Regularly visiting and updating my professional website always reinvigorates me--my personal as well as profession perspectives on things.  First, reviewing the work I've done over the last few years motivates me to keep moving forward and gives me a strong foundation upon which to build.  Growth comes with consistent effort and experience.  Second, seeing my best professional work in one collective site keeps my professional mission and goals in the forefront of whatever I do, guiding my decisions and actions yet to come.

If you do not have a professional online presence already established, I emphatically recommend starting now with building that presence.  Doing so is a personal and professional benefit both to yourself and to those you have yet to encounter.  Proclaim to others who you are and where you are heading in your future, then keep revisiting your site to remind yourself of this same thing.

Revisiting my most important influences on how I have become the person I am today has been a priceless experience.  This family migration study has enlightened me to the value I should have been placing on the guidance, patiences, and commitment my grandmothers and parents have given me over the years.  I see now, after considerable exploration, that I have neglected to offer praise for these wonderful things and will no longer do so. 

I set up a tea party installation, inviting my parents and both of my grandmothers in honor of their efforts invested in me.  I have done my best with what I have to show each of these people how much I care for and respect them.

Click here to see the ISSUU publication of the entire installation.

The treasurer of the Rapids Theatre Restoration Board, Norma Jansma, called me today asking for my help in getting the Rapids Theatre on the State Register of Historic Places.

In my original report I stated that the committee was trying to get on the National Register of Historic Places, which Jansma claimed may still be accurate.   Now, however, the board would like my assistance in applying for the State Register.

I will begin my work on this new project as soon as the board verifies accuracy of my initial case study research.  Once this research is approved by the board, I will use it in the State Register application process.

Thank you Rapids Theater committee.  I am honored to do what I can to help this long-time treasure be restored and remembered by many.

I got an email today informing me I have been selected as one of the participants in the Model Cornerstone Assessment benchmarking project being conducted by NAEA and NCCAS.  It is a pilot project partially funded by the National Endowment for the Arts.  

This pilot project is intended to produce benchmark student work that aligns with the MCAs.  Upon completion of this project, NAEA and NCCAS will provide art educators with benchmark examples of student artwork to use in developing assessment accuracy and consistency.

Below is the press release provided by the MCA project team.  Of the 260 districts to apply, I am one of only 15 - 18 pilot sites to have been chosen for participation in the visual arts division.  Follow the project website for progress of this program: http://nccas.wikispaces.com.

Press release article provided by NCCAS and NAEA, 2015

Just finished my first case study today.  Well, it was my first intentional, purposeful case study.  One of the most important things I learned in doing the fieldwork and documentation of my case study is that site-based learning is one of the most perfectly matched activities to my interests and preferred learning styles.

This initial assignment activity has become a personal mission.  I am fully committed to continuing my dedication to the Rapids Theatre Restoration project.  First, I will further develop my research and documentation of the past, present, and future work associated with the restoration.  Also, I will volunteer in traditional avenues such as hands-on labor when tasks arise and in specialty avenues such as designing education materials to help promote the program.

Follow this link to the ISSUU publication, Rapids Theatre Restoration Project:  A Case Study, to see images of the building in various stages of progress and to read a summary of the project to date.

ISSUU.com Publication of Rapids Theatre Restoration Project Book, 2014

The week of summer studio, 2014 was the best studio course I've ever had; it's the only graduate studio class I've ever had, and it exceeded my physical, cognitive, and emotional expectations.  Additionally, the online preparatory work was outstanding, fun, and extremely helpful.  

I took Experimental Drawing and explored a number of drawing ideas:  collaborative art making, book making, performance drawing, partially uncontrollable drawing tools, collage, image transfer techniques, critique and reflection strategies, and diverse media (new, odd, and familiar). 

All of this drawing experimentation encouraged the relinquishing of strict adherence to preciousness as well as the developing of a comfort with unrequited expectations.  Scratching at ideas proved to be a priceless activity with immeasurable rewards in motivation, freedom, and inspiration.

Goal: to create a complete 36-page sketchbook that shows unity in theme and content, bold exploration of diverse sketching methods, and specialization of three or more sketching methods. 

Cycling is my theme for my final project; specifically the bicycle itself.

Inspiration is from a lifelong interest in cycling and recent assigned readings: Keith Smith's Structure of the Visual Book (2003), Jean Borgatti's Willie Cole's African Remix (2009), and William Cole's work with irons and assembly sculptures made with bicycle parts.

Throughout the sketchbook pages I explore many of the sketching methods studied during the semester-long sketchbook course.

To start, I decided on the theme using the word web rhizome method.

Next, the subjects and sketching styles will show influences from these images.

Finally, backgrounds include maps of favorite routes, elevations of different rides, and other interesting cycling data. Using maps as some of the backgrounds represents the value of riding data in tracking maintenance of fitness levels or growth patterns.