WITS Tours Joaquín Torres-García Exhibit

Artist’s Toys Become Basis for Kids to Experience Art Fist Hand

Artists and Writers Provide Varying Perspectives on Design, Art, and Writing

Houston, Texas -- December 11, 16, and 17, at the Menil Collection, 1515 Sul Ross Street Houston, TX 77006.  Writers in the Schools (WITS) continues its tradition of providing experiential education for students, proving their commitment to their role as a major force for educational change in Houston.  This project is a part of a long and fruitful history of collaboration between WITS and the Menil Collection.  WITS will introduce many HISD students to the work of artist, Joaquín Torres-García. 

More About the Exhibition:
Torres-García, a contemporary of Picasso and Duchamp, was one of the most influential artists of his time, working to blur the distinction between craft and art.  He was a prolific painter and teacher which makes his work a perfect for students to experience.  Much of the work in the show was created between the 1920’s and 1940’s while Joaquín Torres-García was working in Spain, New York, Italy, and France.   During this period he was developing wooden toys and elaborate abstract wall-compositions out of planes of wood.  

The WITS /Torres-García Experience is a three-part project which will be complemented by an art historian and a painter.  The first part of the project is the introduction to the work.   Torres-García was a painter originally and later experimented with sculpture.  Among other things, he began to create educational toys for children out of wood.  Young students are the perfect audience for this work, having inquisitive minds and creative imaginations.

Students from various HISD schools will visit the Menil Collection to view the current exhibition titled, Joaquín Torres-García: Constructing Abstraction with Wood.   While touring the show students will be asked to think about the concepts of travel, journey, language, and identity – the larger ideas emanating from the exhibition.  As they acquaint themselves with the work, art historian, Susie Kalil, will lead the groups and discuss with them the historical contexts from which the work emerged.

The second part of the project is two follow up visits at the school by artist, Nicola Parente.  The purpose of the post field trip artist visits is to engage the students in an art making experience with a painter and sculptor.  Nicola will help the students create abstract wood pieces using their own symbols and writing as inspiration.  The students will develop their own dialogue about the major themes in the show.

The third and final part of the project is the production of a publication to commemorate the project and to provide a model and basic curriculum for future WITS projects involving art and writing.  The publication will include students’ writing and art, as well as lesson plans and will otherwise document the project. 

The three part project is part of a commitment on behalf of WITS to interdisciplinary projects that encourage children to think critically.  There will be several ESL classes participating in the WITS/Torres-García project.  Bilingualism is a prevalent concept in the exhibition both literally and figuratively speaking.  In a sense children will be thinking like writers and thinking like artists utilizing different vocabularies and thought processes. 

“WITS implements interdisciplinary projects because creativity – true creativity – demands the free flow of ideas.  Children are naturals when it comes to the creative process.  Given the chance to express themselves through a variety of media – language, art, sculpture – the results are often empowering to them and enlightening for an audience,” said Robin Reagler, Executive Director for WITS.          
 
Media are invited to witness the creative process in action at the Menil Collection (1515 Sul Ross Street Houston, TX 77006) on the following dates:
December 11, 2009 at 9:30 am
HISD School Visiting:
Briarmeadow Charter School
2 classrooms (4th Grade)
December 16, 2009 at 9:30 am
HISD School Visiting:
Edgewood Elementary School
2 classrooms (2nd-3rd Grades)
December 17, 2009 at 9:30 am
HISD School Visiting:
Edgewood Elementary School
4 classrooms (2nd-3rd Grades)

More About the Collaborating Artists:
Susie Kalil, born in Los Angeles, California, came to Houston in 1973 to complete a B.A. at Rice University. She is an art critic, curator and lecturer. She has published criticism in various magazines and newspapers, including Artforum, Art in America, ARTnews, Artweek, Cite, Sculpture, The Houston Post and The Houston Press. For the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, she co-curated with Barbara Rose the landmark exhibition "Fresh Paint: The Houston School" (1984) and curated "The Texas Landscape: 1900-1986." In 1995-96 she was Visual Arts Director for DiverseWorks, Houston. She is a former Core Fellow in Critical Studies at the Glassell School of Art, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, and was Managing Editor of the Texas journal, ArtLies. Her recent books include Melissa Miller: Paintings and Works on Paper (University of Texas Press), James Surls: From the Heartland (the Grace Museum) and Sally Chandler: A Collection of Memories (Three Cranes Press).
 
Nicola Parente creates expressive abstract paintings from his studio in Houston, Texas. Born in Italy, he draws from his rich Italian heritage and a deep well of cross-cultural experiences to bring his art to life. Working in a variety of media, he engages the viewer in dialogues of human encounter within the urban environment. Inspired by changes in metropolitan communities, his art defines the intersections of daily urban life and timeless multi-cultural celebration. His paintings capture the fluidity and static elements of the urban matrix, referencing the architectonic images, reflections, and rhythms of its landscape. Nicola completed his undergraduate studies at Kings College and his masters from the University of St. Thomas. Recently, Nicola collaborated with Dominic Walsh Dance Theater in designing and creating the set for the World Premiere Production of Terminus. He is represented in Houston by Gremillion & Co. Fine Art, which featured his new work at a solo exhibition in July 2008. His works can be seen in public and private collections in the US, Italy, UK, Germany, and Spain.