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.
Meet the BSA Students
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.
Summer is here! That means there are many opportunities for employment in summer art programs in the city. Take a look at the Bartol Foundation's news page to view new summer job listings from various organizations in the city.http://bartol.org/teaching-artist-programs/news/
Beth Feldman Brandt is the Executive Director of the Stockton Rush Bartol Foundation.
Can you tell me a little bit about who you are and what you do?
I’ve been the director of the Bartol Foundation for ten years, and before this I was the project director of a community arts education initiative. I was the after-school visual arts program director. Running that part of their school is what got me into the education drive. I went to school for business and economics and then needed a job my first summer after college. I was always an artsy person so this combination of art and business worked for me. Then it kind of spun out and one thing followed another. Then there were a couple of fortuitive moments where I got a call that got me into something I never would have really thought of, and then I would just go and follow-up. Just keep layering your skills and be open when one thing turns into another.
Do you feel that it’s an artist’s responsibility to advocate or is that a kind of spirit that you either have or don’t?
I would say first that artists are also citizens and every citizen has a responsibility to his or her community. For particular situations you are always deciding when your interests are separate from the general public. In other words, when are you speaking as an artist first and when are you speaking as a citizen first? All humans have a responsibility to give back and speak out against things that are wrong, so in that way artists aren’t different than anybody else, but they can do it in ways that are different and unique.
How do you bridge the cultural gap if you’re an artist entering an inner city neighborhood and trying to relate to kids that you have a completely different background from?
In addition to your artistic skills, you need to develop skills as a teacher, communicator, facilitator and collaborator. Some of those things are innate but a lot of them can be taught. I’ve seen artists teach with wildly different styles; some are very extroverted and some are very quiet. You build up your toolbox, things you know how to do and to teach. First, you need to be good at your craft, and then you can build skills around the other things. What is really important to develop is the ability to listen to what a community has to offer, as well as valuing the community’s stories. You also need to work around good people because you can do everything in the world, but until you’re in a classroom or an afterschool program you don’t realize how many tricks there are to it. There are all these things about communicating, engaging, passing out materials or figuring out the steps of what the project is going to be. Just being with a good teacher as an assistant or apprentice gives you so many skills. Everyday you need to go in knowing that teacher and student each have something to offer, and one of the things we try to talk to artists about in the teaching artists program is that you need to bring your whole self, your whole persona to the way you teach and not think of them as separate. There is also a balance between being super prepared and being flexible and able to think on your feet. You want to get to a point where you notice what the students are into at that moment and know that all that preparation has brought you to a point where you know how to work with them on what they’re interested in at that time.
Do you feel that as a community we need to focus more on keeping/getting arts into our public schools or setting up more places for arts to be accessed outside of school?
Yes, both. The truth is that kids need access to the arts and the reality is that kids are in school, so why would you say let’s not use the schools? But at the same time there are obstacles even in a great school. Forty-minute periods put restrictions on what you can do in a school setting. If the project you are doing takes eight hours to complete and you don’t have eight hours, there should be a place where the project can still happen. At the same time we have to be really pragmatic and realistic and not set ourselves apart. If there are issues in school and we’re not part of the solution, they don’t have time for us.
What is your advice for young people getting out in the world as artists or teaching artists?
Well, health insurance is important, so it’s good that you can stay on your parents’ health insurance until you’re twenty-six now. Especially in this climate and in this environment, you need to be open to opportunities. At the same time know that nobody owes you anything, and sometimes you will have to take that boring job to take care of your finances while finding time to make art. You have to fiercely guard your creative time. This isn’t always possible, but if you let it go completely, it’s really hard to get it back.
Is there anything else you’d like to say to our NET Nights blog?
It’s not always put out there that being an educator outside of a certified art or music teacher is a possible career path, but there are a lot of very accomplished teaching artists today. They do it because it feeds their work, allows them to get out of their head and out in the community because they care about social change. If anything was gained from the panel, I hope it’s that those listening won’t dismiss teaching arts as doing less creative work or work less than worthy of their talents.
Michelle Angela Ortiz is a mixed-media artist of Latin American and Caribbean descent that creates work connected to family histories and memory. As an arts educator, Ortiz uses the arts as a tool for communication to bridge communities. She has designed and created over 30 large scale public works nationally and internationally (Fiji, Mexico, Ecuador & Costa Rica) and is a recipient of the Leeway Foundation Art & Change Grant (2006) and Transformation Award (2008.) She has participated in the Cultural Envoy Program of the US Embassy in Juarez, Mexico and Suva, Fiji where she was selected to train local artists in techniques for engaging communities in the arts.
You note that your work represents those who have contributed to your journey. Who has helped you the most to become a successful artist and educator?
First and foremost, my parents, who are both immigrants, made the difference by giving me a lot of positive support and encouraging my success. My Mother told me, “Whatever you do, I know you will do the best you can." This motivated me and contributed to the drive I have.
Two women have become my mentors for the past seven years, Magna Martinez and Julia Lopez, who form the art collective Las Gallas with me. We are all first generation citizens who share common themes in our artwork and work to impact positive change in communities, as well as organizations. We work to create positive solutions to negative situations and help the community's voices be heard.
How did Moore contribute to your journey?
I started as a Young Artist Workshop (YAW) student and had an art teacher that truly believed in me and made me realize, for the first time, that I had the ability to make art into my career. This reinforced my decision to come to Moore for my undergraduate degree and pursue being a professional artist. While I was at Moore, I took advantage of every opportunity that was offered, which helped me grow as a person and artist. Moore played a key role in my ability to own and know my own skill.
How is working abroad different from working locally?
I went to Ecuador in 2001. That was my first time abroad. It was a different environment. I was working with children in an indigenous community. The adults were in charge, and the children did what they said. They had no fun and no voice. I train teachers in common arts or enhance their curriculum both locally and internationally. I build resources and knowledge, but I don't take over. I'm from Philly, so people are generally okay with me locally. Abroad, I'm a young American woman, so it's a little harder. I'm battling stereotypes on a larger scale. I don't just do a project and get out. I provide training for local artists and community leaders wherever I am. They sustain the teaching and learning after I leave.
How have the communities you've been to changed with art?
In Fiji, they already had artist studios, but they weren't occupied. The people had low self-esteems as artists. I held workshops to discuss stereotypes and the roles of an artist. Then we discussed how they defined themselves. We identified problems and found solutions. In Mexico, a collective emerged, and they've completed seven murals since I've been there. The community organizers and workers are still working on projects. When I'm there, I do intense work during short times. I can't do a project without the community's help. I don't really start with a concept for the mural. Instead, I work with the people. I give them the right mindset and enhance their skills. I give everyone tasks to contribute to the mural. After I'm done, I always stay connected with the communities.
