Hello! Happy New Year and all that stuff! Life got "lifey," like it does. I had some focusing to do on my art, and some writing work to help pay the bills, but this past week brought about 3 different photo jobs and I'm hopeful this is a good omen for 2010.
Professor Andrew Lamas, who I helped profile for the Pennsylvania Gazette last month, was pleased enough with my photos that he contacted me for a project of his own. He wanted me to come photograph the first meeting for the semester of his course “Religion, Social Justice, and Urban Development.” He had invited Professor Paul Hubbard from Moore College of Art to talk about a former student and friend of his, sculptor Antony Gormley.
Meanwhile, students were asked to
start warming up a handful of clay in front of them. Yep. Remember, this is the teacher who had his class create
Cornell Boxes last semester.
After the lecture and video about Gormley (who is a
phenomenal artist), Lamas asked the students to think about their best trait
and to sculpt something to represent that in clay. Each student then stood up
and spoke about what they made, and why. His plan is to allow the students to
begin to draw their own connections with what they created in class to the
reading they were to be devouring between that class and the next; reading
about religion that focuses primarily on the totem in religion.
Being able to bear witness to this process was a real honor. I was so impressed with what these bright young adults came up with and how they spoke about what made them who they are. I was struck most by the unabashed genuineness with which they shared. They made me feel hopeful, and I was so grateful for that.
