Sunday, November 15, 2009

Mentoring

I have been working as a mentor this semester in the MFA in Applied Craft and Design program and I am finding it to be a very rewarding experience.  It's the part of teaching I enjoy the most: talking to students about their projects, brainstorming, helping them clarify thinking, introducing them to new artists,  finding resources. The student I work with, Laura Alcorn, is amazing me every week with her diligence, creativity, and openness to exploration. And I forgot to mention she is making some kickass beautiful jewelry that is really miniature sculpture.

Here the description lifted straight from their website:

"Connecting design thinking to design doing, Oregon College of Art and Craft and Pacific Northwest College of Art have collaborated to create a unique MFA Program grounded in hands-on making, entrepreneurial strategies, and social and environmental engagement. Combining a mentor-based approach with an exceptional visiting artists program, students work one-on-one with nationally and internationally recognized designers, makers, and scholars in a self-directed curriculum that challenges them to bring to life the full strength of their ideas and skills.

Encouraging a cross-disciplinary studio environment in which the workshop is a lab to collaboratively explore design and making processes, the Program welcomes students from a wide range of creative backgrounds to make original work with an applied purpose. With a curriculum focused on the development of a strong artistic voice, the realization of work for a specific community or client, and entrepreneurism that connects making a living with making a difference, the MFA in Applied Craft and Design is the only graduate program of its kind."

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