivia, age 37

What subject/s do you teach? Humanities – integrated English Lang Arts, Spanish Lang Arts, Social Studies, Fine and Folk Arts

Where do you teach? I taught 6-8th grades for 10 years at Telpochcalli Elementary school, a small CPS school in La Villita at 24th and California. This has been my first year out of my regular classroom – now am working with other schools and teaching workshops for teachers to help them build strong dual language programs so our students emerge bilingual, biliterate, and “culturally competent.” I also co-teach a Social Studies methods course at the U of C for their Urban Ed grad program.

How do you measure success as it pertains to being an educator? A successful teacher should be measured by the individual growth of each student they have taught and by their ability to reach every student in some powerful way. When still students call me for advice 10 years later, when they have the courage to express their individual identity no matter the pressure to conform, when they retain the artifacts and memories of our learning experiences together, when they have fish, know how to fish, have explored the metacognitive process of learning to fish, have written poetry about the…you get it, when they demonstrate that they have had experiences that they can build on and have developed tools with which to do so – those are the measures of my success.

What is a major factor that impedes your work as an educator? The biggest challenges to my work are 1) the intellectual laziness of many grownups with power 2) shallow attitudes about language and culture 3) policy and infrastructure that do not support solid teaching practices, most awfully, assessment practices that delegitimize any demonstration of learning that doesn’t lend itself to quantifiable measure.

Do you think you will be a teaching in 10 years? I will definitely be teaching in 10 years.

_______________________________________

M. Brooks, age 43

What subject/s do you teach? English as a Second Language

How do you measure success as it pertains to being an educator? I measure success by the amount of interest I can generate in a student to learn and to recognize the importance of becoming a life long learner. This is measurable through a change in attitude towards grades, achieving higher grades, doing better in class and in school etc…This is not how success is generally measured by school systems who like to focus on standardized test scores mostly.

What is a major factor that impedes your work as an educator? The major factor that impedes my work as an educator is not having enough time to do all of the things I am required to do adequately…not having enough time to work with struggling students. Also, not being paid over the summer and not receiving raises has made it necessary to get a part-time job which means less energy for working with my students.

Do you think you will be a teaching in 10 years? I will not be teaching in 10 years. Hopefully, I will have moved on!

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Mary Dominis, age 43 yrs

Where do you teach? Mesa, Arizona

What age group do you teach? Kindergarten for 11 years

How do you measure success as it pertains to being an educator? I know I have experienced success when any one, and hopefully all of my students make gains academically, sociallly and emotionally throughout the school year. I also measure my success by my student’s level of comfort and joy in the learning process and the environment I provide. It is one of my goals to personally connect with each of my students at least once per day, via handshake, hug, quiet conversation at my desk etc. It also is one of my goals to share laughter in the class each day. My passion for multicultural studies, literature and music is also shared in my class as a way to teach tolerance and inspire an interest in the arts.

What is a major factor that impedes your work as an educator? The incredible amount of government, state and local district red hoops that teachers are being forced to jump through. I understand that there is a need for continuing education and checks and balances, but these things have gotten completely out of control. Teachers have endless meetings and are required to do ridiculous amounts of paper work leaving very littlte time for preparation and actual teaching. Kindergarten began a version of standardized testing several years ago and we are now being pressured to teach for test scores as scores are tied into our salaries.

Do you think you will be a teaching in 10 years? Not sure. I have been thinking about alternative occupations for several years now. I make very little money and am finding it more difficult each year to survive on a teacher’s salary. My garbage man makes ten dollars more per hour than I do for driving around in an air conditioned cab with a robotic arm that picks up and dumps the trash for him.

I do however have a passion for teaching and as long as I can find joy in what I do despite all of the aggravations I spoke of, I will continue to teach.

_______________________________________

Marliese Colantuno Roth, age 43

What subject/s do you teach?/ What age group do you teach? The Montessori curriculum is interdisciplinary, so I teach all subjects.  As Montessori educators, we are coached not to “teach subjects” in the conventional sense; rather we prepare a rich environment in which children can select from beautiful hands-on materials that interest them, teaching themselves via their own investigations and experimentation, with our guidance as asked for or needed.  This is true at every level. Also, a fundamental component of the Montessori method is a mixed age grouping comprised of a three-year span, so Montessori guides are prepared to offer lessons over not one, but three years’ worth of curriculum.  For the age group for which I am trained (which encompasses children from 2.5 years old through 6 years old), this includes Peace Education; Practical Life Skills; Sensorial Experiences; Language Arts; Mathematics; Science and Nature; History, Social Studies, and Geography; Art, Movement, and Music.

Where do you teach: I have been working with children since I was in high school; my high school ran a pre-school as part of its Child Development Program.  Currently I teach adult educators at The Institute for Advanced Montessori Studies, a graduate-level teacher preparation program housed on the campus of the Barrie School in Silver Spring, Maryland.  Since 2000 I have held this position concurrently with my work as a teacher of young children.  Since 2007 I have been teaching at my own Montessori program in Mount Airy, Maryland.

How do you measure success as it pertains to being an educator? I will share with you a quote from my Montessori mentor, Tim Seldin, of the Montessori Foundation:  “Education, properly done, is nothing more than holistic environmental engineering designed to meet human needs.  The purpose of Montessori education is to facilitate the development of self-actualized human beings in percentages dramatically greater than occur normally in the human race by chance.”  Although the children in her programs were known for remarkable academic achievements, it is this that Dr. Montessori described this as the most important result of our work.  So it is this I use as my paramount consideration.

I evaluate my efficacy not only from the perspective of what academic material the children demonstrate that they are learning, retaining, and applying, but by numerous other factors as well.  These might include the demeanor, moods, and character development of the individual children with whom I work; the level of cleanliness, order, and spontaneous care for the environment that the children achieve; the depth of their concentration while they are working independently; the kindness and care with which they treat each other; the level of harmony and creativity in our environments; the quality of the relationships between my colleagues and the families with whom we work; and so on.  I look for clear evidence of each child’s independent and joyful scholarship and their skills as individuals and in a group managing their own spontaneous interactions with one another.  

What is a major factor that impedes your work as an educator? Education, and educators in general, suffer from a lack of respect.  Beyond that, within the field of education, as well as in the mind of the general public, Montessori education, like other models called “Partnership Models” by Riane Eisler (see Tomorrow’s Children), is still not well understood by the dominant culture, and therefore is not highly valued.  I would not necessarily say that this impedes my work, however it is a factor that makes it challenging. By way of example, Montessori educators in general are required to have significantly more training than conventional educators and have a significantly greater workload, while often making a lot less money and having fewer benefits, less job security, less free time, less planning time, and less access to resources for their students than their counterparts in conventional programs.   Another factor that I can identify as a challenge is the ambiguity in people’s minds as to the most important purposes of education.  Thus we are further hampered in our efforts by the fact that the “debates” about how to “reform” education are largely focused around what I see as meaningless, irrelevant, or erroneous aspects of this puzzle.  Additionally, teachers are often convenient scapegoats in the political process, while at the same time, we are prevented from doing what we know from experience would work better, and prevented from being innovative; none of this serves the best interests of children.  In the meantime, as a society, we continue to confuse symptom for cause, and continue to do more of what doesn’t work.  When it “fails”, we continue to attempt to apply the same approach with more determination, being punitive to teachers and children in the process.

Do you think you will be teaching in 10 years? In words also attributed to Michelangelo:  “I am still learning.”  I hope to be still learning always, and yes, I do envision myself continuing on this path, continuing to be a part of illuminating possible pathways for others, as was done for me; continuing to define my role for myself, continuing to expand what it means, and continuing to expand my job description accordingly as I go…

_______________________________________

Donna Wipf, age 38

What subject/s do you teach? Language Arts, Science

Where do you teach? Mitchell School

What age group do you teach? 6th-8th graders

How do you measure success as it pertains to being an educator? There’s student engagement. Do they want to be at my school? In my class? Learning what I present? Are they enthusiastic? Are they treated as if they have something worthwhile to contribute? Are they given opportunities to discuss important issues, concepts, and thoughts?

Then there’s the class climate. Have I created an environment where students enjoy both the learning and the socializing? Are they kind to one another? Are they learning to be good people? Am I modeling tolerance and an openness to new ideas?

Am I providing them with a variety of opportunities to learn outside the classroom? Are they exposed to things they would not otherwise experience?

Obviously there’s the curriculum content, skills, knowledge, and tests they have to pass. I want my students to test well, and go on to succeed in high school and college. Is every student being challenged at her/his level? Is our school progressing? We use a variety of data and assessments to ensure we are meeting academic goals.

Then there are the small, individual successes that are hard to quantify, but often are my favorite. Anai, a bilingual student is starting to joke around in English. Frank, a “very special” student is behaving more appropriately this year. Kadaivion, a boy who lives with grandma because his mom was shot and killed has started talking about high school, college, and his future career goals. Daniella, who’s home is incredibly troubled, has started really loving what we read, and writing about her ideas. Anselmo promised not to be like George Bush during his speech for student council president.

Then there’s my teaching. Am I improving? Trying new ways to present materials? Am I learning as an educator and challenging myself? Do I love what I do? And I definitely do.

What is a major factor that impedes your work as an educator?
I have two:
1. Time! We basically get paid for the time we teach, but do not get paid for the time it takes to prepare lessons, grade papers, meet with parents, organize the classroom, tutor students, etc. At my school we do get 50min per day, but that does not even begin to be enough time to do it all.

2. Babysitting “difficult” students. It can be difficult, even in a good school, to give the “good” kids the attention they deserve if “difficult” or noisier students command your attention.

Do you think you will be a teaching in 10 years? This is my 13th year. Not sure if I’ll be teaching 10 more. Probably

photo of teacher Lucille Ellis, 1972

survey by Damon Locks

With the education system a heated topic of discussion in this country, I wanted to talk to those that are on the front lines of the battle to educate, to find out how they  feel about their jobs. With all of the hardships that face an educator today…do the pros outweigh the cons? Here is a healthy sampling of teachers’ thoughts about; teaching, learning, growth, inspiration, compensation, their investment in the process and the system that surrounds it.

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Carlos Patino, age 39

What subject/s do you teach? 5th grade everything- Language Arts, Math, Science, Social Studies

Where do you teach? in Bucktown at a CPS elementary school (Burr)

What age group do you teach? 10-11 year olds

How do you measure success as it pertains to being an educator? I measure success as helping my students attain the Illinois learning standards. That said, I also measure success knowing that I have improved my students’ achievement and been a positive role model in their lives.

What is a major factor that impedes your work as an educator? A work day that is too short, excessive and unrealistic demands, non supportive administration

Do you think you will be a teaching in 10 years? I will be a principal or assistant principal. If that does not occur then I will still be teaching in classroom

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Diyan, age 38.75

What subject/s do you teach? Printmaking (all kinds, all levels), Multiples in Contemporary Practice, Drawing

Where do you teach? Emily Carr University, Vancouver BC

What age group do you teach? 17+

How do you measure success as it pertains to being an educator? This is a hard one, because the results are sometimes only visible years later. But there are a number of things that I look at in measuring how I’m doing. One, is designing curriculum that’s interesting, challenging, and hopefully relevant, that the students respond to and engage with. Two, is seeing students’ work develop and refine over the course of working with them. Three, would be seeing students open up and further develop their critical thinking, questioning their own as well as my assumptions.

What is a major factor that impedes your work as an educator? I would say funding for students, the cost of education and living for students in a city as expensive as Vancouver especially. So many of my students work many hours as well as go to school to fund their education, they don’t have the luxury of time or money to really mull over and experiment and play and discover — there’s anxiety about grades and having solid job-applicable skills.

Do you think you will be a teaching in 10 years? Yes. I taught my first class 14 years ago. I’m still teaching now. I can’t imagine what I’d be doing if I wasn’t teaching in some way, shape or form. It’s a lot of work, often very exhausting, but so rewarding. The interactions, the people I meet and learn from, the conversations around art and ideas and making things…I wouldn’t trade that.

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Sarah Lasken, age 32

What subject/s do you teach? Humanities

Where do you teach? YWLCS (Young Women’s Leadership Charter School)

What age group do you teach? 10th grade

How do you measure success as it pertains to being an educator? Student engagement, and student’s ability to synthesize a difficult topic.

What is a major factor that impedes your work as an educator? The current obsession with testing is problematic. Not because tests can not be a helpful indicator of student success, but because their test scores are often treated like the only important measure of success. We do a lot more then prep students to circle a, b, c, or d.

Do you think you will be a teaching in 10 years? I hope so. But, teaching jobs are fast disappearing. I worry that in a few years I may not be able to find a position anymore.

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Gwen Fagan, age 45

What subject/s do you teach? Life Studies, Materials and Processes, Fiber Manipulation, Visual Studies, Critical Studies, Drawing and Painting, Combined Materials.

Where do you teach? I teach at Ballyfermot College in Dublin, Ireland.

What age group do you teach? Students are typically 18 – 23 yrs of age, with a few mature students thrown in for good measure.

How do you measure success as it pertains to being an educator? One thing that has stuck with me since I studied with Steve Waldek at SAIC, was when he said to me, “Part of what I do is to help you learn how to teach yourself.” If I could impart that ability to my own students, I would consider myself successful as an educator.

What is a major factor that impedes your work as an educator? I think the main impediment to my work as an educator is the red tape which has a tendency to slow processes.

Do you think you will be a teaching in 10 years? I do think I will be teaching in ten years, yes. I love it.

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Danielle Beverly, age 40+

What subject/s do you teach? I teach Intermediate 16mm Film Production, Advanced 16mm Film Production, Screenwriting and Women & Documentary.

Where do you teach? The University of Notre Dame

What age group do you teach? My students average age 20-21, but there will be a few Sophomores next semester.

How do you measure success as it pertains to being an educator? I measure success by engaging students to think in ways they might not have before. I want to blow their minds with films, with ideas, and with the sudden realization of their own creative and cognitive abilities. I see teaching as a way to help them think about the world, and about others who may be unlike them in many ways, but ultimately human just like them. If I can do that, there has been success. The rest is up to them.

What is a major factor that impedes your work as an educator? I’m very lucky to have a great deal of professional and personal support at Notre Dame, and very small classes. So there are very few factors (yet, I’ve just started) that impede my work. I wish students would speak up more however, and am sick of the sound of my own voice.

Do you think you will be a teaching in 10 years? I’m not sure if I will be teaching in 10 years. I’m “trying it on” again after a long period as a freelance documentary filmmaker – one that took me all over the country and provided lots of freedom and excitement, while I lived paycheck to paycheck. Part of me bristles at having any sort of routine or commitment! But the other part that I’m currently embracing is that teaching offers so many resources: to equipment, grants, colleagues, books, and even things like printers and computers! It is also forcing me to re-engage with my craft and the scholarship informing my craft so that I can serve my students. So in that way, it’s making my mind sharp and curious again. I’m thinking that if academia will have me, then I will have it

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Anonymous, age 33

What subject/s do you teach? Asian American Studies, film, and anthropology

What age group do you teach? I teach college undergrads and occasionally graduate students.

How do you measure success as it pertains to being an educator? I measure success by how engaged the students are and by how well they understand the material.

What is a major factor that impedes your work as an educator? A major factor for impeding my work is not having enough time to prepare. This is because I’m currently a graduate student. I’m hoping conditions improve when I’m done with schooling.

Do you think you will be a teaching in 10 years? I will be teaching in ten years, i hope.

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Mara Drogan, age 43

What subject/s do you teach? History (U.S., world, women’s) and an interdisciplinary course called Politics and Film.

Where do you teach? University at Albany and JHU Center for Talented Youth (Princeton site)

What age group do you teach? College and high-school

How do you measure success as it pertains to being an educator? Most of my students take my classes because they are required, so if I can convince a few of them each semester that studying history is not the worst thing that ever happened to them, I feel I’ve done well. (Having a student tell me they’ve decided to become a history major after taking my class is the ultimate.) Judging the success of a particular course is very subjective and changeable since it depends as much on the particular group of students as it does on anything I bring to the classroom.

What is a major factor that impedes your work as an educator? Number 1 is the extremely low pay. The ugly truth is that this affects the amount of work I am willing to do. The second factor is very poorly prepared students. I have college students who have trouble with reading comprehension, grasping basic concepts, and writing. This makes it very challenging to teach history and critical thinking.

Do you think you will be a teaching in 10 years? Yes, I hope so. Despite the obstacles, I love teaching. It is fun, challenging, and intellectually stimulating as few things are.
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Leslie Lockett, age 29

What subject/s do you teach? I teach Special Ed Literature, Composition, and Civics. I co-teach the Lit/Comp classes with general ed. teachers (not certified in special ed.)

Where do you teach? I teach at Rowe-Clark Math & Science Academy (A Noble Street Charter School.)

What age group do you teach? I teach 9th grade.

How do you measure success as it pertains to being an educator? It’s really hard to answer this question. I measure success by how I feel at the end of the day. If I feel I had positive interactions all day and that at least one student learned something new, I usually feel good. I also like when they use correct subject verb agreement. That always feels good.

What is a major factor that impedes your work as an educator? The amount of paperwork that I have to do sometimes impedes my work as an educator. When I worked for CPS, I didn’t feel like I was really a teacher at all.

Do you think you will be a teaching in 10 years? I most definitely hope to be teaching in 10 years.

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Stephen Haynes, age 55

What subject/s do you teach? I work one on one with autistic children

Where do you teach? local high school

What age group do you teach? 16-18

How do you measure success as it pertains to being an educator? Daily, in small bites. As a child of the sixties, I believe change is affected on a small scale in an intimate fashion.

What is a major factor that impedes your work as an educator? Level of pay. Non-recognition of my life experience. I am “under-employed”

Do you think you will be a teaching in 10 years? I have always taught in one manner or another, formally and/or informally. You cannot truly learn and NOT be charged with transmitting knowledge. This is the bodhisattva factor. you dig?! My work continues to keep me in intimate contact with humility… really.  Life continues to be an unfolding mystery.

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Allison Vivian Fine, age 61

What subject/s do you teach? English, Creative Writing, Literature, College Writing, Communications, Theatre Arts, Dramaturge, Acting, Directing (not all at once and not all at Westwood College–I am currently only teaching Literature and Writing there)

Where do you teach? Westwood College

What age group do you teach? adults 20-40 and beyond

How do you measure success as it pertains to being an educator? Impossible to tell at this time. If, at the end of the term, my students have a more positive attitude toward reading and writing and can write a coherent paragraph!

What is a major factor that impedes your work as an educator? The school I work for, the admissions policy, the administration, the educational background of the students who attend (appalling) and the corporate policy of the loathesome for-profit college paradigm.

Do you think you will be a teaching in 10 years? I sure F(**&&* hope not! I am a full fledged artist–writer, actor, director and musician. If I am not dead in 10 years I want to be working full time at my craft(s) achieving some audience and success and earning a living at it!

see more responses to the survey in Tomorrow Starts Today part 2

photos by Damon Locks

In a hotel restaurant in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Rob Mazurek and Roscoe Mitchell sit down to talk about music with Edmundo Clairefont. Both Roscoe and Rob are composers, musicians and improvisers. Roscoe was a founding member of the Art Ensemble of Chicago and tonight he is the featured guest in Rob Mazurek’s Exploding Star Orchestra.

Roscoe Mitchell:

Music and art functions at its best when it’s out amongst the people. For any style of music you are playing, music has always had its laws for how that style goes. You have to learn what the laws are, study those and keep improving yourself. I enjoy music where no one is responsible for keeping it going…where things can shift. Anybody can be the root. Ensembles building orchestral textures inside of an improvisation…I find that very interesting. There are certainly a lot of young people out there that want to get into some different things. I’ve talked to a lot of disillusioned college students that have gone to these ridged school systems and they come out and say “Now what?”  So many of them don’t have a real identity. One of the things you would like to develop is your own musical identity. A lot of the time, the ways schools exist, they get the students in there and they are trying to get them to live up to other people’s example. When you are doing that you are always behind. I am probably not going to be able to do what you do better than you. What I can do it learn from what you are doing and figure out my own way of doing what I’m doing. Once you tap into that, you tap into an endless resource of ideas. The things that come before us are there to learn from.  Art is bigger than all of us. It has it’s own laws and it’s own direction that its traveling. This is not a bad time for people that are serious about their work. If you want to break through this, go home and really get down. What are you gonna do? I am waiting to see what you’re gonna do? We just need to get back where people are really looking at something they want to do…not to be swayed by what comes along in between. Keep their own focus…out of that emerges something that turns out to be meaningful to everyone.  Music is a big study. It would take more than one lifetime to get to what I would like to get to in music.

Rob Mazurek:

Information is only information unless you experience it. When you experience it, it turns into a kind of knowledge right? A lot of people don’t have the patience. It’s just a matter of being honest with yourself. How much music do you make that gets thrown out…like 80%? A lot of people make stuff and say, “Oh I don’t listen to that.” My criteria for what I am doing is “Am I going to put this on, on my record player at home and listen to it?” That is why I started painting too. I wanted to paint something because I wanted something specific I could look at in my house. You know what I am saying?

words and photos by Eamonn Vitt

Northern Uganda is hurting.  Conflict has raged in this homeland of the Acholi people for almost twenty-five years. There exists an Acholi proverb “When two elephants struggle, it is the grass that suffers”.  In the bush lurks the Lord’s Resistance Army, a rebel group led by a homicidal madman named Joseph Kony.  In the LRA’s battle against the Ugandan Government, the peasant population has been caught in the middle.  They have suffered greatly.

Most terrorized have been the children. They were abducted in tremendous numbers by the LRA and used as child soldiers.  These kids were forced to commit unspeakable atrocities. Frequently against their own brothers, sisters, parents, grandparents.

The conflict has recently diminished and people are trying to rebuild their lives.  Seemingly insurmountable obstacles remain.  HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria are major killers here.   Until recently, access to quality health care has been impossible.  Adequate nutrition is an issue.  Unexploded landmines litter the hillsides. The government is infested with corruption.

In 2009 I spent six months working in Acholiland with the humanitarian group Doctors Without Borders.  I was in charge of our very remote hospital.  We provided expert medical care, essential medicines, mental health support, and training for local workers.

Our general clinic attended to two to three hundred patients a day.  People would walk a full day to seek medical attention.  The HIV/AIDS program served over 700 patients.  While maternal to child transmission of HIV is now essentially unheard of in the developed world, it’s unfortunately common here.  Which means lots of babies and children who must confront HIV/AIDS disease.  We treated hundreds for tuberculosis, spread because of overcrowding and housing problems in the refugee camps, and aggravated by the HIV/AIDS epidemic.  Most lethal for the children is malaria.  The deadliest subspecies of all, Plasmodium Falciparum stalks Acholiland.  Our hospital was diagnosing over a hundred cases a day at peak malaria season.  It was hard to believe.  It was terrible.  So many children were lost.

These children, how do they survive?  They have suffered tremendously.  Many are still suffering.   But as the conflict subsides, their chances are improving.  They are eager for a better life.  They have no shoes and they walk miles to school.  They learn Acholi and English and math and science.  They see mobile phones and burst with curiosity about the world.  They help their parents work long days in the fields.  They take their medicines when they are supposed to.  They proudly sport t-shirts with positive messages encouraging safety and awareness. They will make you smile so hard your cheeks crack.  They run around and play and sing and dance like hell.  These kids have been to hell.  They are back. They are the smartest and toughest kids in the world. They are going to be OK.

Navigating New York City means existing in a constant state of flux; sidewalks shuffle horizontally, stairs/elevators thrust vertically, subways tunnel below, bridges reach towards the sky.  Day to day experiences often consist of endless journeys from point A to B and back again.  Opportunities for reflection concerning the spaces/places travelled though/around/in, unfortunately, tend to be rare.

My work begins with this concept in mind.  I create photographs and collage compositions that highlight overlooked and banal elements within a neighborhood/area/space.  The compositions are meant to show the viewer what they are missing, so that when they leave the gallery they too can spot various overlooked idiosyncratic elements that surround them everyday. Once an installation location is identified, I spend days scouring the immediate area with my camera, collecting images which I use as found objects.  These images are then downloaded into the computer and various sketches are made using Photoshop.  Each element is printed separately, and stuck onto the wall one piece at a time.  The images in the [flo] series use a material called Photo-tex, a removable sticky back inkjet printable paper.

[flo] #4 – LIC

flo]#4 – 2010 – 20’x9’ – was created specifically for a new gallery called The Homefront, in Long Island City, Queens, New York.  The space previously housed a showroom for a new condos being built across the street, and retains elements of this previous use.

It is a site specific large scale photographic collage that chronicles the radical gentrification glaringly evident in the area surrounding The Homefront.  It visualizes the dissonance between the neighborhood’s low rise brick industrial and residential buildings and the slew of imposing high rise glass mega buildings growing seemingly overnight all around them.  A cacophony of change abounds:  extensive street diversions and construction, structures rising and falling, parks and street furniture appearing, sidewalk repairs, and subway station upgrades.  The streets are ripe with brightly colored freshly painted shapes and lines, a code that only construction workers can translate. Conversely, buildings display the vestiges of time: fading handmade signs warning of obsolete violations, worn metal doors to shuttered garages, house numbers scribbled in sharpie, “sidewalk closed” at nearly every turn.

[flo] #3 – 7W 34th St.

[flo] #3 – 2010 – 23’x14’ – was a site specific work created for the Affordable Art Fair in May 2010.  It was installed in the lobby of 7W 34 Street in midtown Manhattan.  The work used imagery from the fair floor, the building itself (especially the elevators), and the view of midtown from the fair floor windows (11^th).  This activated the viewer’s perception of the spaces they would be traversing on the way to and during the fair.

[flo]#2 – DUMBO Arts Festival

[flo]#1 – A.I.R. Gallery – left and back wall

[flo]#1 – A.I.R. Gallery – back wall-floor

[flo]#1 – A.I.R. Gallery – left wall

[flo]#1 and [flo]#2 (2009) focus attention on the immediate landscape in and around the 55 Washington Street (in DUMBO, Brooklyn) elevator lobby/overall 111 Front street building.  By photographing the ducts, pipes, light fixtures, office equipment, and other necessary but often hidden features of a gallery, the collage deconstructs the space, highlighting the architectural elements that make the building function, but often go unnoticed. The viewer is invited to appreciate the space in its entirety instead of imagining the artwork to be separate or unaffected by its context. The literal and imagined ductwork, electric lines, sprinkler system and other pipes lead the viewer’s eye around the space, serving as pathways to the building’s exterior and the surrounding urban geography.

Leaning – 2008 – 4′X6′

Gravitate – 2008 – 4′X4′

Glob – 2008 – 3′X4′

Spurt – 2008 – 6′X6′

collages in public

Construction barricades disrupt our sense of place by genericising stretches of sidewalk, acting as vague placeholders for “the future”, but ultimately functioning as faceless voids in an otherwise chaotic street level landscape. “Free” spaces are nocturnally filled with some form of street style “on-the-fly” mark making: movie posters are slathered onto their surfaces, paint colors are hastily applied to every nook and cranny, graffiti tags are scrawled on top of each other, all creating a system of unique symbols and signifiers. By collaborating with these pre-determined slap dash irregular canvases, my work speaks with their native elements by both becoming one with and overlapping the marks present. They add sounds to a language that seems almost familiar (fly-posting, tagging, etc.), but become a language all of their own, like alien graffiti.

These pictures were drawn using a hot chrome and metallic analog sausage roll.

- John Herndon

interview by Damon Locks

fashion photography by The Collaborationist

Is fashion political? Is your work political? Sometimes it is, although not overtly. I reference where we are currently and the socio-political climate is definitely taken in to consideration when I am thinking about the collection, fabric references etc…

Can you name a few “all time” inspirations? Things that never cease to inspire? Art, Texture, Geometry, Nature, Film, Architecture and above all, Innovative thinking.

At different times, fashion could mark changes in cultural. In 2010, do you feel fashion has an impact culturally? Absolutely, I feel that the arts in general have impacted us greatly in 2010. The arts are exploding in the face of the depression we are in!  Also, In a strange way I feel that the First lady. Mrs-O, has brought fashion to the main stream. People are looking to see what she is wearing as the new first lady, and the fact that she is supporting younger less established designers, is very relevant to the times, and the the idea of Change. Historically speaking the first lady has been dressed by more conservative, established designers. Michelle Obama takes risks along side the classics. I never thought in my lifetimeThank you Mrs-O !

What would be your dream aspiration in terms of your work? If everything went exactly as you would want, what would you want you work to do, say, be considered? My aspiration is to be respected for my work. Although the work I make is artistic, I design with real women in mind. I want people to be moved emotionally by what they see, and moved to wear it as a genuine self expression of confidence. I have come to learn that everything else is out of my control!