Finding solace with a brush in hand this summer. an afternoon spent under my favorite Japanese Spider Maple. working from a model at an acrylic workshop at the Art Students League Solar Eclipse 2017. I traced the shadows on my stoop and felt the temperature drop. Urban Sketching in Stockholm. family art time in Sweden.
Joie in Ireland
I just returned from a week in Ireland as a chaperone with a small group of students at Cow House Studios. You can see some photographs from the program here: http://www.cowhousestudios.com/friends-academy-global-studies-scholars/ My week was filled with walks, jaunts, studio time, and great home-cooked meals. On one of my walks I found a piece of wood lodged…
Zine making with Middle School students
For the past three days I taught a six hour intensive (2 hrs. a day) zine-making workshop for students from grades 6th-8th for our Middle School Arts Week. I was nervous going in to see how they would react to such a venture, since most were unfamiliar with the medium. On the first day I…
#Resist buttons to benefit the A.C.L.U.
A few weeks ago, while working alongside my students in the art studio I drew a fist with wax resist crayons and some watercolors. I was thinking about Keith Haring’s “Radiant Baby” as I drew it, about the simplicity of the shape. He said of the baby, “Babies represent the possibility of the future, the understanding…
Arts and the Creation of Mind
Here are some favorite passages from Elliot W. Eisner’s Arts and the Creation of Mind. “Aside from promoting our awareness of aspects of the world we had not experienced consciously before, the arts provide permission to engage the imagination as a means for exploring new possibilities. The arts liberate us from the literal; they enable…
my latest issue of Joie
My latest issue will focus on the topic of immigration. Here is an excerpt from an interview I conducted with my father. I was the first of the Lai’s to leave Taiwan to study overseas. My Dad was so happy and so proud that he invited all my relatives, about forty people to bid me…
Diversity Education and Justice in the Curriculum
Here are some of my notes from the NYSAIS Conference: Diversity Education and Justice in the Curriculum. Brooklyn Friends, NY Becoming a threat to inequity. Why we need equity literacy more than we need cultural competence Gaps between philosophy & practice Gaps between “best practice” & actual practice Problem: Schools operationalize “diversity” in ways that create…
NYC Urban Sketchers Portrait Party
After a long hiatus, I’ve rejoined the NYC Urban Sketchers group. I met Mark, the leader of the group, while I was sketching at the Balthus show at the Met a few years ago. I attended a few of the outings and really enjoyed sketching as a group, talking about pencils, and convening over a…
Art & Healing
“Caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation, and that is an act of political warfare.”– Andre Lorde I’ve been looking for ways to channel my energies these days into something positive. I recently joined a NYCore Inquiry to Action Group focusing on Art & Healing . We meet on Thursday nights at the…
What does good teaching (artist work) look like?
While browsing the shelves at Mercer Street Books, I found an intriguing book for teaching artists which I can’t wait to share with my department. There are so many useful ideas in the book but to start I wanted to share with you some observations about what good teaching artist work looks like: Students were…
Joy Lai 