How can the average person perceive modern art?

The most important thing in this question is to realize that the concept of “art” is perceived differently by everyone. There is no single definition or framework for it. The American sculptor and master of minimalism Donald Judd once said: “Art is anything that counts as art.” At the end of the 1960s it found freedom from all the established rules and restrictions, becoming something completely new and amazing. But how can a completely ordinary person truly experience it? Especially when contemporary art is so boundless and multiform.

Modern art and its place

Some artists express their attitude to art and its dependence on money and the art market by using the significance of art. For example, Urs Fischer. This American artist has an unusual and striking installation called “You”. From the first seconds it leads a person into a state of incomprehension of what is happening. In the middle – a large earth hole in the floor, and around it are simple white walls of a cube. What did the author want to show by this? Perhaps that many of us, standing on the ground, are unable to see anything but our own selves.

Modern Art and Social Attitude

In addition to its aesthetic function, art can express the author’s civic position. Chinese artist Ai WeiWei uses such methods. This gloomy boat contains 300 inflatable human figures – adults and children. With this installation he appealed to the Australian authorities to be understanding and humane toward refugees.

Art as a struggle against fears

Contemporary artists often resort to unusual ways to address our fears. Yayoi Kusama uses peas and organic shapes for this purpose. She finds some connection between them and her childhood trauma, which ultimately helps Yayoi to deal with it.
Maurizio Cattelan likes to use shocking means to confuse us. One only has to think of his sculpture, which stands at the gate of a building in the former Warsaw ghetto.

DYNAMIC ADDITIONS TO THE FACULTY FOR THE CREATIVE PLACEMAKING CERTIFICATION COURSE

The Certificate in Creative Placemaking Faculty is now complete!  We are excited to announce three significant additions to our faculty roster.  Marjorie Perry, Duda Penteado and Chasity Cooper round out the scope of expertise along with our previously announced faculty members to provide the most comprehensive training in the field of Creative Placemaking.

Meet Marjorie, Duda and Chasity and the full roster of NJIT-related faculty for the Certificate in Creative Placemaking.

CREATIVE PLACEMAKING AND BROWNFIELDS REDEVELOPMENT BOOTCAMP IN NEW HAMPSHIRE

BROWNFIELDS CREATIVE PLACEMAKING BOOTCAMP

Recap

On Wednesday, April 18th, more than 40 artists, arts administrators, city planners, city councilors and other professionals met for a Creative Placemaking and Brownfields Redevelopment Bootcamp. There was so much to take in, and so many wonderful ideas.

Arts Alive! has always served as a connector to the arts community for ideas and opportunities like this, and, we also possess a good deal of research and data on our region’s creative economy, that we are pleased to share upon request. Just let us know!

Special thanks to representatives from the Center for Creative Placemaking and NJIT’s New Jersey Innovation Institute for an interesting and thorough presentation. A huge thanks to our sponsors: the Southwest Region Planning Commission and Ransom Consulting. Thanks also to Kristin’s Bistro & Bakery and Margaritas of Keene for donations of food.

Arts Alive! also receives operating support through the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation and the New Hampshire State Council on the Arts.

“HOW MANY LIVES?” DOCUMENTARY PROJECT BY DUDA PENTEADO

We have been asked to inform you of this new project from our teammate, Duda Penteado.  Duda is one of the most respected public/mural arts leaders in New Jersey.  He and his production colleagues are finally ready to launch their documentary, “How Many Lives?” about their mural project expression concerning  gun violence in America.   They have created a kickstarter campaign to raise funds to finish this project.

Duda says that this is one of the most important projects that he has had the privilege of working on throughout his significant creative career.  Over the next 18 days,  he asks that you consider contributing to this effort, share news of this project and help spread the word so that he and his co-producers can meet their goal.

MEET YOUR FACULTY FOR NJIT’S CERTIFICATE IN CREATIVE PLACEMAKING COURSE OF STUDY

Core Faculty

Suzanne IsheePresident, Center for Creative Placemaking, is a veteran of the NY theatre who is recognized as an Emmy and Drama Desk award winning producer, actor and playwright.  She holds degrees from the University of North Carolina and Manhattan School of Music and several post-graduate certifications from the Commercial Theatre Institute and NJ Real Estate Commission and was for two seasons the Leonard Bernstein Fellow at the Tanglewood Institute.  She is an adjunct professor at NJIT teaching in the Theatre Arts and Technology program.

 

Stuart Z Koperweis – President, Economic Development Strategists and Vice-President, Center for Creative Placemaking is one of the premier individuals in the economic development and revitalization field in New Jersey.  He is known as one of the foremost authorities in the State of New Jersey and the New York metropolitan region on the effective workings of Business Improvement Districts (BIDs).   Mr. Koperweis holds degrees from Boston University and American University.

 

Dr. Colette Santasieri  possesses over 30 years of practical and applied urban, environmental, transportation, and land use planning experience in both the public and private sectors.  She has extensive experience and expertise in strategic planning; community visioning for redevelopment; transit oriented development; sustainable planning and design of communities, properties, and transportation systems; brownfields redevelopment; and identifying and analyzing a project’s impact on socio-economic, natural, and man-made settings as well as on environmental justice communities.  Dr. Santasieri holds diverse, yet complementary degrees in Urban Systems (PhD), Civil Engineering (MS), and Environmental Planning and Design (BS) providing her a well-rounded perspective in addressing the challenges and opportunities of creating sustainable and resilient communities and regions.  She is an executive with NJIT’s NJ Innovation Institute.

Lecturers:

Darius Sollohub is a Faculty Member in the College of Architecture and Design at NJIT teaching architecture and planning courses.  He conducts funded research, and lectures and publishes on various topics. He previously served as School of Architecture Director and as Infrastructure Planning Program Director. His research addresses design pedagogy, affordable housing, transit-oriented development, parking, earth art and transportation systems. Professor Sollohub has received funding from the NEA, HUD, USDOT and many New Jersey State agencies. He has collaborated extensively with the Regional Plan Association, serving on its Transportation and New Jersey Committees. Darius is currently completing the book: Millennials in Architecture: Design and Disruption.

 

Roger Smith is Design Director for Gensler in Morristown.  His expertise lies in project work in the fields of office development, mixed-use, hospitality and master planning, He has 30 years of industry experience, with previous roles including senior designer and associate principal at other global architecture firms working on projects in locations such as Kuwait, Abu Dhabi and Dubai.  Mr. Smith earned his master’s degree in architecture from the University of Pennsylvania.  He is an adjunct professor at NJIT teaching MIP Studio.

 

Tom Dallesio is President, CEO and Publisher of Next City. He is a nationally recognized urban planner, nonprofit leader and educator with more than three decades of experience in city and regional planning, public policy, and nonprofit management. He was founding director of the Center for Resilient Design at NJIT and remains as an adjunct professor teaching land use and infrastructure planning. Mr. Dallesio served as the executive director of Leadership New Jersey, a statewide program strengthening civic leadership through experiential learning.  He directed RPA’s New Jersey office and managed six New Jersey Mayors’ Institutes on Community Design, and promoted affordable housing, transportation finance and property tax reforms.

 

Jean Leonard is Director of Marketing for the Mayo Performing Arts Center in Morristown and has over 12 years experience in marketing, including promotions, budgeting, media planning and placement, social media, client services and project management.  Formerly, she was Senior Marketing Manager for Serino Coyne, the largest full service advertising and marketing agency in the live entertainment industry.  At SC, her major clients included Disney Theatricals and the national touring companies of Wicked and Jersey Boys.    Mrs. Leonard holds a B.A. in Journalism and Dramatic Art from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and an M.A. in Arts Administration from Indiana University.

 

Thomas Motyka is Senior Executive Director of Smart Cities Innovation at NJ Innovation Institute working closely with developers, public officials and industry to create an open test-bed where new technologies to solve urban problems can be deployed and evaluated. These include “Smart City Internet of Things” projects for the integration of traffic, transit, parking, public safety, healthcare delivery and infrastructure resiliency into a cohesive data-driven system designed to improve the quality of life for residents and visitors to our urban centers..  Mr. Motyka formerly served as director of sales for IBM’s Global Technology Services Business Unit.  He holds an M.B.A. from Fairleigh Dickinson University and a B.S. in electric engineering from the New Jersey Institute of Technology.

In addition, other dynamic guest speakers will bring their expertise into the classroom throughout the course schedule.  Class size is limited, so don’t miss out.

WHY IS NOW THE RIGHT TIME?

What comes first, the chicken or the egg?  In a rapidly growing era of new job creation, one could argue that it is often the chicken which comes first.  At least as far as new job creation in the field of Creative Placemaking, we can make this case.  The term “Creative Placemaking,” coined by former Chair of the National Endowment for the Arts, Rocco Landesman, was used to define a longstanding practice of utilizing the arts and culture to help revitalize communities.    Landesman became the “promoter-in-chief” of Creative Placemaking in 2010 by commissioning Ann Markusen and Anne Gadwa to write a white paper for the Mayor’s Institute on City Design.  The paper defined the term and was a seminal work in making a strong case for adoption of the practice.

According to the authors of the paper, “Creative placemaking animates public and private spaces, rejuvenates structures and streetscapes, improves local business viability and public safety, and brings diverse people together to celebrate, inspire, and be inspired.”   Landesman wisely set forth to create a funding mechanism for the practice separate from dependence on federal funding.  Instead, he brought together the leading executives from a dozen foundations   Kresge, Surdna, Mellon, Irvine, Knight, McKnight, Bloomberg and others – to partner in this pioneering work.  Luis Ubiñas of the Ford Foundation was the first chair to drive the collaboration, resulting in the creation of  ArtPlace America.

From our nation’s largest urban centers to the most quaint hamlets, in these relatively short eight years, the scope and practice of Creative Placemaking has grown faster and, I imagine, far beyond what even the early dreamers could have envisioned.  Over the years, as the field has spread across sectors of planning, engineering, technology, health, sustainability, governance, community and economic development, and further, the practice has been redefined and refined.

Professionals from all of these sectors are locally engaged in one or more aspects of their creative community planning primarily through volunteerism, as jobbers or within the capacity of their current job mandates.  Yet their resumes do not reflect recognition of professional expertise in the field.  Perhaps in a CV, one can expand on a description of their experience, but in the format of a resume, one  cannot identify themselves as “Creative Placemaker” without accompanying professional certification.

Why is “now” the right time for an institution of higher education to offer this professional Creative Placemaker certification?  Simply put, recent job openings describe

CERTIFIED CREATIVE PLACEMAKER

We are thrilled to share with you that New Jersey Instititute of Technology is offering the Creative Placemaking Certification through their Continuing Professional Education division.

This course of study will provide necessary professional accreditation for the person who wishes to be recognized as a leader of change in community. The practice of Creative Placemaking is increasingly being adopted by municipalities, counties and regions and is being applied neighborhood by neighborhood in communities large and small throughout the United States and across the globe. The time is now to develop recognized professional leaders of this practice.

The Certification course of study provides comprehensive classroom and field training in the broad principals and methodologies of the Creative Placemaking process.  The purpose of this certification course is to develop literacy, sensitivity, skills building and context of the field of practice in order for the graduate to be accepted and recognized as a leader in Creative Placemaking.

For many, this course of study will open an entirely new professional pathway.  For others, the certification will provide enhancement and professional credential for work they have already been doing.  For everyone who takes this course, the small class size, one-on-one attention, comprehensive curriculum, small group interaction and practical application will result in readiness to assume the challenges of Creative Placemaking leadership.

Core faculty for this program are Suzanne Ishee, President of the Center for Creative Placemaking, Stuart Koperweis, Vice-President of the Center for Creative Placemaking, and Dr. Colette Santasieri,  an expert in urban, environmental, civil infrastructure and land use planning.  Guest faculty from NJIT and sector-specific experts will augment the instruction.

Classes run 2 evenings per week for 10 weeks.  All classes will take place on the NJIT campus which is located in the University Heights neighborhood immediately adjacent to vibrant downtown Newark.  On campus parking will be available for class participants.  As well, the campus is easily accessible by short walk or local public transport to commuter rail stations.