We’ve Got a Hotbed to Harness Here

Posted by Letitia Fernandez Ivins On April - 13 - 2011

This posting is from a series of conversations that can be found on the public art blog salon hosted by Americans for the Arts, April 11-15, 2011.

Southern California is dense with MFA programs – so dense that these artists are a cornerstone of the creative economy and help define the creative capitol that is Los Angeles.

Then, why am I not working with more (any, frankly) of this fresh post-grad crop of creative thinkers?

This is not out of ageism (and I adore the artists that I work with today), but yesterday I started to wonder how the 50+ public art programs in the region might better harness this concentration of creative talent in our own backyard?

Though graduate-level curriculum tends to be concept-based, some art professors have cleverly inserted the “art of business” into the MFA formula.

Yesterday, I lectured for an MFA course called, Graduate Professional Development.

This is the second course that I have instructed on the topic of public art history and practice to fine arts students.

To start the class, I asked everyone to state their name, current media, and either talk about a public artwork that they created or to relay a powerful public art encounter.

I was delighted to hear that 95 percent of the students engage in personal public interventions as part of their practice but was disturbed to hear that they could not call-up a compelling public art experience. Read more