Workshops
National Professional-Development Workshops for Artists
CAA’s National Professional-Development Workshops for Artists, sustained by a generous grant from the Emily Hall Tremaine Foundation, focus on supporting visual artists in underserved areas.
“Hybrid Careers” in Portland, Oregon
The creative process is not a singular gesture, but a dynamic pursuit fueled by a spectrum of experiences and conditions. A practice that spans multiple disciplines further demonstrates a fluidity and flexibility that can lead to healthy and innovative solutions. Join us at Oregon College of Art and Craft (OCAC) on Saturday, October 6, 2012, for an intensive investigation into hybrid practice. Geared toward creatives of all levels of experience who are interested in craft, fine art, or design, “Hybrid Careers,” the CAA National Professional-Development Workshop, in partnership with OCAC and several other organizations and businesses, will focus on four steps within the creative endeavor: “Seeking,” “Solving,” “Making,” and “Reflecting.” Participants choose two interactive sessions that strengthen and develop perceived weaknesses in their practice. Sessions will be multidisciplinary and fast paced, emphasizing collaboration, communication, interactive participation, and iteration. Arrive ready to engage, to inspire, and to feel empowered in this multifaceted workshop.
Session 1: Seeking
Problem seeking, or programming, is often the foundation of any creative endeavor. Participants will focus on means of sparking and expanding upon flickers of inspiration, prompting and cultivating creative processes. We will explore the dynamic tension between possibility and problem-space, examining strategies for generative ideation and the use of constraints as an impetus for navigating new content. Participants are invited to map out their own boundaries, explore the edges of the unknown and pinpoint sites for further reconnaissance.
Session 2: Solving
Effective problem solving requires a clear understanding of the scope and ramifications of the problem. There is a tendency to try to jump immediately to a conclusion without a focused examination of the problem at hand. Once the problem is clearly understood and its potential has been addressed the next step is to build and to test a variety of solutions. Most design problems are solved in the details. The material choice, attachment mechanism, connection types, or finish can be the key to the solution. With this in mind, theories or hypotheses of how to solve the problem need to be identified, then tested, refined, and tested again. In this session, participants will actively engage in all steps of this process. We will provide a project brief for a project of a scope that can be discussed, molded, and tested in a four-hour session.
Session 3: Making
Making is the action of the creative process and the beginning of responsive thinking. Whether the object is drafted or comes intuitively the final product is the result of plans, compromises, and revelations. Exploring the process we will observe the evolution of the conceptual object. Being in touch with the step-by-step incremental developments of the work, our focus will be on responsive decisions. Without fetishizing the object, we will dwell on the path made and altered by the hand and the repeated actions of making.
Session 4: Reflecting
We exist in a world of lazy looking and liking. Let’s slow down and figure out why we like what we like and understand what is truly important to us—not just stuff we think is cool looking. Once we understand more about our own perspectives on the world, we can then learn to focus on projects that we can really believe in.
Contact
Questions regarding the workshops should be directed to Susan Schear, CAA national workshop project consultant, at 973-482-1000.
