Education at the MCA

One of the fun things about being an intern at the MCA are the intern talks. Members from each department give talks about who they are, now they got their job and what working in that department is like. It is a unique opportunity and I am trying to take as much advantage of it as I can.

So yesterday I went into the museum, just to hear the talk by the education department, which includes serving schools, adults, and families. And I am very glad I did.

The first cool thing was that I didn't fully realize the museum was closed! I went in through the employee entrance, everything as per usual, until I got in the elevator and it wouldn't let me go to the main entrance floor as I usually would. I had to scan my id. I got out of the elevator. And woa. Everything was dark. Everything was locked. I was in the museum and it was closed. Flash to From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler! Except there is no bed for me to sleep in. Anyway, totally cool.

Then the actual talk, which really opened my eyes to how an art museum can be more than a place to experience beauty, emotional connection and widening of horizons, the MCA wants to be a place that creates a communal contection and experience. Looking at art has always been a solitary experience for me. But the education department thinks that art can bring people together and can change the way they look at the world.

Then we had to look at a piece of art and create a family oriented activity. At the head of this entry is a picture of a sculpture by Niki de Saint Phalle, which I actually saw on display at the Garfield Conservatory a few years ago. One of the other groups had a piece by her called Vivian, which is shown right here, and is my favorite piece on display at the museum right now. Same sort of figure, but instead of mosiac, it is worked with scraps of fabric and yarn. Beautiful and imaginative and ya just wanted to reach out and feel the texture!

Anyway, I was paired with an intern from the education department. Unfortunately she mostly works with adults, not children or families. Our painting was Kim MacConnel's Taco Bill, shown here, and is now a new favorite. Five panels of commercially available fabric with paintings of familiar objects (like many tvs) painted in repeating patterns over them. Colorful and kitchy and fun. We had to come up with a movement based activity. I suggested a game where one person does a movement, the next person repeats the movement and adds another, the third does the first two and adds their own and so forth. It shows the development of pattern. The education people loved it! Triumph!

Before we parted ways I made sure to tell them both how much I enjoyed the talk, and asked if I could ever volunteer for events. They are going to be in touch. I really felt a connection with what they are doing, and hope that I can gain some useful programming experience. I look forward to many more such experiences during my time at the MCA.

Holiday Knitting Begins

This Saturday morning in October I am thoroughly distracted from my school work, and a little disappointed that my plan for baking bread and making pumpkin apple soup has come on an unseasonably warm day. Should I heat up my kitchen and force my husband to eat distinctly fall food on a late summer feeling day? To put off this decision I am dreaming about the things I will knit.

Knitting makes me a better person, by testing my weaknesses. I am impatient by nature and knitting has taught me that some things take time and that the rewards for patience can be great. I am a perfectionist, and while I love that knitting can be frogged (taken apart) many times, elimnating mistakes, there are also times when a mistake can be beautiful or at least ignored.

But even more than these knitting also plays to my strengths, the most prevelant is my love of planning. I lay in bed at night planning the next day; first thing when I wake up I run through my plan again; on Sundays I plan my whole week; on Thursday I begin planning my weekend, and in September I start planning for the holidays. Many elements, the cards, the gifts, the plans with family and friends, but the most vital is the knitting. If I want to make something for someone, I have to think ahead. I often give at least four hand knit items, which each take anywhere from a week to a month to knit. This year I am planning on giving no fewer than nine knitted items this holiday season. I've also been commissioned to knit four stockings for a friend.

Above are the beginnings of these gifts: two pairs of corn cob slippers, and a sweater coat for my nephew. The last of the yarn was ordered this week and I can't wait to get my hands on it, especially since two of the items will have hand-dyed yarn. That I will dye. I just love how hand-dyed yarn looks. But it does add an element of risk, especially with items that are large and therefore require the yarn to be dyed in batches, which then may have variances in color. But I LOVE taking risks in my knitting. I hate knitting the same predictable things over and over. I need a challenge!

But though I am impatient to start all of these projects and be proud of the finished gifts, I must try and slow down, and concentrate on one at a time, giving each my love and attention, which will hopefully be felt in turn by the recipient.

A New Internship

It Is Awesome. This is the Museum of Contemporary Art. As an art enjoyer, the MCA is my favorite. I was thrilled to have my intership application accepted. And this week I had my first day. I got a tour of the whole building, including the backstage elements, like the loading dock where there are big crates of art! I can wander around the galleries on my breaks, I really enjoyed the Calder and Calder influenced artists, hence this cool paint job on the front steps.



All this I did with the other intern, who just got her BA, but she has TONS of great experience for this internship. She worked at her college library cataloging zines! Crazy jealous! So we both started classifying Artists' Books. Which range from the traditional children's book, to the conceptual, from companions pieces for exhibitions, to standalone works. My fav was a promotional piece, a seed for a tree, which should bloom in ten years, which is how long until the opening of the artist's exhibition! Crazy!



Stay tuned for more cool tid-bits.