The Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art (SECCA) in Winston-Salem, NC, recently held an artist residency at Ronald Reagan High School, located at 3750 Transou Road in Pfafftown. The residency by American paper artist Johannes VanDerBeek is part of SECCA’s ongoing educational outreach initiative called The Intersections Project (TIP).
During the 3-day program, students in Jennifer Rice’s art classes worked with VanDerBeek to create a permanent piece of artwork for the Reagan High School Media Center. VanDerBeek taught the students his method of using compressed and sanded magazines to create the large-scale work. Each student worked on smaller parts of the whole mural composition.
VanDerBeek is one of 15 international artists in SECCA’s current exhibition “paperless,” which is on view until Sept. 16, 2012. VanDerBeek has two works in the exhibition: “Ruins” and “Time Tomb”. To create his artwork, he compresses and sands magazines like “Time”, “Life” and “National Geographic” into the building blocks of his large-scale contemporary murals.
Reagan High School students in Jennifer Rice’s art classes worked with SECCA exhibiting artist Johannes VanDerBeek to create a permanent piece of artwork for the Reagan High School Media Center. SECCA photo, 2012.
The intent of the TIP program is teaching students traditional subjects in an innovative way through art. The program was developed by educators, artists, The Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art (SECCA), The Arts Council of Winston-Salem and Forsyth County and the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County School Board. These educational experiences address learning objectives in the visual arts as well as in other disciplines such as science, technology, engineering, math, language arts and others. SECCA applied for an Arts and Education Grant from The Arts Council of Winston-Salem and Forsyth County to create TIP. SECCA was awarded the grant for three years for a total of $26,820 (2009-10 — $8,820; 2010-11 — $9,000; 2011-12 — $9,000).
The TIP program has also resulted in a Web site for teachers. The Web site (www.theintersectionsproject.org) includes profiles about the artists and educators who have participated, along with resulting student artwork and responses. There are additional resources relating to arts-integration, project-based learning, creativity, technology-based learning platforms, and lesson plan materials.
SECCA’s Executive Director Mark Leach says, “The objective of the TIP program overall is to connect the disciplines through the arts. The lessons can be used by teachers across North Carolina. In addition, all of the TIP lesson plans support the National Common Core and North Carolina Essential Standards in multiple disciplines and encourage project-based learning through the arts.”
SECCA is open Tuesday through Sunday for those who wish to see VanDerBeek’s work in “paperless”. Admission to SECCA galleries is free. For hours of operation, visit (www.secca.org).
To see the students’ work, please call Reagan High School at 336/703-6776 to make an appointment with the school media center.
The Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art (SECCA) in Winston-Salem is an affiliate of the North Carolina Museum of Art, a division of the N.C. Department of Cultural Resources. SECCA is also a funded partner of The Arts Council of Winston-Salem and Forsyth County. Additional funding is provided by the James G. Hanes Memorial Fund.
The NC Department of Cultural Resources annually serves more than 19 million people through its 27 historic sites, seven history museums, two art museums, the nation’s first state supported symphony orchestra, the State Library, the NC Arts Council and the State Archives. The NC Department of Cultural Resources serves as a champion for North Carolina’s creative industry, which employs nearly 300,000 North Carolinians and contributes more than $41 billion to the state’s economy. To learn more visit (www.ncculture.com).
Tags: Carolina Arts, Jennifer Rice, Johannes VanDerBeek, NC Arts Council, NC Department of Cultural Resources, Ronald Reagan High School, SECCA’s Executive Director Mark Leach, Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art, The Arts Council of Winston-Salem and Forsyth County, The Intersections Project (TIP), Visiting North Carolina, Visiting Winston-Salem NC, Winston-Salem NC, Winston-Salem/Forsyth County School Board
