Teaching the Visual Arts

What is most deeply experienced by the whole person can be most personal to the individual, as well as something quite rewarding to the whole college community.

—Ansei Uchima, Visual Arts Faculty Member, 1967-1988

There is an art to teaching art—one that Sarah Lawrence has been refining for more than 75 years. It’s still a work-in-progress, and each successive artist brings subtle shifts in style, but its focus couldn’t be more defined: Open your mind, cross your disciplines and present angles on the world that are yours alone. Now the visual arts and visual cultures classes have migrated—from scattered locations all over campus—to a new home in the Monika A. and Charles A. Heimbold, Jr. Visual Arts Center, and a new era begins. In this issue, Sarah Lawrence takes a look at how, when art is taught, learned and made, anything is possible.

The Art of Teaching Art
“Most of the time, you fail at making art. You fail, but you still want to go back to the studio. Teaching the arts here means giving students a chance to try something, to fail, to try again and, through that process, to begin to find a way to define how they feel about things, and what they want to say.” —Gary Burnley, Visual Arts Faculty... | full story

Open Doors
The Monika A. and Charles A. Heimbold, Jr. Visual Arts Center opened its doors in September—new doors that had been installed just a few months before, shiny and fresh-painted, just like everything else in the new building... | full story

Big Gallery, No Borders
The gallery of Sarah Lawrence alumnae/i, faculty and student artists has no walls. It stretches across the country and around the world, and includes artwork in every existing medium and a growing number of conceptual and digital modes... | full story

Small Gallery, Big Artists
Forging New Visions: Teaching the Visual Arts at Sarah Lawrence College, the inaugural exhibit in the Barbara Walters Gallery of the new Monika A. and Charles A. Heimbold, Jr. Visual Arts Center, highlights just some of the many distinguished artists... | full story