“The Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago and the educator Romi Crawford have become partners in a new program that focuses on pairing instruction by artists of color with hands-on learning by students working alongside them. This intensive, semester-long course, which its founders announced on Monday, is called the New Art School Modality and will start in September at the museum.
Traditional models of art education have become increasingly endangered as trusted schools — from the San Francisco Art Institute to the Watkins College of Art in Nashville — have fallen into bankruptcy or merged with larger institutions. These developments have been a wake-up call for some leaders in the art world, who are now financing alternative modes of instruction that sidestep degree-granting programs altogether.”
Source:
Small, Z. (2023, July 10). With art colleges closing, a Chicago Museum has an alternative. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/10/arts/design/new-art-education-approach-chicago.html?searchResultPosition=4
Analysis:
This is an interesting take on education as a whole. A Grant funded program aimed at teaching art and art history at a museum. I think this model has some great potential. I have taken art history classes in the past that were all online, and I don’t think that this is the optimal setting. Pictures of art rarely capture the full essence of a piece. What better way to teach about art history, than in person at an art museum where people can see the art close up. Art education isn’t always valued as much in academia, and this alternative could be a way to keep it alive.
