Artists in Your Own Backyard being presented in NYC

In the fall of 2011, the M.A.T. Art Education students at Coastal Carolina University were each assigned to interview a local artist and then base a lesson plan around their artwork. This simple assignment grew into something quite larger. It has since become an extensive research project that highlights several South Carolina artists living and working in the lowcountry.

We sat down with five artists to talk about their artwork, their art background and how they balance both professional and personal lives that revolve around art. We are presenting this project at the National Art Education Association conference in New York City on Friday, March 2.

Our artists include two painters, two sculptors, and one photographer. We feel that this is an interesting way to make students aware of the fact that art is going on all around them.

You can find more information about each interview here.

CCU's Chris Todd on Teaching 3-D

We sat down with CCU lecturer Chris Todd to talk about our two loves, art and teaching. In the first half of this two-part interview, Todd discusses her passion for teaching 3-D design and sculpture, as well as her concern that our younger generations are growing up lacking the more basic skills of building and hands-on design in the technology age.

 

"Todd's interest in theatre led to several jobs which focused on hands-on building. For several years she returned to the cold of New England in order to work as a Properties Master Artisan at a regional musical theatre north of Boston.

Upon reevaluation of her career choice, she pursued further training in woodworking skills through an MFA in Artisanry: Woodworking and Furniture Design from the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth under the guidance of Stephen Whittlesey. Her pursuit of fine woodworking skills combined with the whimsical interests nurtured during her time in theatre led her to combine the two through the creation of sculpture. Her current work involves creating dysfunctional furniture forms that strive to emotionally connect with the viewer through their limited practicality." -coastal.edu