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Find Art: Family Art Program

Western Sullivan Public Library, Jeffersonville, NY

Project Director: Laura Moran

Target Audience: Family, Children, Adults, Teens

Library Size: Under 25,000

Quote

“The arts are a necessity. They are a way for us to share our stories, to remind ourselves of our communal history, to broaden the horizons of our children and teach ourselves new ways of thinking. Exposure to the arts sharpens minds and creativity. When the arts thrive, communities thrive. Our main concern is that the people of our community have exposure to many different art forms and experiences, and using the Picturing America collection as foundation for our programs will help us attain this goal.”

Program Summary

Western Sullivan Public Library (WSPL) incorporated the Picturing America collection in three program series:

• Find Art: Family Art Program featured Kirstin Broussard, lecturer and teaching artist, visiting the Jeffersonville Branch to lead one-hour interactive discussions, followed by one-hour interdisciplinary art activities centered on one piece of art from the Picturing America collection. Intergenerational discussions on artist style, genre, and medium with emphasis on cultural context were facilitated at each program. Different themes for each two-hour session allowed maximum freedom in registration and attendance. Each class incorporated the study and use of techniques utilized in that particular artwork. Family artwork was exhibited in the library’s three branches after programs concluded.

• First Fridays: Contemporary Author Series has been curated and hosted by WSPL since 2005. A typical night at First Fridays consists of a concise open mic, a short feature by a local reader of distinction, and one or two featured international touring authors. As a special addition to the 2010 First Fridays series, visiting authors were sent one selection of art from the Picturing America collection and asked to create a poem inspired by that artwork. The same artwork was shown at the First Fridays reading before that visiting artist’s appearance. Audience members were encouraged to write a work inspired by the art and share it at the next open mic event.

• WSPL combined both of the above programs with a special ekphrastic component. The visiting First Fridays poets joined the Find Art program to share their poem inspired by the Picturing America artwork, introduce the families to a short poem form, participate in the art project, and then create a poem inspired by the art the families create. Participants were welcome to try out the poem form introduced to them and create their own poems as well.

Use of the Artwork

• Basis for lectures and discussion, lead by a professional arts educator.
• Lead-in to hands-on interdisciplinary art activities.
• Inspiration for ekphrastic poetry readings and writing workshops.

Programs and Ideas

• Found Object Art: The “Art All Around” discussion showcased several Picturing America artworks as an introductory program overview and highlighted the basic tenet that art is found all around us. Works included those by Frank Lloyd Wright, Romare Beardon, Dorothea Lange, Martin Puryear, pottery and baskets, Greenlee’s auilts, and Walker Evans, as well as Joseph Cornell and Robert Rauschenberg.

• Portraiture: The portraiture discussion featured works by John Singleton Copley and Emanuel Leutze, and was followed by a workshop involving the creation of life-size silhouettes.

• Collage: Discussion referencing Romare Bearden’s The Dove was led by Kirstin Broussard, with poets Marty McConnell and Tristan Silverman from Chicago speaking on found poetry. Poems were created from clipped newspaper articles. The workshop that followed focused on tearing up old books and magazines to create collage with a narrative. Glue and paint and acetate transparencies were used as well.

• Landscape: Discussion focused on works by Bierstadt, Cole, and Louis Comfort Tiffany, and was followed by a workshop for participants to make a three-dimensional book form that represents a landscape changing with the seasons.

• Sculpture: A discussion of Martin Puryear’s Ladder for Booker T. Washington was led by Kirstin Broussard and involved poet Sean Thomas Dougherty speaking about making your own poetic form. (For example, using lines like parts of a ladder: repeating lines represent the sides of a ladder with a line in between that changes and represents the rungs.) During the workshop, participants made their own wooden sculpture from recycled scraps.

• Storied in Art: After a discussion centering on the work of Winslow Homer, a workshop focused on using gesture, pose, and background to tell the story of a subject.

• Pattern and Shape: Kirstin Broussard led discussion about Hannah and Emm Greenlee’s quilts, Neil Shepard led discussion about acrostic and anagram writing projects, and Susan Somers-Willett discussed concrete poetry. During the workshop, attendees participated in collotype printing using cut-out abstract design and rolled ink.

• Places Real and Imagined: The discussion covered works by Edward Hopper, James Karales, Charles Sheeler, William Van Alen, and Mary Cassatt, and was followed by a workshop for attendees to create an imaginary landscape using texture and recycled papers, sticky boards, wire, and other leftover materials.

• Grand Finale Gallery Show: All art and poems created during the program series were displayed for the public. The event included an artist and poet reception with poetry readings, video from FindArt workshops, and audio from the First Fridays Writers Series. View images from the show (PDF).

Resources

• poet Neil Shepard
• poet Susan Somers-Willett
• poet Sean Thomas Dougherty (background and reading feature from PoetryPoetry.com)
• First Fridays Contemporary Writers Series (includes links to poetry resources)

Impact

“FindArt Programs became a consistent opportunity for families to engage art together—both in discussion and creation. No other such opportunity exists in our library’s geographical service area. There are no art museums in our service area, and local galleries show exceptional art but provide no family programming. The Picturing America materials also fed our monthly First Fridays Writers Series audience as well as the visiting authors. Everyone was invited to talk about, write about, and listen to newly crafted writings on the Picturing America artworks. One writer was even sufficiently inspired to write a thirty-page poetry chapbook on artwork discussed in conjunction with Picturing America portraits.” (Laura Moran, library programmer and project director)

“As a lecturer and teaching artist who has worked at numerous major museums in NYC and San Francisco, I have had many amazing and transformative experiences revolving around art; even so, FindArt exceeded my wildest expectations. The melding of art and poetry generated incredible discussions and gave participants a window into the artworks we explored that was profoundly moving. This in turn fed our art-making explorations and elicited ideas and conversations from both the adults AND the children that were thoughtful, creative, and highly interpretive. Added to all of this was the sense of community generated between myself, the visiting poets, the library, and the families who worked together—parent and child alike making art. I truly believe the program achieved all its aims and then some—we were all transformed by the experience.” (Kirstin Broussard, lecturer and teaching artist)