Tag: anti-racist pedagogy

The Space Between Us: Writing Across Difference in the Crafts

by geexadminin Glass Resource Exchange Archive

A compilation of articles unpacking identity construction and making connections to craft, edited by Jennifer Hand.

A historic broken glass negative featuring an image of two women working inside a domestic space.

‘These selections are but one way of unpacking identity construction—the way that I personally wound and wove my way through the MACR archive to build my toolkit. At the end of my introduction to each component of this publication, I offer pickings to extend pathways, detours, and redirections to continue the never-ending work of understanding ourselves and others.”

The MACR Papers is the final program publication of the MA in Critical Craft Studies (2017-2023) at Warren Wilson College. The 7 papers, including Jennifer Alexis Hand’s, were edited individually or in pairs by the Class of 2023 with the addition of a publication co-edited by Ben Lignel (project supervisor and core faculty) and Namita Gupta Wiggers (founding program director and core faculty). As you browse—through tables of content or keywords— invite you to choose, save, and print the articles that meet with your interest, and thus to assemble your own versions of “The MACR Papers.”

LINK TO RESOURCE

Resource submitted by Jean Fernandes

Black Artists and Gallerists on What a More Inclusive Art World Would Look Like

by geexadminin Glass Resource Exchange Archive

Taylor Crumpton, a music, politics, and pop culture writer, writes on a past, current, and future world described through the lens of Black Artists and Gallerists on Artsy.

A preview of Artsy article featuring an image of Gianni Lee's studio.

As the art world’s power brokers attempt to rectify their wrongs and plead for salvation from those who question the predominantly white, upper-class makeup of their ranks, the question of what, exactly, it would take to create more diversity and equity in the U.S. art world could be refined into: “What systemic barriers have been implemented to ensure diversity and equity do not thrive in the art world?”

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Resource submitted by Emily Leach

DIE D.E.I.

by geexadminin Glass Resource Exchange Archive

A virtual haunted house of the horror of diversity, equity, and inclusion in cultural institutions, organized by Jen Delos Reyes and Astria Suparak.

Overview for DIE D.E.I. online event, with a spooky Halloween theme.

Diversity is a fact. Inclusion is a practice. Equity is the goal. But what happens when diverse staff are hired into toxic institutions and then expected to somehow solve the problems by serving on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion committees? Or when institutions engage in performative programming without cultural competency? And when diversity hires are made at museums, galleries, universities, and organizations that have not worked toward meaningful cultural change or real equity?  

Join members of SDA and invited guests Rashayla Marie Brown, Michele Carlson, May Maylisa Cat, and Justin Seiji Waddell for a virtual haunted house of the horrors of D.E.I. in cultural institutions where they will examine some of the horrific and harmful practices around DEI, while making a case for better ways to approach this necessary work.

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Resource submitted by Ben Orozco

BIPOC Community Table Resource: Mental Health

by geexadminin Glass Resource Exchange Archive
BIPOC Community Table Meeting 12_15_24 Resources_ Mental Health

Facilitated by artist and therapist Kiani Simms and teaching artist Bre’Annah Stampley, the 12/16/24 BIPOC Community Table meeting on Mental Health contained exercises and resources for BIPOC folx. The resources included books, exercises, and places to find BIPOC-centered mental health support.

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Black Craftspeople Digital Archive

by geexadminin Glass Resource Exchange Archive
Home page of the Black Craftspeople Digital Archive, featuring a historical illustration of Black craftspeople assembling wagon wheels

The Black Craftspeople Digital Archive is a space centralizing knowledge, articles, and artifacts of Black craftspeople in the United States. From 1619 to beyond, Black craftspeople, both free and enslaved, worked to produce the valued architecture, handcrafts, and decorative arts of the American South. The archive is categorized by trade/discipline, including glazers.

LINK TO RESOURCE

Resource submitted by Ben Orozco

GEEX Educator Affinity Group Meeting Notes: Glass Education in the Past, Present and Future

by geexadminin Glass Resource Exchange Archive
Small breakout groups of educators discussing different topics in glass education
A whiteboard listing discussion topics regarding the past, present, and future of glass education
Past: Go back and see what histories might have been overlooked
Group selfie of the GEEX Educator meetup

GEEX Educator Affinity Group
Glass Education in the Past, Present and Future
October 6, 2023 4PM CDT

Planning by Emily Leach and Ben Orozco
Facilitated by Helen Lee and Ben Orozco
Notes compiled by Ben Orozco

During the Glass Madison Educational Gathering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (10/6-10/7/2023), GEEX hosted an in-person gathering with educators representing schools attending Glass Madison, as well as GEEX Subscribers and Facilitators. 

This meeting provided an opportunity to take a pulse check of the field of Glass Education, from the past, present, and future. Below are some notes and soundbites representing the three breakout groups and their discussion points.

What is on your mind as an educator looking to the past?
GlassMadison_EducatorsMeetup_Past.PDF

What histories have we been teaching in our classes? How do we expand, update, or change the curriculum?

  • Reflecting on American Studio Glass (ASG)… how relevant is it to teach now?
    • ASG provides perspective and departure points in teaching glass history
    • Reflecting on ASG, students are more timid now, glass is in a much different era than what it was then
    • Feeling torn in about ASG and if the history is relevant or not
      • The history feels isolated in regards to who has/had access. Who was excluded from these narratives?
      • Men “ran the women off” and left visible gaps in the history
      • Reflecting on the historical context of the GI bill and who did/didn’t receive support to have a funding mechanism to move into academia.
      • Comparing historical craft/art/design figures like Ani and Josef Albers, who was allowed to teach?
    • There was a pioneering aspect to early studio glass: What can you make up on your own?
  • Global and Holistic Histories
    • Including perspectives outside of the European glass 
    • Mark Hursty’s UNC Asheville Arts 310, New Media Department: History of Glass Elective Class taught in 16 weeks
    • Exploitation of labor: Addressing this issue both past and present.
    • Living histories: Inviting practicing artists to speak to their lived experience in the field; collecting oral narratives.
  • Institutional Structure: the way glass is positioned in an institution can change/affect the way is glass is taught
    • New frameworks to explore:
      • Glass: Art & Technology
        • Glass used in people’s bodies to heal them
        • 3D Printing, and glass as the first 3D printer
        • How is it delivered/developed?
      • The Vitreous Age: Glass in the context of digital culture
Takeaways
  • We need to teach history in glass curriculum, especially global and holistic histories.
    • Focus on what histories of glass have been overlooked
  • Glass can be taught as an extension of digital technology or in a context of digital culture
  • American Studio Glass history can function as a departure point for the conversation, leading to broader or underlooked narratives
What is on your mind as an educator looking to the present?
GlassMadison_EducatorsMeetup_Present.PDF

What challenges are you facing in your classes? How are you finding solutions to those challenges? What’s working for you as an educator?

  • Challenges:
    • Too little structure in a nonprofit glass learning spaces
      • Some students respond to less structure better or worse
    • Teaching glass techniques you may not specialize in as an adjunct or graduate student
    • Teaching glass as a person speaking English as a second language, or with a material/technical vocabulary you may not be comfortable/familiar with
  • What’s working well:
    • A shifting philosophy away from a “sole genius” educator, towards more collaborative learning in the classroom
      • Embracing a culture of difference and the educator and students having different skills to bring to the table, ie being co-learners
    • Doing the best with what you have
      • Being honest and real with yourself and your students on your limitations/where you need help as an educator
    • Trusting students to do more than they can do
      • Students often coming into glass from a place of fear, prioritizing building a sense of trust can help in the classroom and studio
What is on your mind as an educator looking to the future?
GlassMadison_EducatorsMeetup_Future.PDF

What trends are you noticing? What challenges or opportunities do you see on the horizon?

  • It’s hard to talk about glass as a monolith, as each academic/educational program can be different
  • The economy of academia feels broken
    • There is very little space for students to focus, especially in teaching spaces that are not art schools
    • A sense of declining program enrollment
    • Schools are putting out more students than there are teaching positions for
  • Could goals as instructors be better served in a different type of structure from what is being done now? Or is it important to preserve these programs as they are?
  • Educators in the group are witnessing shifting ecosystems with generational turnover and declining program enrollment
  • What are the expectations of students moving forward?
    • Schools are putting out more students than there are teaching positions for
    • How can students see themselves continuing to engage with glass after school?
  • What is the educator’s primary teaching responsibility moving forward?
    • To be resourceful?
    • To have a career?
    • To making artwork?
    • To being practical/utilitarian?
    • To service?
    • To skill/technique/craft?
    • To helping people move through ideas?
    • To teaching how to ask questions + be curious?

LINK TO RESOURCE (GOOGLE DOC)

Last updated: 11/10/23

The Whiteness of Glass, 2020

by geexadminin Glass Resource Exchange Archive

The Whiteness of Glass is a creative essay written by Related Tactics and commissioned by Susie Silbert, Curator of Postwar and Contemporary Glass at the Corning Museum of Glass for New Glass Review. Related Tactics (Michele Carlson, Weston Teruya, and Nate Watson) is a multidisciplinary collective of artists of color creating work together at the intersection of race and culture. Formed in 2015, Related Tactics projects utilize a variety of modes—sculpture, writing, print, social engagement, and curatorial tactics—to explore the connections between art; movements for equity and justice; and the public.

You can find their November 2021 GEEX Talk here.

Snippet of "Whiteness of Glass, 2020", written by Related Tactics for the Corning Museum of Glass New Glass Review.

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Resource submitted by Related Tactics