Fall, Winter, and Spring 2002-2003

Faculty

Steven Hendricks (Office: Seminar I #3156; Office Hours: by appointment ; hendrics@evergreen.edu; phone: 360.867.6000 x5745)

Peg Tysver (Office: Seminar I #4164; Office Hours: by appointment; tysverm@evergreen.edu; phone: 360.867.6000 x5911)

Jean Eberhardt/The Academic Advisor Connected to Our Program (Office: Library 1601; eberharj@evergreen.edu; phone: 360.867.6000 x5621)

Program Description

Citizen Artist is a yearlong, coordinated study focused on the exploration of the role of an artist as an individual with creative vision, as a collector and interpreter of communal memories, and as an agent of action and change in communities. Through the course of the program we will become artists, historians, activists, critical readers and thinkers, writers and involved members of our community.

Fall Quarter

Fall quarter, we began our two streams of focus: developing artistic vision through many different media, and building our understanding of how history is transmitted and interpreted. If history is, in the words of one historian, “the gossip of winners”, our history—local, national and global—can be both limiting and liberating, depending on whose stories you are told. Historical principles were explored through alternative histories in art and literature that blur the line between fiction and non-fiction. Writing focused us on personal narrative, research and creative writing workshops. Studio sessions consisted of developing proficiencies in two- and three-dimensional media, creating work that responded to formal and conceptual challenges, and exploring the process and purpose of making artwork for public display.

Winter Quarter

Winter quarter turns from visionary art and historical principles toward the museum and the artifact. Museums organize history in order to reflect and frame the present, though not necessarily the truth. We will investigate how museums can support or question the dominant culture in service to society. Should museums shape culture or be shaped by it? Our creative work and study of museums will focus on reframing history in ways that transform our connection to the past by investigating contemporary alternative museums in order to reconceive the concept of “museum”. With creative and curatorial experiments, we will explore the role of the artist in telling communal stories. We will develop a community history exhibit as a culminating activity for this quarter’s investigations. Fiction, non-fiction and proposal writing will be emphasized.

Spring Quarter

Spring quarter, students will be responsible for creating “community art projects,” projects that either incorporate community members in the creative process or respond to community needs. Public art takes art from the world of privilege—museums and galleries—and onto the streets. How does the artist transform social issues into art, creating with and for the public? Does the act of making art public redefine art itself? Through our understanding of local “histories” of all kinds, we will work in groups to develop our own artistic visions and carry out projects that explore the role of artists as agents for communal creativity and change. Students will address these concepts in light of the work of Fall and Winter Quarter through a creative essay project. Other writing includes project reports, letter writing, and a special emphasis on final evaluations.

Winter Quarter Syllabus

Weekly Schedule (Refer to detailed calendar for studio and workshop schedule)

Monday

10:00-12:00pm All program Meeting Room: Lecture Hall 4

1:00-3:00pm Seminar Room: Lib 2129 & 2118

TUESDAY Spring Projects On Site

Wednesday

10:00am-12:00pm All Program Meeting Room: LIB 1612

Wednesday Special Meetings TBA

THURSDAY Spring Projects On Site

Friday

10:00am-12:00pm All Program Meeting Room: COM 408

Design Lab

1:00-5:00pm group & special meetings/activities Roaming—see weekly schedule online

Required Texts

Handouts: Lippard, White, Bey, etc.

Gablik, Suzi, The ReEnchantment of Art

Moore, Michael, Stupid White Men

Roy, Arundhati, The God of Small Things

Key Concepts of the Quarter

This quarter’s work is designed to help you :

· Learn to relate history and place by creating works of art with a social message.

· Identify and critique patterns across time, culture, and texts.

· Work across significant differences in group collaborations.

· Critically evaluate, analyze, and interpret various sources of information around a particular topic.

· Develop expository writing process skills and creative argumentation skills.

· Develop interpretive techniques and communication skills related to seminar.

· Design activities to meet project objectives.

· Manage project schedules, resources and participants to carry out project activities.

· Create and use evaluation tools to measure project effectiveness.

Evaluation Criteria

Overview

At the end of each quarter, you will write a self-evaluation in which you reflect on your learning for the quarter. You will then have an evaluation conference with your Seminar Leader where we will share our perspectives on the quarter’s work. At your evaluation conference, you and your seminar leader will revise your self-evaluation to create a “co-authored” evaluation for your transcript. You must submit a faculty evaluation and program evaluation at the end of the program to receive credit and official transcripts.

Credits

You will earn full credit for doing the minimum requirements for the program—being prepared by having done your readings, attending all program activities, collaborating effectively within your group, and completing project assignments. The quality of your work and its strengths and weaknesses will be reflected in your evaluation. If you do not meet the minimum requirements and complete all of your work, you will lose credit. Credit awards are not the equivalent of grades, but are based on fulfilling the requirements of the program. We will give you mid-quarter notice and schedule a conference if we feel you are in danger of losing credit.

Attendance

You are expected to attend, be on time, and participate in all of the class sessions. If you find that you will need to be late or absent for any reason, advance notice is required. Absence from three or more class sessions may result in reduced credit, and we will schedule a conference to discuss your attendance.

Workload

Citizen Artist is a full-time program for 16 credits, which is equivalent to 4 or 5 college courses. You should anticipate having to work on readings and projects for 1-1.5 hours outside of class for every hour spent in class, for a total of approximately 40 hours a week. Your level of preparation will be reflected in your questions and comments in seminar and group work and in the quality and depth of your projects.

Collaboration

Collaborating with group members is a critical part of Evergreen life, and the learning of everyone in the program is directly related to each others’ preparation, engagement, and contributions. We’ll be doing a lot of work to build group communication, collaboration, and conflict resolution skills, particularly in the first quarter. We will be monitoring groups closely and getting frequent updates on your work together, and will incorporate group evaluations into the program to help ensure a smooth process.

Assignments

All assignments are due on time. If you expect to be absent, your work is still due via email. All assignments must be typed in 12 point, 1.5 space between lines (it’s easier for us and your response groups to write comments that way.) Please back up all computer work. A “crash” or a lost file is tragic, but not an excuse for late work.

Portfolios

You should get a notebook or portfolio in which you can keep all of your personal work as the quarter progresses, including rough drafts of work. An organized and contextualized research and writing portfolio will be due with your self-evaluation at the end of the quarter. Additionally, your Spring Project group will develop a portfolio that documents every facet of your work on the project throughout the quarter. We will give you a detailed guide about what is expected of the project portfolio, and we'll have several work sessions in class to develop them. Collecting your work this way helps you see the progress you’ve made, and helps us determine your process and growth throughout the quarter.

Getting Help

You are welcome to come and discuss assignments, problems, requests or suggestions about anything at any time. You can also discuss any concerns or ideas with Jean Eberhardt, the Academic Advisor assigned to our program. All of our contact information is listed above. You can get assistance in the Writing Center during your weekly appointment with the writing tutors who will be working with our program.

In addition to seeing you in class, we will be keeping in touch with everyone in the program via email. We will be using your Evergreen email address, so be sure to activate your account by week 2 of the quarter. Please check your mail every week—we will be checking ours daily. Much of our program communication, notices, etc. will also happen through Web X once we get it set up.

There are many more resources available in addition to those listed here—just let us know what you need and we’ll hook you up. The most important thing to remember about getting help is seeking it out as soon as you think you need it—it’s what we’re all here for.