THE PRACTICE SESSIONS
Opening Reception
Friday May 8th, 6-10pm

The Practice Sessions
Opening is Friday May 8th, 6 to 10 pm
CAD 1932 South Halsted

Contributors
Beverly Arts Alliance
Phil Cotton and Margy Stover
Mark Diaz
Free Air
Jesus Mejia + Ruth
Ayako Kato
Candice Latimer
Maritza Mosquera
Sheelah Murthy
Tim Nickodemus
Scott Sikkema
Patrick Skoff
Suzanne Sebold

What does collaboration look like? How do artists, educators, organizations, and communities conceptualize, think about content, and work together to create artwork, curriculum, and performance? What are the dialogues that propel this collaborative process?

The Chicago Art Department has multiple points of access: arts residencies, exhibitions, a place of learning. As the Education Resident for 2014-2015 my challenge was to engage those access points by finding a way to collaborate with CAD, and not simply use the space to show finished work. In my professional work with Chicago Arts Partnerships in Education, I facilitated collaborations between teachers and artists about arts practice and pedagogy, art and academic content. Throughout my education residency, I dialogued with CAD residents and founders about the intersection between education and arts process. These conversations provided an entrance to thinking about how collaboration exists in arts practice and how we document this process.

Through support from Chicago Art Department’s Education Residency, The Practice Sessions exhibition continues the questions that were raised by last year’s Connect*ED show: What does learning and making look like? This exhibition shows elements of the artistic process of collaboration before the work is “complete.” Documentation of conversations, drafts, ideas formed and unformed, and sketches will all contribute to this ongoing dialogue.