NET Nights at Moore: Interview with Barbara Bickart

NET Nights at Moore

A new program for students and graduates of local art and design colleges to network with peers and heads of area business associations and arts organizations as well as build relationships with other young professionals.

These lively evenings feature guest speakers, workshops and seminars designed to help Philadelphia artists and designers make creative contacts in our community.

Presented by The Galleries at Moore in cooperation with The Locks Career Center and Moore’s new Business Scholars in the Arts student leadership program.

2010-11 NET Nights at Moore are supported by Your Part-Time Controller and Moore College of Art & Design.

2009-10 NET Nights at Moore were supported by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.

Business Scholars in the Arts (BSA)

The Business Scholars in the Arts is a new program at Moore College of Art & Design that supports a select group of transfer students. The program supplements the students’ art and design training with business-related experiences outside of the classroom. Our group is particularly interested in entrepreneurship. We encompass a wide range of majors, from Graphic, Fashion, and Interior Design, to Illustration, Art History, and Art Education.

Our goal is to acquire the skills necessary to network within the professional art world, which will ultimately aid us in opening our own businesses or taking on leadership roles in a company or organization. The first year of the Business Scholars program stresses this networking process. To that end, we have established a collaborative relationship with the Galleries at Moore to provide support for NET Nights. These lively evenings feature guest speakers, workshops and seminars designed to help Philadelphia artists and designers make creative contacts in our community.

The purpose of this blog is to continue the conversations started at NET Nights and to provide resources that will enable emerging artists and designers to profit from the expertise of the speakers. Look to our blog for our interviews with speakers, our suggestions for interesting upcoming events and links to useful web-sites.

The BSA Students:

Laura Bonvini

Amber Callahan

Melissa Chancer

Amanda Corropolese

Samantha Edmonds

Christine Ferri

Chriztie Kaufmann

Sara Stanton

Haoren Yu

NET Nights Advisory Committee

The NET Nights Advisory Committee is comprised of local artists, designers, curators and arts administrators, business professionals, professors and students from various disciplines and backgrounds. NET Nights programs are the product of thoughtful discussions between these committee members, sharing ideas, insights and suggestions to stimulate new relationships and networking between emerging artists and designers and business and arts professionals in Philadelphia.

Click here for Advisory Committee Blog

Barbara Bickart is an interdisciplinary artist, whose work is project-based. Her work takes on the form of video installation, video performance and experimental documentary. Her single channel video, installation, video performance and experimental documentary work have been presented in theaters, galleries and museums globally. In 2005/2006 she was Guest Faculty in the Film/New Media Department of Sarah Lawrence College, Bronxville, NY and consulted to develop the Radical Film/New Media Laboratory project.

Asked to describe herself as an artist to an outside audience that has never met her before, Bickart said:

“Barbara Bickart” is an interdisciplinary video artist, whose work is project-based. Her work takes on the form of video installation, video performance and experimental documentary. Her single channel video, installation, video performance and experimental documentary work have been presented in theaters, galleries and museums globally , in locations including London, Argentina, Israel, Croatia, Australia, Russia, Romania, New York City, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Houston, Texas, Atlanta, Georgia, and Memphis, Tennessee. Bickart received her B.A. from Douglass College, Rutgers University and was a Stanton Anthony Scholar. She received her M.A. from the New School for Social Research in Media Studies, where she received the Departmental Scholar Award. In 2005/2006 she was Guest Faculty in the Film/New Media Department of Sarah Lawrence College, Bronxville, NY and consulted to develop the Radical Film/New Media Laboratory project. She works as a teaching artist with the DreamYard Project, Bronx, NY.

Asked what had drawn her to video as a creative outlet as opposed to other art forms, Bickart recalled the memory of watching the family movies that were made by her dad on a projector. It has been a significant part of her childhood. She started as a 35mm black and white film maker. Images and moving images have become a language for her. She liked the idea of creating a poem by doing the film. Also it is the most suitable way in terms of story telling for her. Even though she has done all types of films, including documentary and performance videos, she thinks that her work is conceptual. She does not emphasize the literal aspects and the practical outcomes of films, but the meaning of them.

In response to a question about what she does in the role of "teaching artist,” Bickart explained that teaching gives her a network, not only with the students, but also with other artists. Bickart gathers inspirations from this network. Her students are also very helpful for generating new ideas. It is not simply a teaching job, but also a practice of making art.

Bickart’s advice for students and other potential teaching artists:

It is very important for young emerging artists to find communities and build their own connections at the early stage. Try hard to find the institutions, organizations, and funding for your own projects. Do not be isolated. You need to find your own supporting circles.

Be really resourceful and think out of the box. Find the resources that would be able to fit into your mission statement. Do not stick within your fields of expertise. Keep trying, and one day an open door will surprise you!

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