Vis-à-vis: Kids and art
June 19, 2017
Students from Hamilton Elementary School in Schenectady, N.Y., visited Skidmore's
Tang Museum to meet with artist Willie Cole (on campus to help prepare his work for an exhibition later this summer) and to make their own art. The visit was part of the Mellon-funded project Accelerate: Access and Inclusion at the Tang
Teaching Museum. (Photos by Arthur Evans)
Hamilton Elementary students discuss the Tang's Sol Lewitt pencil art with museum educator Ginger Ertz.
Artist Willie Cole tells the youngsters, "I've been an artist since I was three years old." He also talked about his To get to the other side, a sculpture with a 16-foot-square chessboard and 32 chessmen made from lawn jockeys, which is part of the Tang's collection.
Students ask Willie Cole about his sculpture: "How long did it take?" "Why are they holding knives?" "What inspired you?" His answers: months, chess is a game of war, and seeing homeless people inspired the bags and bundles carried by his castle chess-pieces.
Exploring other Tang galleries, students discuss the Nick Cave Soundsuit piece in an exhibition called If I Had Possession over Judgment Day.
Tang staff help guide the youngsters in making their own artworks in a project called Build a Better World, inspired by their discussion of Nick Cave's Soundsuit. World maps, along with tape and glue, were provided.
