30/07/2014

ART & ACTIVITY COURSE

As I am still strongly believing in my dream to become an art educator, I thought it would be a good idea to have a look at a website one of my friends recommended me: https://www.coursera.org/
This website makes it possible for anyone in the world to follow courses from different institutions and universities, no matter where they are in the world, and: for FREE.

I was highly motivated to find a course in arts, and I luckily stumbled upon a course called Art & Activity: Interactive strategies for engaging with art. This course is made my MoMa (yes, THE MoMa) and is led by three established art educators who all work for MoMa. And who better to learn from than people who have made it really far in the world of art education; they made it to MoMa.

Although I found the course three weeks too late (oops?) I am still able to read the literature, engage in discussions with like-minded people and watch the videos made by the three art educators. 

Trying to catch up quickly with the three weeks I have missed, I am constantly reminded of my dream. The more I engage in this course, the more I know this is exactly what I want. The importance of not giving up on your dream, really makes a difference. Having something to strive for, something to look forward to, being encouraged and reminded of that what you want to achieve, doesn't make you just a motivated person, it makes you a dedicated person.

And on that note I would like to end with a quote from one of favourite sources of inspiration, Bear Grylls:

"Dreams, though, are cheap, and the real task comes when you start putting in place the steps needed to make those dreams a reality".

WHO: MoMa, Museum of Modern Art, New York
WHAT: The online free course: Art & Activity: Interactive strategies for engaging with art
WHERE: www.coursera.org


29/07/2014

YOUNG MASTERS

Today I was helping the artist in residence Jane Fordham at the Fabrica art gallery. She was giving a workshop for home-schooled teenagers that were going to do some drawings with different materials. One other volunteer and me decided to help out. In the end, this meant we were drawing ourselves as well. Wait, what? I wasn't prepared for this! But apparently, you don't have to.

So here I was, charcoal in one hand, eyes on the model and surely not ready to go. But surprisingly drawing goes quite natural. You just go with what you feel like and hope for the best!


In the end, I really felt I learned a lot in those few hours, and I had the feeling these kids did as well. In the beginning they were joking around a bit, laughing and talking, but as time passed by, they got really concentrated and focused on what they were doing. Many pairs of curious eyes went over the different pieces of paper to check out what the others did. 

So there you go, it might be scary to draw that very first line on that crisp fresh white piece of paper, but before you know it, you have drawn your very first model drawing!

PS: Unfortunately I didn't have my Nikon camera with me, so sorry for the quality of my phone camera.

WHO: Home-schooled teenagers with artist Jane Fordham at Fabrica
WHAT: Drawing art workshop

WHERE: Duke street, Brighton, UK


   Some of the drawings of the teenagers
The teenagers and model Laura
     My very first drawing of model Laura

FREE MUSEUM: VICTORIA & ALBERT

World-Famous for its abundance of art, the V&A in London attracts many visitors per year. And one of the most wonderful things about British museums are that there are FREE. I believe making museums free perhaps removes one of the greatest barriers that museums have to deal with; it makes it accessible. Museums around the world often have difficulties with attracting visitors of different sorts and are pushing the brains of their marketing departments to attract new visitors. Removing the barriers of standing in line and actually comtemplating whether you should buy a ticket and if it's worth your money, disappears.

Of course most of these museums are funded by the government and/or private funders, but if they are able to attract the amount of visitors they would like to achieve, it might be worth it.
Because if you have taken that first step of going to that museum and actually liking it, it is more likely you will tell you friends and family, or, even return to the museum yourself. And that is exactly what these museums want. 

So tough question: do you make your visitors pay a price which gives you your revenue but risks the chance of losing visitors by ticketing them, or do you make your museum free to make it more accessible, but risk getting the right revenue in?

WHO: Victoria & Albert Museum
WHAT: Old & modern art & temporary exhibitions
WHERE: 
Cromwell Road, London, UK








FABRICA

Since I have moved to Brighton, I have been a volunteer at Fabrica Art Gallery. A lovely gallery in the heart of Brighton, where you can see different exhibitions and modern installations. Currently I am working with my other colleagues on organizing Sunday workshops in the gallery, where everyone can just join in and use their creativity. The current workshops are based on the installation by Monika Grzymala - Raumzeichnung(until the end of August 2014 in Fabrica).

WHO: Fabrica Art Gallery
WHAT: Installation by Monika Grzymala & Sunday workshops
WHERE: Duke Street, Brighton, East Sussex, UK








INTRO

Welcome to my new blog about art through travel. I am passionate about travelling and have been to some of the most beautiful places. However, there are always new destinations for me to discover. And as art is one of my other passions, I thought combining these two in a blog would be exactly what I want. I hope to inform you, give you an insight of the art that is out there, give you my ideas an opinions and some tips and tricks about where to go. Expect to see posts about museums, galleries, theatres, fashion, music, photgraphy and more.

Hope you enjoy!

Yashira