Sister Corita Kent’s "10 Rules For Students, Teachers, And Life," 1967-68.

Birch bark letter no. 202: spelling lessons and drawings by Onfim (aged 6 or 7), c.1240–1260. Source: Wikimedia commons

Find out more about this drawing in my Artfully Learning post: "Ancient Art Education"

Vivien Collens, Froebel’s Gifts: Blue Circuit, 2018. Courtesy of the artist.

Vivien’s "broken cube" sculptural motif is an ode to Fröbel's Gifts. The cube is a module that enables Collens to explore her aesthetic ideas in an active, hands-on manner that combines guided and spontaneous artistic processes. "Broken cube" is a key component of Collens’ "Froebels Gifts" sculpture series (2017-ongoing). The title of the collective body of work references processes and products associated with Fröbel and his active learning methodologies.

On the Artfully Learning Audio Series, Vivien and I discuss her work within the context of education, specifically the influence of Friedrich Fröbel, a eighteenth century educational reformer who is notable for developing the first modern kindergartens. Listen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=19-uDm961e8&t=1062s

Susan Leopold, Classroom, 2022, mixed media construction, digital print mounted on Plexiglas, electrical lighting, LED light bulb and wood, 18 x 12 x 10 inches. Courtesy of the artist and Elizabeth Harris Gallery.

Susan Leopold's series "School(s)" expresses the cultural and pedagogical zeitgeist of the past several years. You can read about her intimate sculptures of school interiors and their connection to the many facets of the educational environment in the Artfully Learning post "School(s)" ; and also listen to a conversation between Susan and I on the Artfully Learning Audio Series Episode 1: School(s).

Ant Farm, DOLON EMB 2 (drawing by Curtis Schreier), 1975. Hand colored brownline, 18 x 22 in. Courtesy of University of California, Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive.  Alt text: A colorful architectural rendering of an imaginary floating vessel.

"Although Dolphin Embassy was never realized beyond a blueprint, the enduring understandings are fascinating and serve as an educational model for future sustainable and relational architecture. With growing concerns regarding climate change and sea levels rising, there is a very real threat and high probability we will need to focus our efforts on building new habitats to address the displacement of both human and other animal species." Read more about the inter-species design of Dolphin Embassy in my latest Artfully Learning blog post "Architecture for All".

Andy Warhol, Claes Oldenburg, David Novros, ForrestMyers, Robert Rauschenberg and John Chamberlain, Moon Museum, 1969, lithograph of tantalum nitride film on ceramic wafer. Source: MoMA

Whether or not you believed they put an art museum on the moon, my latest Artfully Learning post highlights art's universal value. Read about how the Space Race impacted art education and led to STEAM learning in "Art Spaces: Interdisciplinary and Interplanetary Explorations Through Artful Learning"

I recently wrote about Khor Ean Ghee and other modern and contemporary artists and designers who have created whimsical designs for playgrounds. You can read my piece here: "Form, Function and Fun: Playgrounds as Art Education."

The Dragon Playground was designed in 1979 by Khor Ean Ghee, an in-house designer from HDB (Housing and Development Board’s) inspired by Chinese dragons, very popular among Chinese in Singapore.

The Ang Mo Kio Dragon Playground is one of two remaining playgrounds in Singapore with this design. The other one is located in Toa Payoh.

https://www.kopitravel.com/Asia/Singapore/Kids-Details?kidsId=1010

#singapore #singapur #kopitravel #travel #asia #visitsingapore #exploresingapore #splendid_urban #cityphotography #cityscape #dragon #playground #dragonplayground #historic #historico #angmokio #hdb #hdbsingapore (at Ang Mo Kio, Singapore)

I couldn't include everyone in my piece my piece "Form, Function and Fun: Playgrounds as Art Education," so I'll have to do a follow up blog post discussing Aldo van Eyck's work and philosophy around play and playground design.

When Aldo van Eyck assumed work at the Amsterdam Public Works (Amsterdam Publieke Werken) one task soon became his focal point: the design of playgrounds accessible for every child in every neighborhood of the city. Until then there existed only secluded playgrounds initiated by playground associations of which children had to be member to gain access. On Jacoba Mulder’s initiative Van Eyck made a first design for the Bertelmanplein consisting of a sandbox in which four large rocks and an arch-shaped climbing frame were placed. This design was his point of departure for many more playgrounds to come (Van Eyck eventually realized some 700 of them) but also a testing ground for his ideas about architecture, relativity and imagination. Especially with regards to relativity. i.e. the non-hierarchical arrangement of the different components based on their mutual relationships, the playgrounds proved to be of great importance for Van Eyck’s theoretical reflections.

In 2002 the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam devoted an entire exhibition to Aldo van Eyck’s playground that was accompanied by the present catalogue: „Aldo van Eyck: De Speelplaatsen en de Stad“, edited by Liane Lefaivre & Ingeborg de Roode and published by NAi uitgevers. The catalogue collects a wealth of photos and drawings that in turn provide insights into a body work that in many ways appealed to the architect. For Aldo van Eyck the children’s perspective on city and architecture as well as the lighthearted creativity that went along with it were of integral importance. As the authors show, he had his play equipment designs tested by his own children and at the same time let himself inspire by artists and artworks he admired. The result were playgrounds that on the one hand appealed to children and on the other hand tell a lot about Van Eyck’s intellectual and creative reference system. Unfortunately only a fraction of them still exist today….

Set and props from Jayson Musson: His History of Art at the Fabric Museum and Workshop, Philadelphia, PA. Photograph by Esther Welsh

I went to Philly to see "His History of Art" by Jayson Musson at the Fabric Workshop and Museum and wrote about its pedagogical use of satire to challenge art educational conventions on my blog Artfully Learning. Read about it in the post "Whose History of Art?"

Angélique du Coudray’s La Machine was a groundbreaking obstetric phantom. Read about how this innovative soft sculpture inspired radical changes in medical education in the Artfully Learning post Abrégé de l’art des accouchements (The Art of Obstetrics)

Detail of Mike Kelley’s Educational Complex, 1995, acrylic, latex, foam core, fiberglass, wood. Source: https://mikekelleyfoundation.org/artwork/educational-complex

This might sound shocking coming from an education blogger, but I have been wondering whether compulsory education and traditional schools are leading us astray and even worse, harming our students’ well-being. My post, "Educational Complex" explores topics of unschooling and Youth Rights and uses artist Mike Kelley's Educational Complex as an example of some problems within compulsory education. Read it on Artfully Learning: https://theartsandeducation.wordpress.com/2022/08/01/educational-complex/