KQED Arts Education and a group of local educators just completed our second annual "Digital Portraits" course for educators. Last year, we studied California artist Robert Arneson's approach portraiture and created short, autobiographical films (Check out last year's assignment and two of the films in the Edspace archive).
This summer, the artist we looked to for inspiration was none other than Cindy Sherman, who has a retrospective on view at SFMOMA through October 2012. Sherman has been called one of the most important artists of our time and was featured on Art:21. She is known for using herself as a model to create photographic portraits of women who do not represent the artist, but personas and characters she creates. Continue reading »
In San Francisco, you can’t trip and fall without landing on a talented artist. In fact, KQED’s headquarters are located across the street from a three-story building full of working artists in their studios. This is where we found contemporary painter Jeremy Sutton hard at work on a portrait of local musician, Danny Armstrong. We spent an afternoon in Jeremy’s studio watching him draw and paint, and discovering his art historical influences.
If you don’t already know Jeremy Sutton and his work, you’re sure to be charmed by his passion and dedication. This short, lively interview will inspire writing and painting projects in your classroom, as well as art history research projects. Find specific lesson plan ideas and additional resources in our related Educator Guide.
This video will be screened for thousands of Bay Area students after they tour the de Young Museum’s newest exhibition, Masters of Venice, which includes works by 16th century master artists, “Titian, Giorgione, Veronese, Tintoretto, Mantegna, and more.”
Museum educators will use the video to inspire students’ own drawing and painting practices, and help them recognize how centuries-old artworks continue to inspire the artists of today. For information about arranging a free tour of the exhibition for your class, visit the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco’s Web site.
To see more vibrant portraiture by Jeremy Sutton, visit his Web site. Jeremy is also an educator and offers painting classes in his studio.
Do Now is a weekly activity for students to respond to current issues through the use KQED's award-winning online media resources and social media tools like Twitter.