SPARK tails artists Jim Denevan and Cris Drury as they create large earth works. This Educator Guide is about the history and tradition of artists making work in and about the natural environment.
SPARK follows photographers from the Sixth Street Photography Workshop as they take pictures of their lives and ideas in some of San Francisco's most depressed neighborhoods. This Educator Guide is about the history of photography.
For more than 40 years, Young Audiences of Northern California has been providing quality arts education programs to K-12 schools and communities - over 250,000 each year. This Educator Guide explores the history of arts education in California and the Bay Area and provides a wide array of local resources.
SPARK follows cartoon artist and rap musician Keith Knight as he peddles his strip the K Chronicles at a massive comic convention. This Educator Guide explores the history and form of the cartoon.
SPARK explores the electro-acoustic world of Paul Dresher - musician, composer and inventor - as he prepares for a performance of a new work at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. This Educator Guide traces the legacy of new instrument development and experimentation and its impact on music.
SPARK trails writer, critic, and Conceptual artist Jonathon Keats as he works on his project, Divine Taxonomy, which attempts to find God's place on the phylogenetic tree. This Educator Guide explores the history of Conceptual art and the role of science in contemporary art.
SPARK is there as Rafe Chase, Tim Orr and Stephen Kearin hit the stage without a script and turn audience suggestions into narrative stories that amaze and amuse. This Educator Guide addresses improvisation as a technique for developing thinking and language skills.
Sound artist Loren Chasse seeks out unusual acoustic environments and teaches a class of students about fundamentals of sound. This Educator Guide explores sound and the history of sound as a musical form, extending back to the early 1900s.
SPARK follows sculptor Gary Stevens through his creative process, from harvesting unusual pieces of wood from ancient redwood forests through the painstaking work that produces his uniquely beautiful wood vessels. This Educator Guide is about the history and tradition of wood carving.
SPARK follows Artistic Director Margaret Jenkins as she rehearses her company dancers in preparation for "Danger Orange," an outdoor site-specific performance in downtown San Francisco. This Educator Guide is about the history of modern dance and the contributions of some its most innovative choreographers, including Jenkins.
SPARK follows Artistic Director Margaret Jenkins as she rehearses her company dancers in preparation for "Danger Orange," an outdoor site-specific performance in downtown San Francisco. This Educator Guide is about the history of modern dance and the contributions of some its most innovative choreographers, including Jenkins.
Spark visits vanguard furniture maker Garry Knox Bennett at work as he produces the last in a series of fifty chairs for an upcoming exhibition at the Oakland Museum of California. This Educator Guide addresses the history of art furniture.
SPARK checks in on mosaic artist Laurel True's latest mural, which decorates a building across the street from her Oakland studio. This Educator Guide addresses the history and traditions of mosaic art and mosaic murals.
SPARK visits ceramicist Richard Shaw in his Fairfax studio as he scrambles to finish work for an upcoming one-person gallery show. This Educator Guide traces the history of the trompe l'oeil technique in art up through the Bay Area movement of realism in ceramics.
SPARK explores the impact of fame and notoriety on visual artist Chris Johanson, jettisoned to international art-stardom by his inclusion in the 2002 Whitney Biennial and a 2002 SECA award for emerging artists from the SF Museum of Modern Art. This Educator Guide explores the history and tradition of street-based works and the field of painting.
SPARK drops in on Jaime Guerrero at the Bay Area Glass Institute as he creates an elaborate snake sculpture and introduces his "Homies" series. This Educator Guide is about glass blowing, the dynamic work of Jaime Guerrero, Mayan and Aztec iconography, and the history of glass work in art and architecture.
SPARK visits the ensemble of the Traveling Jewish Theatre in a bold and moving play about the Middle East conflict called Blood Relative. This Educator Guide addresses collaborative theatre, political theatre, and the history of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
In this lesson, students are given the opportunity to focus on the variety of responses the film Return of Navajo Boy evokes as they create their own "film within a film," learn about cultural expression, and engage in discussion and reflective writing activities.
Go inside the Bay Area's burgeoning Muslim spoken word, poetry, and Hip-Hop scene with Calligraphy of Thought women poets as they create and rehearse new works for a performance. This Educator Guide addresses the history of Muslim women in entertainment and the history of Hip-Hop.
SPARK is at the Oakland Museum of California as they work with acclaimed artist David Ireland to create an innovative exhibit and retrospective of his 30-year career. This Educator Guide explores the history of Conceptual art and Ireland's contributions.
SPARK follows Jared "Choclatt" Crawford as he prepares for his foot-tapping new musical theater production "Hit It!" at the Lorraine Hansberry Theatre. This Educator Guide is about the history of drumming, street performers, and African American musical theater.
SPARK explores the work of theatrical performance group headRush. This Educator Guide is about the exploration and history of experimental, political theater and performance art.
Spark visits photographer Roman Loranc as he captures arresting images of the Central Valley landscape. This Educator Guide is about photography, landscape photography and Romanticism as a creative approach in art making.
Spark visits painter Christopher Brown in his studio as he explains his artistic process using memory and photographic images. This Educator Guide is about figurative painting and the evocation of memory in art making.
In this lesson, students will experience the internment of Japanese Americans from San Francisco's Fillmore neighborhood. By connecting local experiences with national events, students will understand both the constitutional issues at stake and the human impact of this government policy.
Choreographer Alonzo King has created contemporary ballets for more than fifty international dance companies as well as dozens of pieces for film, television, opera and his own company, LINES Ballet. This Educator Guide tracks the history of modern-contemporary ballet and the contributions of King and other innovative choreographers.
SPARK goes backstage as 40 5th-9th grade students in the Marsh Youth Theatre (MYT) Mainstage Performance Ensemble prepare for the premiere of Jip, His Story. This Educator Guide is about the history of children's theatre in the US.
Modern dance choreographer Brenda Way inspires her Oberlin Dance Company dancers to work harder and accomplish more than they ever dreamed possible. This Educator Guide addresses the history and uniqueness of ODC/San Francisco and dance in San Francisco.
Acclaimed British playwright David Edgar takes aim at American politics with his two-play cycle, Continental Divide, at Berkeley Repertory Theatre. This Educator Guide explores the history of political activism and political theatre in the UK and the US.
Students will be introduced to Chinese Circus Arts and San Francisco’s Circus Center. They will learn about the origins of Chinese acrobatics and circus arts, and be inspired to study China’s history, and explore how circuses differ across cultures. Students will engage in group oral discussion, hands-on individual and group projects, as well as critical reflection on personal expressions.
SPARK follows pioneering composer Terry Riley as he works with David Harrington and the Kronos Quartet on "The Cusp of Magic". This Educator Guide traces the history of minimalism and serialism in music, highlighting key contributions by noted composers such as Riley and Kronos Quartet.
Spark visits organ player Wil Blades as he jams with Dr. Lonnie Smith at San Francisco's Boom Boom Room. This Educator Guide is about jazz, the history of the Hammond B3 organ, and the science of electronic instruments.
SPARK visits with contemporary quilt artist Anna Von Mertens, who shows how she makes her work from first concepts to the last stitch. This Educator Guide traces the history of quilting from the early 18th century through the present day, including group quilts, slave quilts, and contemporary quilts.
SPARK trails behind internationally known tattooist Don Ed Hardy as he looks back at a career that has taken him from the tattoo parlor to the gallery and back again. This Educator Guide explores the tradition of tattooing from the earliest civilizations to the present day.
SPARK follows Teatro Visin de San Jose, a Latino community theatre organizations in San Jose, California as they mount a new theatre work called Conjunto. This Educator Guide offers activities related to Latino/Chicano Theatre, the internment of the Japanese, and theatre.
Son of slain San Francisco mayor George Moscone, California Shakespeare's Artistic Director Jonathan Moscone crafts his vision based on his deeply held belief that killing someone for a political purpose is never justified. This Educator Guide addresses the political nature of Shakespeare's play Julius Caesar and the contemporary staging.
American Photorealist painter Robert Bechtle prepares for a retrospective exhibit of his work at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. This Educator Guide address the history and evolution of photorealism in painting.
SPARK explores experimental music with Matt Davignon as he curates "Live Play" at Artist's Television Access, the first event in San Francisco's Soundwave Series. This Educator Guide is about the history of experimental music and sound art.
SPARK explores the musical inventions of Walter Kitundu and gets a sneak peek of his show at The Luggage Store Gallery in downtown San Francisco. This Educator Guide is about experimental music, turntablism, and the creation of new instruments inspired by those that are traditional.
SPARK goes behind the scenes with two conservators with the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco to get a glimpse into their painstaking work restoring and preserving treasures of the art world. This Educator Guide addresses the scientific and artistic issues of preserving and conserving works of art.