Educators and Artists Research and Create in Arts LaboratoryThursday, August 23, 2018

Recently, the (C3)² project team hosted the 2018 Summer Institute at the Watermill Center in Southampton, NY. This is the second installment of a two-part summary of the event. To read about the event’s first day, visit Day 1.

In her welcoming remarks for Day 2 of the 2018 Summer Institute, Laura Reeder, (C3)² curriculum director and the Institute’s facilitator, reviewed Day 1's activities and set goals for Day 2. “Yesterday, we explored the Center, which is a laboratory for artists, and chose a theme or problem to address in a creative research project. Today, we will begin to develop a presentation or activity that addresses our chosen topic. In the afternoon, we will present our in-process work to the entire group.”

Once again, Ms. Reeder prepared the workshop participants—educators and teaching artists—for the day’s work by guiding them in a “slowing down” activity.

Afterwards, the group dispersed to work on their creative research and presentation. Working either individually or with a partner, participants developed a presentation or activity inspired by one of the Center's unique outdoor settings.

In the afternoon, the workshop’s participants presented their in-process work (photos and videoclips below). Each project included a visual or performing arts activity. For example, the project creators asked their colleagues to…

• Reflect on a word that described what they were currently thinking about or might want to focus on in the future. Afterwards, participants chose a small stone and wrote the word on it. 

• Use the word they had reflected on (in previous activity) and create an object in model magic clay. The finished objects were assembled for a community totem, similar to the totems on the Center’s grounds.

• Engage with an outdoor space individually and as a group.

•  Discover and draw the face of one of the ancient statutes at the Center. Afterwards, participants were challenged to give the statute a name, create a story about it, and consider the impact of moving cultural works from their original location.

• Listen to a story about bullying, participate in a call-and-response activity, and engage in creative music making.

• Engage in an interactive dance inspired by the theme of resilience.

Explore the themes of identity, displacement and adaption through a visual arts activity. The group viewed a diagram of found objects collected by two presenters and looked for objects chosen by both presenters.

For the last activity, workshop participants were asked to write an arts integration message to share with schools and the community at large on a set of paper wings. “This is the last formal event of the (C3)² project,” explained Lorraine Sopp, (C3)² Project Coordinator. “Our focus for the coming year will on the dissemination of the project’s findings about arts integration. It’s time for that experience to ‘take flight.’”