2024 Schedule

Aug 7-9, 2024

The Pennsylvania State University | School of Visual Arts

The Palmer Museum, University Park, PA 16802

 

SICA PREP WORK BEFORE ARRIVAL

The following is an overview of preparatory work for your attendance at 2024 SICA. First, an overview of resources that will help in your preparation and then a description of the studio practice themes that we will use to catalyze our work together and individually. 

 

Resources to scan 

 

Articles to read

  • Broome, J. L., Bobick, B., Ruggiero, A., & Jesup, C. (2019). Responding to the Challenge to Care: Suggestions for Art Education Curricula. Art Education, 72(2), 36–41. https://doi.org/10.1080/00043125.2019.1559604  
  • [Read 1-7pgs] De La Bellacasa, M. P. (2017). Matters of Care: Speculative Ethics in More than Human Worlds. University of Minnesota Press. http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5749/j.ctt1mmfspt 
  • Noddings, N. (1988). An Ethic of Caring and Its Implications for Instructional Arrangements. American Journal of Education, 96(2), 215–230. http://www.jstor.org/stable/1085252

 

Shared resources to preview 

 

Studio Themes & Explorations 

We will explore contemporary art as both a mode of practice and knowledge-making through exemplars in the Palmer Museum of Art collection and the current exhibition Made in PA. We will also dedicate concentrated times for you to cultivate your own studio practice. Our studio time will focus on the following themes: 

 

Capacities of Care 

Ongoing research of creative practice in arts and health that considers the capacities of care as a multidimensional consideration for how care relations take shape. Capacities of care include five interlinking domains for consideration  

  1. self care: acts in consideration of one’s own wellbeing 
  1. care giving: acts invested in the wellbeing of another  
  1. care receiving: awareness of another’s contribution to one’s own wellbeing  
  1. community care: collective acts whereby individual and group considerations for wellbeing are exchanged   
  1. artificial care: awareness of nonhuman, often technological, contributions to wellbeing  

 

Knolling and Acts of Object Relations  

The term “knolling” refers to the act of arranging objects at right angles to each other or the surface they rest on. Sculptor Andrew Kromelow coined the name in 1987 while working as a janitor in Frank Gehry’s studio; artist Tom Sachs, who also worked in Gehry’s studio at the time, popularized the organizational concept (https://www.dwell.com/article/the-life-changing-magic-of-knolling-5efe3c96) 

 

Storytelling 

Care relations are intimately bound up in acts of storytelling. Stories are the most basic way to care for one another. By telling stories, the human experience becomes something shared and by sharing we lift each other up sustaining ourselves and our humanity. We will discuss an opportunity to be a part of a group exhibition called Caretelling: Stories to Sustain Ourselves showcasing research and creative practice focused on storytelling our relationships of care.  The exhibition will be held at the Woskob Family Gallery from September to November.  

 

Preparatory Work for the Studio 

There will be both guided studio work and individual work time throughout the three days of SICA. Please come prepared with 

  • In reference to our capacities of care, please identify five objects that relate to each capacity. Bring the object or documentation of the object with you. 
  • Art studio materials of your choice 
  • Computing device to participate in online activities (laptop recommended, but tablet could work as well) 

 

Wednesday, Aug 7

 

  • 8:30-9:00am
    • Arrival & BYO Breakfast/Coffee
  • 9:00-10:00am
    • Welcome, Introductions, and Overview of SICA with Dr. Aaron Knochel, Fouz Aljameel, and Dr. B. Stephen Carpenter II. Dr Ann Holt will join us via zoom.
  • 10:00—11:00pm
    • Capacities of Care workshop with Dr. Aaron Knochel 
  • 11:00-12:30pm
    • Tour Palmer Museum exhibitions with Brandi Breslin
  • 12:30-1:30pm
    • Working Lunch (pizza and salad buffet)
  • 1:30-5:00
    •  Studio/Gallery/Arboretum time
    • Overview of facilities 
    • Discussion of Studio themes 
    • Review Woskob Family Gallery group exhibition opportunity 

Homework: 

Graham, M.A. & Lewis, R. (2023). Mindfulness as art education, self-inquiry, and artmaking. Studies in Art Education, 64(1), 75-96. DOI: 10.1080/00393541.2022.2154529

> Experiment using the whiteboard “Capacities of Research Rhizomes of Research” to concept map ideas of the article as they connect with the capacities of care.

 

Thursday, Aug 8

  • 8:30-9:00am
    • Arrival & BYO Breakfast/Coffee
  • 9:00-9:30am
    • Revisit/Review/Refresh: An opening discussion 
  • 9:30-11:00am
    • Rapid Prototyping Graphic Narratives  with Fouz Aljameel
  • 11:00—12:30pm
    • Capacities of Care & Contemporary Art in the Palmer Collection with Dr. Aaron Knochel & Fouz Aljameel 
  • 12:30-1:30pm
  • 1:30-6:30pm
    •  Studio/Gallery/Arboretum time
  • 3:00-5:00pm
    • OPTIONAL: Palmer Museum Educator Open House with Brandi Breslin
  • 5:00-8:00pm
    • EXTENDED HOURS @ Palmer Museum

Homework: 

Creating Communities of Care in the Early Childhood Art University Classroom by Jess Perry-Martin 

https://art21.org/read/creating-communities-of-care-in-the-early-childhood-art-university-classroom/ 

(Eco-environmental dimension) It’s Really just a Love Story (the Paper) by Angela E. Marsh (artist) https://journal.fi/rae/article/view/119472/71035?acceptCookies=1 

Rewilding A Forest by Maria “Vildhjärta” Westerberg 

https://youtu.be/C5ozGHIK03A?si=-A2VY1bpWiYh2mtY 

 

Friday, Aug 9

  • 8:30-9:00am
    • Arrival & BYO Breakfast/Coffee
  • 9:00-9:30am
    • Opportunities and Events at Penn State College of Arts & Architecture with Dr. B. Stephen Carpenter II 
  • 9:30—11:00pm
    • Interrogating Community Care: Eco-environmental Dimensions “It’s Really Just a Love Story” with Dr. Ann Holt
  • 11:00-12:30pm
    • Interrogating Community Care: Social Dimensions. Made in PA: Mapping Dimensions of Care with Dr. Ann Holt
  • 12:30-1:30pm
  • 1:30-4:00pm
    •  Studio/Gallery/Arboretum time
  • 4:00-5:00pm
    • Wrap Up discussion with Dr. Ann Holt & Fouz Aljameel