Please note Art 101: Art Review is canceled.
Art 101: Art Review is not the typical critique class. Open to artists at all levels, professional facilitators in this workshop use Visual Thinking Strategies (VTS) along with other techniques to help guide conversations around each work. The goal of this workshop is to help artists gain an understanding of how their peers will perceive their artwork, when not given the benefit of an artist’s statement. This workshop will work best when all registrants are engaged and willing to participate.
The Review Process
After registering for this class, please submit a high-resolution image of one or two of your artwork(s) to education@sjmusart.org. Facilitators will select a work from each registrant for a digital slideshow, where it will be projected for the workshop in the Charlotte Wendel Education Center. The slideshow will not display artist names and titles. Participants will then discuss each work for 8 minutes, guided by their peers’ observations and analysis of the work without judgment.
Space is limited and will be capped at 15 artists.
Art 101 is an inclusive program series. SJMA reserves the right to decline submitted images containing violent imagery or promotes hate speech.
About the Facilitators
Kayt Smith, she, her, hers
I love bees, anthropology, the smell of old books, and keeping the oxford comma alive. I graduated from San José State University with a BA in Anthropology, and through my studies attended two autopsies at a morgue and interned at the Santa Clara County Crime Laboratory. I spent some time after university living in Illinois for an archaeological excavation at Cahokia Mounds (one of her “anthropology bucket list” dreams) and the following year, I lived in Hawaii on a sixty-acre permaculture farm doing biological field research and collaborating on conservation efforts in the community. After moving home from Hawaii, I landed a job at the Campbell Historical Museum and Ainsley House, which allowed me to grow my skills as an anthropologist and discover my greatest joy—teaching children and sparking their creativity.
Lydia Watson, she, her, hers
I am a painter and collage artist from San José. Through years of experience working with individuals with different physical and intellectual abilities at the non-profit Angels on Stage, I discovered the importance of cultivating a space for creative expression that is accessible and empowering to all. As a gallery teacher, I want to encourage young folks to investigate their imagination and find power in their authentic contributions to the world. Aside from my interests in visual arts and education, I love music production, being in nature, shopping for second-hand vintage clothing, and enjoying musical theatre as a performer and audience member.