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August 20: Why Art Matters

Art in the Key of Wonder: a discussion of the value of the visual arts 


Thursday, August 20, 7:30 pm  |  Dialogue Leader: Judith McConkie

Mark & Elizabeth England's home at 1194 South 500 East in Salt Lake City.
Late-comers, please use the back door. 


Discussion:
Art is in the eye of the beholder. Or is it? What does art do for you? What has it done for the advancement of our species? What is art anyway? 

About Judith:
Besides a long career in teaching on secondary and university levels beginning in 1969, Judith has been a studio artist and a visual arts administrator/curator. She studied at the Corcoran School of Art in Washington, DC. and completed an MFA at BYU in 1984. Her paintings and prints have been exhibited widely; they are in held in a number of public and private collections including the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. She studied in London at the Royal College of Art and exhibited at the Henry Moore Gallery there. 

She began her doctoral studies at the University of Utah, defending a dissertation on contemporary art and education practices in museums in 2004.  She was Senior Educator at BYU’s Museum of Art where she taught and authored works for the museum; the Director of the Kimball Art Center in Park City, Utah; and finally, before her retirement, the Curator of the Utah State Capital during a four-year renovation project.  She authored a book on the project. 

She currently teaches two courses in Art History – at Hillcrest High School in the Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate program and at the Woodland Park Rehabilitation and Care Center “just to stay busy.”  She and her husband James have three children and 12 grandchildren 

To explore:

Books:
  • The Arts and the Creation of Mind by Elliot W. Eisner
  • Doing Well and Doing Good by Doing Art: The Effects of Education in the Visual and Performing Arts on the Achievements and Values of Young Adults Paperback – by James S Catterall
 
Watch and listen: (jay's suggestions)

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