Professor Kristine Cleo Albaran

Honors Hall 12: Wednesday 1:40PM – 4:20 PM

 

INTRODUCTION:

Seminar 1 is the first of the four mandatory seminars all Macaulay Honors student take. It is not only about learning about art in NYC but also about engaging and participating in events and activities aimed to further enrich and stimulate the creative side in every student. When it comes to art, oftentimes, many imagine centuries old oil paintings hung on a white wall or odd splatters of paint on a canvas titled modern art.  However, throughout this course we will explore the multitude of different forms of ‘the arts’ that New York City has to offer as well as come to discover that art is a part of our everyday lives whether we know it or not. Through each event we attend I aim to show you how art can be something that doesn’t necessarily have to be put behind glass in a gallery and that it can exist in other areas of your lives that you haven’t thought of before. Hopefully, by the end of this seminar, you will be equipped with a new found (or reaffirmed) appreciation for the arts.

 

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ART BENEATH OUR FEET AND IN THE SKY: THE ART OF BUILDINGS AND STRUCTURES IN NY

1. THE HIGH LINE: FROM FREIGHT TO FLOWERS

• PRICE: FREE
• WHEN: ATTEND A TOUR ON FEB. 3 12:00pm – 12:45pm OR VISIT & WALK THROUGH THE HIGH LINE YOURSELF BEFORE NEXT CLASS ON FEB. 7

READ:

• READ HISTORY & DESIGN 
• GOLDBERGER

         Visiting the High Line for the first event may be the first time most of the class will be going to the City and exploring by themselves. This will serve as a good opportunity to have them dip their toes in the NYC art scheme and figure out how to get around the City if they are unfamiliar with doing so. I want my students to visit and walk through the entirety of the High Line to see it all that it has to offer. I want them to see that the High Line not only has art scattered throughout it but that it is also art itself. Students should observe and analyze the High Line as a transformed structure, a railroad then and now a park above the ground, and the purpose it serves in the place and space that it takes up.

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2. APPLE SKETCH WALK / ARCHITECTURAL SKETCHING TECHNIQUES / ART & TECHNOLOGY

• PRICE: FREE
• WHEN: (TBD, Hopefully FEB. 5 Pending on Apple Store’s schedule)
• WHERE: APPLE FIFTH AVE.

READ:

• http://www.lauckgroup.com/news/4426/
• http://www.bvn.com.au/2017/03/16/paperless-architect-ipad-pro-studio/

 

         After learning about the High Line and architectural art, Students will be able to experience first-hand how structures are designed and made. For this sketch walk, the Apple store will provide an iPad Pro and Apple Pencil to each participant to borrow and use during the event. Students will be walking through the city and discovering all the different types of structures around them and create sketches of them using technology. This will open the next part of our unit of how technology plays a role in the advancement of art.

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 ART & CULTURE DURING BLACK HISTORY MONTH

3. JAZZ AT LINCOLN CENTER – GEORGE BURTON QUINTET – BEHIND THE SCENES

• PRICE: FREE
• WHEN: Wednesday, FEB 21, 7:30PM
• WHERE: JAZZ @ LINCOLN CENTER, Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola

READ & LISTEN: http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/bhistory/history_of_jazz.htm

         I remember the euphoric feeling I had when listening to the live music in the last part of Fall for Dance. Thus, I wanted my students to have the same experience. Jazz is known for its sound, its energy, and as a genre of music that has life to it. This live performance will supplement what we learn about how jazz impacted the lives of African Americans in New York City and how it is the foundation to the many different types of music that we listen to today.  Our class will be given a chance to go behind the scenes with the George Burton Quintet. From this, I hope that from our glimpse at the hard work that goes in to performing Jazz and learning more about it’s rich history from preformers will kindle a newfound appreciation for Jazz and Jazz musicians. This performance will also be a part of our preparation to watch the Broadway show SISTAS.

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4. THE WHITNEY– TOYIN OJIH ODUTOLA: TO WANDER DETERMINED

• PRICE: FREE with CUNY ID (QCARD)
• WHEN: VIEW BEFORE CLASS MEETS FEB. 28 (Exhibit closes Feb 25)  
• WHERE: THE WHITNEY MUSEUM OF AMERICAN ART

READ & LISTEN: https://whitney.org/Exhibitions/ToyinOjihOdutola

         The Whitney is one of my favorite museums as it has a wide array of rotating exhibits that highlights more modern, recent American artists. To fit in our theme of the arts in African American culture in NYC, I chose this exhibit as it presents “fictional portraits of the lives of two aristocratic Nigerian families” that will help us prepare to watch the Broadway show SISTAS at the end of the month. These portraits examine narrative, authenticity, and representation and will hopefully challenge my students to learn how to analyze art and discover a deeper meaning behind works that seem self-explanatory on the surface. The narrative behind these fictional portraits will draw similarities with the narratives showcased in SISTAS.

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5.  BROADWAY SHOW: SISTAS

• PRICE: $44.50
• WHEN: Sunday, FEB. 25, 4:30pm
• WHERE: ST. LUKE’S THEATRE
• DURATION: 1 HR, 30 MIN (no intermission)

To culminate our unit during Black History Month, I will be taking my students to watch the Broadway show SISTAS. The month of February was spent not only focusing in on the arts in African American culture but also how narratives are told through the arts in many different ways. Through Jazz we were able to hear and feel emotions exuding from the sound of jazz instruments, through Ojih Odutola’s portraits we were able to discover a narrative through the her intimate, complex portraits, and finally with SISTAS we will watch a show about a group of women who mourn but also celebrate the legacy of their grandmother with news of her passing. This musical is a moving timeline of life in America for Black women, “spanning from the days of Jim Cow, the Girl Groups of the 60’s, female empowerment of the 90s, and the challenge’s of today’s youth.”

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TELLING A STORY USING VOICE & DELIVERY:  THE ART OF OPERA & IMPROV COMEDY

6. Upright Citizen’s Brigade Comedy Club: HAROLD NIGHT

• PRICE: $8.50
• WHEN: Tuesday, MARCH 6, 8PM
• WHERE:
  555 W 42nd St, New York, NY 10036
• DURATION: 30 MIN
• READ BARA, SOME POINTS FROM A  DEBATE, ANOTHER POV

For the first part of this unit, for an interesting twist to telling a story though voice I plan on taking my students to the Upright Citizen’s Brigade Comedy Club to experience a live improv comedy show. I believe live improv comedy is a demanding art form joining the likes of Broadway shows and lengthy operas. A comedian is prompted to tell a story that will not only entertain the audience but also remain coherent all off the top of their heads. Thus, taking my students to experience this event will hopefully open their minds to all the different shapes and forms that art can exist in.

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7. THE MET OPERA: ROMEO ET JULIETTE

• WHEN: Monday, APRIL 23, 7:30pm
• WHERE: The MET Opera
• DURATION: 3HRS, 2 MIN
• READ SYNOPSIS

As a mandatory event for Macaulay Seminar 1 to go see a I plan on taking my students to watch Romeo et Juliette. I chose this opera because I find that it may be the most relatable to my students and easiest to follow assuming that for many if not all my students, this will be their first opera. If one hasn’t read the actual play by Shakespeare It’s highly likely that they know of a story or adaptation  from a movie or show that is based on the story line of ‘star crossed lovers.’ I chose this opera because it has a narrative that is familiar and easy to follow. In turn, this advantage will make it easier for analyze and contrast between the type of story telling we experienced at the Upright Citizen’s Brigade Comedy Club.

 

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ART IN OUR LIVES: DESIGN AND FOOD

8. Cooper Hewitt: Access+Ability

” From low-tech products that assist with daily routines to the newest technologies, the exhibition explores how users and designers are expanding and adapting accessible products and solutions in ways previously unimaginable.”

• PRICE: $7 WITH CUNY ID, FREE UNDER 18
• WHEN: MARCH 21, CLASS TIME
• WHERE: 2 E 91st St, New York, NY 10128

I’d like to end this course with my last unit being about how art exists not only for our viewing and entertainment but how it also exists in our everyday lives. Whether its the furniture we use or the ads we see on the TV screen, these are forms of art that for the most part aren’t viewed as such. By visiting the Cooper Hewitt, and viewing the exhibit Access+Ability  it will open a conversation of how the fundamentals of art and design have an important role not only in the mundane things in today’s world like advertisements and brand logos but also in the way we are shaping the future of accessibility in products and spaces. From our visit to this museum I want my students to discover the power that art has in raising awareness and starting conversations about inclusivity and the importance of accessible design innovation.

9. SMORGASBURG 

• PRICE: $15 allowance (left over money from budget)
• WHERE: East River Sate Park // 90 Kent Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11211
• WHEN: Saturday, MAY 6, 12pm
• READ BUTLER, READ AND WATCH THE BIG DEBATE: CAN FOOD BE SERIOUS ART?

To end our course I’d like to take my students out to Smorgasburg in Brooklyn, NY.  It is the largest weekly open-air food market in America. Aside from it being a nice send-off for my students to enjoy good food it is also an opportunity to discover that food is a form of art. I’ve been stressing all throughout the course that art takes on many different forms and can stimulate our senses of hearing, seeings, and touch  either separately or all at once to tell a narrative. Thus, food can’t be any different because it does just that but stimulating our sense of taste and telling a different kind of story.  For some, food can tell the story of either their own or their ancestor’s lives back ‘home’ through their cultural dishes. For others, food can simply act as a way to experiment and create something new. In this way, ingredients act like the paint and the canvas is the plate of the customer.