|
Shannon
Harvey, RUAP Community Liaison, interviewed Stephanie Johnson:
|
SH:
What is the objective of the Major Pro Seminar Class? Tell me a little
about the principles that shape this class.
SJ: Major Pro Seminar class is an introduction for Visual and Public Art
majors to the philosophy of the program and the major learning outcomes.
I try to format it such that it's an introduction both on a textual level,
reading, researching, and also in a hands on way - individual projects,
research assignments, and so on and so forth. So that's the overall objective
of the Major pro seminar. It goes along with the rest of the pro seminars
throughout the campus, their introductions to their departments. |
| SH:
Where did the idea of having an art day with Seaside High School students
come from? |
| SJ:
In keeping with my idea of presenting things in more than one format,
since students learn in different ways. Some students learn a lot and
get a book on their own, some students will learn much more from watching
a video or a film. Some students learn more by having their hands in something
or initiating or participating in a project. So because of that, I had
the idea a couple of years ago for a class project: to invite the Seaside
High School students to come over and spend a day doing art activities.
So it's their introduction to our program, their introduction to the campus.
Just showing them the possibility, inviting them. A lot of them may not
know they can come to school here. |
"It's a delicate balance between
telling them exactly what to do and allowing them the freedom to formulate
their own working strategies, their own methodologies, figuring out their
own needs. So that's always a delicate, delicate balance, because certainly
I could lay it all out for them but then there's no exploration. I mean,
that's kindergarten, these are adults." |
| It
may not be something their parents knew to tell them. It might not be
something their counselors at school tell them, but we want them to feel
comfortable on the campus. Part of the mission of the entire California
State University system is to be accessible. |
SH:
Tell me something about the process you observed your students going through
in the planning of Art Day and why this process is important?
 SJ:
The high school art day project is to teach them about major learning
outcomes 2 and 3: "community and audience understanding" and "collaborative
and community planning skills". Also number 4 which is "production". So
what happens in the beginning of the semester is the class gets divided
up into teams. There's a publicity and research team; they put up fliers
and whatever publicity things they need to do. Then there's the equipment
team; they set up tables, or slide projectors or whatever it is. There
is a finance team that puts together a budget that they then take to RUAP
to get the supplies that they need for the art activities. And there's
an activities committee, who comes up with a schedule of the day's events
and how things are going to happen. Then there are two liaisons: a liaison
from the class to Elizabeth Ross (Project Coordinator) at RUAP and a liaison
from the class to Seaside High School. Generally the person who is the
liaison to Elizabeth Ross is also the liaison to Vicky Gomez, the administrative
support person for VPA (Visual and Public Art Institute). So they divide
up into their groups and then throughout the semester I give them time
to meet as a group and then to give a group report to the class about
what they've done and what they need beginning with the activities report
because everything else then follows. They've proposed a series of activities
for the day, so it all begins with that. So how the day is going to be
structured will let us know what we need for materials and so on and so
forth. And there's also a food committee; that's very, very important.
And we also had the idea to send them away with something. T-shirts. Elizabeth
has suggested small souvenirs. They got shirts this year and they got
sketchpads and a whole art kit. So there's a committee that deals with
that. |
SH:
In what ways did the class challenge the students by having to work collaboratively?
SJ: This is the process of working and becoming an adult in any kind of
environment. Unlike a lot of art programs, we encourage and make our students
do collaborative projects as part of their course work. Almost every course
has a collaborative component. In addition to the students' own studio
work, painting, sculpture, whatever it is, they also have to collaborate.
So that there are times when it's very hard for them and they have to
negotiate that. Now I do step in and facilitate things when they get tricky,
because you have dominant personalities that are running a group. Sometimes
I have to break it out and give each person in the group an assignment
that they do so that somebody doesn't just take over the entire thing.
It's a delicate balance between telling them exactly what to do and allowing
them the freedom to formulate their own working strategies, their own
methodologies, figuring out their own needs. So that's always a delicate,
delicate balance, because certainly I could lay it all out for them but
then there's no exploration. I mean, that's kindergarten, these are adults.
|
|
|
Stephanie Johnson has been a professor with the Institute for
Visual and Public Art at CSUMB since 1995. Courses she has taught include
Major Pro Seminar, Community Research, Installation and Performance,
and Senior Capstone. Based in Berkeley, California, Professor Johnson
uses her installations and mixed media sculptures as a way to preserve
and honor the history of African-Americans. Ms. Johnson is also a professional
lighting designer working both nationally and internationally in theatre
and film. 
