Ruth Asawa Teaching Paper Folding, Ca. 1980s [© Estate Of Ruth Asawa]

First image: Irving Kriesberg, (no title) drawing from the Chicago Field Museum of Natural History, c. 1929, graphite on paper. Collection of the Irving Kriesberg Estate Foundation. Second image: Irving Kriesberg, The Victim, 1994, oil on canvas. Collection of the Irving Kriesberg Estate Foundation.

Irving Kriesberg developed an aptitude for art at an early age by filling notebooks with drawings of museum taxidermy he encountered at Chicago’s Field Museum of Natural History. This early experience of biological rendering made a lasting impression on Kriesberg, who manifested his own animal imagery and phenomenal aesthetic environments throughout his career.

The untitled graphite drawing of a leopard seizing a bird in its claws is from around 1929, which would mean that Irving was about 10 years old when he drew it; the painting, titled The Victim, is from 1994, when Irving was 75. Both compositions feature a large cat pouncing on a bird.

It is amazing to see how interests, explorations and influences from childhood manifest creatively throughout the course of one's life. This is an apt insight into artistic development of a professional artist. Read more about this phenomenon in my latest blog post "The Childhood Origins of Working Artists."

Birch bark letter no. 202: spelling lessons and drawings by Onfim (aged 6 or 7), c.1240–1260. Source: Wikimedia commons

Find out more about this drawing in my Artfully Learning post: "Ancient Art Education"

Ruth Asawa | Jillian Tamaki

“Art is literacy of the heart.” -Elliot Eisner

Hans Kappler. Gift 13: Paper Cutting (Kindergarten material based on the educational theories of Friedrich Froebel). c.1920 | MoMA

Jiro Yoshihara, Please Draw Freely, 1956. Paint and marker on wood. Installation view during the Outdoor Gutai Art Exhibition in Ashiya Park, Ashiya, 27 July – 4 August, 1956. 

Yoshihara was a leading member of the Japanese avant-garde Gutai Group of visual artists, known for their physical and oft-confrontational artworks. A lesser discussed aspect of their legacy is their contributions to art education, which truly highlight the potency and potential of communal creativity. I wrote about the latter aspect on Artfully Learning in a post called "The Gutai Group: Play, Pedagogy and Possibility." Read it here: https://theartsandeducation.wordpress.com/2022/08/03/the-gutai-group-play-pedagogy-and-possibility/

Helen Levitt's artful photographs of children's chalk drawings. Read more about her work in my blog post "Photographing Children’s Play and Art"

helen levitt

I love Fujio Kito's photographs of playgrounds around Japan. There are so many artful and thoughtful designs for play spaces and structures throughout the Japanese cultural landscape.

東京都狛江市多摩川住宅ニ号棟

中央公園

※多摩川住宅ニ号等も建替えが決定しました。

★多摩川住宅の写真展をしたいので、調布市・狛江市で団地の公園遊具の写真展を開催できるスペースを探してます。オススメの場所などありましたらご連絡ください！

#公園遊具　#公園　#playground #park #playsculpture #artwork #photoism #tokyo #japantravel

#多摩川住宅　#多摩川　#団地　#石の山　#調布　#狛江

Hennessy Youngman's "Art Thoughtz episode on institutional critique.

Ant Farm, DOLON EMB 2 (drawing by Curtis Schreier), 1975. Hand colored brownline, 18 x 22 in. Courtesy of University of California, Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive.  Alt text: A colorful architectural rendering of an imaginary floating vessel.

"Although Dolphin Embassy was never realized beyond a blueprint, the enduring understandings are fascinating and serve as an educational model for future sustainable and relational architecture. With growing concerns regarding climate change and sea levels rising, there is a very real threat and high probability we will need to focus our efforts on building new habitats to address the displacement of both human and other animal species." Read more about the inter-species design of Dolphin Embassy in my latest Artfully Learning blog post "Architecture for All".