Jane's Pocket Change: Leap Before You Look
The wonderful integrated exhibit currently at the Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) devoted to the people and community of Black Mountain College (BMC) is testament to the power of the arts and education.
The wonderful integrated exhibit currently at the Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) devoted to the people and community of Black Mountain College (BMC) is testament to the power of the arts and education.
Based on the principles of John Dewey, just like CSW, the North Carolina college lasted from 1933 through 1957 and boasted the likes of John Cage, Merce Cunningham, Robert Rauschenberg, Elaine and Willem de Kooning, Buckminster Fuller, Ruth Asawa, Robert Motherwell, Gwendolyn and Jacob Knight Lawrence, Charles Olson, and Robert Creeley as teachers and students. Recruiting Josef and Anni Albers, fugitives from Nazi Germany, ensured the school's success. Even though the Albers' English was minimal, their devotion to the full integration of all the arts, without hierarchy, guaranteed the building of a strong learning community. Josef Albers would typically assign one problem for his class and encourage them to seek answers and solutions together, and to understand how things were made and the "basic building blocks of visual form."
The exhibit, at Boston's ICA through January 24, is truly worth a visit.
It probably comes as no surprise that Black Mountain College makes me think of CSW. Our belief in the power of an intentional community and the way in which we, like BMC, are similar to a social enterprise, devoted to exposing our students, as they work alongside their teachers, to real issues that require creative and collaborative problem solving. Teachers and students at BMC formed relationships and friendships through "new ways of learning and making." While the endeavor did not last in that location with those people, BMC was integral in elevating the fusion of education, creativity and the arts to a remarkable level.
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Pocket Change is a web diary written by Jane Moulding, head of school.
Based on the principles of John Dewey, just like CSW, the North Carolina college lasted from 1933 through 1957 and boasted the likes of John Cage, Merce Cunningham, Robert Rauschenberg, Elaine and Willem de Kooning, Buckminster Fuller, Ruth Asawa, Robert Motherwell, Gwendolyn and Jacob Knight Lawrence, Charles Olson, and Robert Creeley as teachers and students. Recruiting Josef and Anni Albers, fugitives from Nazi Germany, ensured the school's success. Even though the Albers' English was minimal, their devotion to the full integration of all the arts, without hierarchy, guaranteed the building of a strong learning community. Josef Albers would typically assign one problem for his class and encourage them to seek answers and solutions together, and to understand how things were made and the "basic building blocks of visual form."
The exhibit, at Boston's ICA through January 24, is truly worth a visit.
(In fact, you may have seen some of our faculty visiting recently on our Facebook page). The works on display tell the story of what must have been a magical institution. The black and white film of Merce Cunningham alone evokes the extraordinary quality of that place.
It probably comes as no surprise that Black Mountain College makes me think of CSW. Our belief in the power of an intentional community and the way in which we, like BMC, are similar to a social enterprise, devoted to exposing our students, as they work alongside their teachers, to real issues that require creative and collaborative problem solving. Teachers and students at BMC formed relationships and friendships through "new ways of learning and making." While the endeavor did not last in that location with those people, BMC was integral in elevating the fusion of education, creativity and the arts to a remarkable level.
____________________________________________________
Pocket Change is a web diary written by Jane Moulding, head of school.
The Cambridge School of Weston is a progressive high school for day and boarding students in grades 9–12 and PG. CSW's mission is to provide a progressive education that emphasizes deep learning, meaningful relationships, and a dynamic program that inspires students to discover who they are and what their contribution is to their school, their community and the world.