Artists, Community and Teaching (A.C.T.)
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The Artists, Community and Teaching program offers coursework that prepares students for a range of professional practice opportunities as community-based and/or teaching artists in diverse communities, K-12 public and private schools, museum education departments, arts and cultural organizations, correctional facilities and therapeutic art programs. |
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| The A.C.T. Program comprises two tracks: |
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| Teacher Credential Preparation (Currently offered) |
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The Teacher Credential Preparation track is a CA Commission on Teacher Credentialing-approved Subject Matter in Art program. After completion of A.C.T. and an additional year of graduate study at a chosen teacher education program, students will be qualified to pursue the CA Single Subject in Art Teaching Credential needed to teach in California K-12 public schools. This track is open only to Fine Arts majors and requires 19 credits of ACT coursework in place of LAS and Studio electives.
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| Community Arts Engagement (offered in 2009-2010) |
| The Community Arts Engagement track will be for students who wish to work in arts education and community-based arts practices in areas outside of K-12 public schools, such as museum education departments, community arts centers, correctional facilities, therapeutic arts programs, public art, and design companies that focus on educational materials, toys and games. This track will be open to all students who have 14-19 LAS and Studio elective credits available in their majors. |
Courses required for Teacher Credential Preparation (19 credits):
These courses, in addition to the Fine Arts major requirements, satisfy the prerequisites to apply to graduate-level, single-subject-in-art teacher credential programs.
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| Sophomore Year: | |
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| Teaching for Learning I SSCI212 3 credits This historical overview of education and art development theories and philosophies as well as social and liberation theories introduces models of art education such as student-centered, discipline-based, and curriculum-based teaching through the arts. Topics include student populations, popular youth culture, diversity, inclusion, and learning styles. Contemporary artists who teach as part of their practices will be discussed. Required. |
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| Choice of Printmaking or Screen Printing: | |
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| Printmaking I PRNT267 3 credits This introduction to printmaking includes demonstrations of relief and intaglio processes, such as hard ground and soft ground etching; aquatint; and relief processes such as linocut, woodcut, and monoprinting. It also involves printmaking tools, techniques, and equipment. |
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| Introduction to Screenprinting PRNT268 3 credits Artists are introduced to photo screenprinting, one of the most versatile print mediums. Direct-emulsion photoscreens allow students to work from hand-made, photographic, text-oriented, or digitally-produced images. |
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| Junior Year: | |
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| Teaching Internship/Early Field Experience FINA 391 2 credits Qualified students interested in art and education intern in a choice of structured positions in the L.A. public school system, K- 12. Students observe, assist and tutor with art teachers in the classroom, and have significant interactions with students from diverse populations. The internship expands the student’s understanding of education theory and art practice in the studio/classroom, and includes shared analysis and debriefings of reflective field annotations through electronic journals. Required. Offered as an elective for non-ACT students. (6 hours/week in class or in the field) |
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| Teaching for Learning II LIBS412 3 credits Emphasis is on the stages of human and aesthetic development in the youth and adult. Students synthesize studies of cultural backgrounds, learning styles, and proficiency levels as they relate to the role of the visual arts in human development. Topics include art museum and community-based audiences, public artists working with city planning boards, classroom management, ESL, Special Education, health and safety, engaging teaching styles, and best practices. Required. |
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| Senior Year: | |
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| Aesthetics AHCS312 2 credits Aesthetics is a branch of philosophy that seeks to determine grounds of art or the epistemology of art. Aesthetics asks: What is art? For thousands of years, human beings have made images, constructed symbols, and communicated with each other visually, and yet only recently has the question been asked. The terms “art” and “artist” are modern terms, and as soon as this nomenclature was invented, the debates began. Far from being settled terminology, “art” and “artist” are contested terrains. Nowhere is the territory more contentious that the intersection between the artist and the public. It is this interaction that forges and destroys any definition of “art.” This course examines the clash between the artist and the audience, and interrogates the shifting definitions of “art.” |
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| Superskills for Teachers SCNG226 A This two-part course is cross-listed with: |
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| Special Topics in Crafts SCNG235 2 credits Craft practices including jewelry, weaving, and basket-making are applied to contemporary art practice. The course allows for extended hands-on practice beyond the demo format. Required. Offered as an elective for non-ACT students. |
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| Ceramics SCNG236 3 credits This six-hour introduction to the fundamental skills of working with clay explores techniques including slab and coil construction, use of the potter’s wheel, glaze application, and kiln firing. It includes exposure to historical use and to the international variety of techniques in ceramics, as well as discussion of contemporary uses in crafts and art. Required. Offered as an elective for non-ACT students. |
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| Program Coordinator: | Michele Jaquis |
| Faculty | Lorraine Cleary-Dale | |
| Nancy Jo Haselbacher | ||
| Susan Hill | ||
| Gian Martin Joller | ||
| Erik Otsea | ||
| Mike Pierzynski | ||
| Jeanne Willette | ||
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| Local K-12 Schools: | Museum Education Departments: |
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| Culver City High School’s Academy of Fine and Performing Arts | LACMA |
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| Los Angeles Unified School District’s Itinerant Art Teachers | Getty |
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| Loyola Village Fine and Performing Arts Elementary, Westchester | MOCA |
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| Kentwood Elementary School, Westchester | Santa Monica Museum of Art |
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| El Marino Language School, Culver City | |
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| New City School, Long Beach | Arts and Cultural Organizations: |
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| Orville Wright Middle/Aerospace Magnet School, Westchester | Armory Center for the Arts |
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| Pasadena High School | HeArt Project |
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| Paseo del Rey Natural Science Elementary, Playa del Rey | Los Angeles County Arts Commission |
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| Santa Monica High School | Westchester/Playa del Rey Education |
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| Westchester High School | Foundation (WPEF) |
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| Westside Neighborhood School | |
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| Venice High School’s New Media Academy | |
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| ACT alumni pursue careers as: | |
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| Artists-in-Residence | |
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| Art Therapists | |
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| Arts Administrators | |
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| Community Activists | |
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| Community-based Arts Educators | |
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| Exhibiting Artists | |
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| Freelance Teaching Artists | |
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| Graduate Students | |
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| K-12 Credentialed Art Teachers | |
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| Museum Educators | |
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| Project Managers | |
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| Public Artists | |
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| Selected Employers include: | |
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| Barnraising | |
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| Brentwood School | |
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| The J. Paul Getty Museum | |
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| International Schools, Japan | |
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| LACMA Education Department | |
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| Venice High School’s New Media Academy | |
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| Otis Graduate Public Practice Program | |
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| Otis O TEAM | |
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| Wildwood Elementary School | |
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9045 Lincoln Boulevard
Los Angeles, California 90045
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