American Dreaming - Register Now!

http://mrdprinceknows.today.com/2009/06/26/loss-of-the-american-dream/

Contemporary World Problems: American Dreaming

As a people, we are unique in having a common heritage that we call the “American Dream.” This term, analyze this “dream” to examine whether there has been a shift in our national aspirations - from a set of deeply held ideals, to a checklist of goals or entitlements that cause dissension and unrest. Using short readings, documentary and popular culture films and TV segments, students will discuss the origins and future of this uniquely American belief. We'll also hear from recent immigrants about their perspectives on this subject.

Mature learning classes are for persons aged 55 and older only.

Register at this link.

Contemporary World Problems: American Dreaming 5 Monday sessions February 22-March 22, 2010 1:30-3:30 PM

Art Discovery: Alexander Calder - Sandy's Circus

There's a great picture book called Sandy's Circus by Tanya Lee Stone. It's about some of Alexander Calder's work. Here's a video of some art projects students in grades K-5 did after the author read the book to them:

Art Discovery: Alexander Calder - A Child's View

We'll watch the beginning of this show - up to 2:30 - as Olivia Gray talks about the work of Alexander Calder. Feel free to view the rest of this at home, as she explains how to make your own mobile.

Art Discovery: Alexander Calder - Creative process

This interesting 8.5 min. silent film footage from Germany shows Calder in 1926 and 1967 creating some of his work. Note how he makes his drawings as though he is already using wire to construct his art.

Alexander Calder, Berlin 1929 und 1967
Uploaded by leofourastie.

Art Discovery: Alexander Calder - Museum Tour Jewelry Collection

Elizabeth Agro, curator of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, takes us on a brief tour of the special exhibit of Alexander Calder's jewelry creations, on display at the museum in 2008.

Art Discovery: Alexander Calder - Advertising his Early Years Exhibition

This shows a few pictures of Alexander Calder as a young man.

Art Discovery: Alexander Calder - time lapse of final mobile

Alexander Calder's mobile was the artist's final major work of art. It is 76-feet long, weighs 920 pounds and hangs in the East Wing of the National Gallery of Art.

Art Discovery: Introducing Alexander Calder

Calder in his Paris studio, 14 Rue de la Colonie, fall 1931. Photograph by Marc Vaux

Nate Burgos writes in his piece Alexander Calder's High-Wire Act:

Sculptor Alexander Calder (1898-1976) was fond of metal wire. It was a boundless medium for him. He invented hanging moving sculptures called mobiles, in which objects, typically abstract shapes of colored sheet metal, are arranged by wire. He constructed figurines of varied materials, from cork to wood, mostly wire, that became the illustrious cast for an assembled performance piece of a circus, dubbed Cirque Calder (see the 1961 film by Carlos Vilardeba). He is widely known for his monumental works of metal in America and Europe, but he also made hundreds of pieces of jewelry, crafted of wire in the form of necklaces, bracelets, earrings and tiaras. In Calder’s hands, wire was a pliable extension of his imagination.