VACNJ Announces Teacher Symposium FREEWHEELING: Color In The Digital Age

The Visual Arts Center of New Jersey will offer a Teacher's symposium on Thursday, May 10, and Friday, May 11, from 9 AM-3 PM. Teacher's symposia offer unique professional development opportunities for art educators to come together and learn new creative skills to bring back to their classroom. This event, Freewheeling: Color in the Digital Age, will be led by contemporary artist Maureen McQuillan and includes a presentation by the artist, hands-on artmaking workshop, and gallery exercises that explore ways to view and interpret contemporary art. Attendees will receive five professional development hours upon completion, as well as lesson plans to take home to use in their classrooms.

"Since the dawn of the computer age, color has increasingly become the result of disembodied digital production," said Ms. McQuillan. "Rather than sunlight reflecting off of an object, we see color disconnected from the world-synthetic, pre-programmed light emanating from a screen. As a result, the color wheel, based on 19th-century (and earlier) conceptions of color does not have the same relevance for artists. Even studying the different wavelengths and frequencies of color does not take into account how we all perceive color differently. In this workshop we will discuss how our own relationships to color have changed since the dawn of the digital age, and how artists can create their own system of color investigation-one that recognizes and embraces its own failures and limitations."

Please visit artcenternj.org for more information. Please note: Teachers who require their schools to be invoiced for this program should contact Sarah Walko at 908.273.9121, ext. 213 or at swalko@artcenternj.org directly to register.

About the Instructor

Artist Maureen McQuillan explores aspects of growth, unpredictability, repetition, and imperfection in the process and activity of drawing. Her work over the last two decades has incorporated diverse mediums, including printer's ink and resin on paper, camera-less photography, and installation. She is based in Brooklyn, and has been exhibiting her work both nationally and internationally for two decades. Her most recent solo exhibition, in 2015, at McKenzie Fine Art (NYC) was entitled Process Color.

About the Visual Arts Center of New Jersey

For 85 years, the Visual Arts Center of New Jersey has been exclusively dedicated to viewing, making, and learning about contemporary art. Recognized as a leading non-profit arts organization, the Art Center's renowned Studio School, acclaimed exhibitions, and educational outreach initiatives serve thousands of youth, families, seniors, and people with special needs every year.

The Visual Arts Center of New Jersey is located at 68 Elm Street in Summit, New Jersey. Adult and children's group tours are available throughout the year. Gallery Hours: Monday-Wednesday and Friday, 10 AM-5 PM; Thursday, 10 AM-8 PM; and Saturday-Sunday, 11 AM-4 PM. Please call 908-273-9121 to confirm holiday hours.

Support

Major support for the Visual Arts Center of New Jersey is provided in part by the Walter V. & Judith L. Shipley Family Foundation, the Wilf Family Foundations, and Art Center members and donors.

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