Artpace and Fox Tech Take it to the White House
02.18.09
Media Contact: Celina Emery
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cemery@artpace.org
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SAN ANTONIO, Texas - While an important political transition was taking place in Washington, D.C., Jonathan Cox stood before the White House waving a flag designed by senior students at San Antonio's Louis W. Fox Academic and Technical High School. Meanwhile, two other student-designed flags were on a tour around the world including stops in Spain and Morocco.
The flags were created in Artpace San Antonio's semester-long arts education program, Semester Program, which puts a local artist in residence in a school classroom to create a permanently sited artwork for the school. For the fall 2008 semester, San Antonio artist Nate Cassie worked with a group of Fox Tech seniors from Charles Cooper's Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) class. Their resulting project-three flags designed by the students' to reflect their individual, community and national identities-reached far beyond their local student body when Cox and four other individuals volunteered to temporarily fly the flags around the world. In an unprecedented global public performance, the flags illustrated a metaphor ever-present in the high school seniors' minds: graduation as a door to a broader world.
"It was really great to share this experience with Artpace and Mr. Cooper's class," says Emily Morrison, who flew the flag for the Artpace Semester Program class internationally. "It was such an honor to tell their story and talk about their process with the people I met in Morocco and Spain. Everyone seemed so supportive of this high school class from San Antonio, which I think proved the project to be a great success!"
The flags, manufactured to the students' specifications by local flag manufacturer, Dixie Flag, will be permanently installed on the school's campus along with corresponding plaques and images documenting their journey around the world during a public unveiling ceremony at Fox Tech High School on February 24, 2009 at 11:15 AM. The flags will join a growing collection of collaborative works by students and local artists Jason Jay Stevens, Cathy Cunningham, Justin Boyd, Juan Ramos, Daniel Guerrero, David Jurist, Ethel Shipton, and Gary Sweeney, which are permanently installed on the Fox Tech campus as the result of previous Semester Programs partnerships.
ABOUT THE SEMESTER PROGRAM
The Semester Program is a twice annual partnership between Artpace and Louis W. Fox Academic and Technical High School as a part of Artpace's ArtElements education initiative. With each Semester Program, a local artist is paired with a Fox Tech class for an intensive 12-week program resulting in a public art installation.
This program brings students into direct conversation with local artists and provides professional experience and exposure to careers related to and directly involved in the arts. By working collaboratively in the classroom, students learn the process behind public art, revealing all that goes into collaborative projects on a civic scale. Through this program, students from all academic areas have worked with recognized San Antonio artists Juan Miguel Ramos, Daniel Guerrero, Cathy Cunningham, Jason Jay Stevens, Ethel Shipton and Nate Cassie.
The fall 2008 Semester Program was underwritten by Dan Parman and an anonymous donor with support from the National Endowment for the Arts, which believes a great nation deserves great art.
ABOUT ARTPACE
Artpace San Antonio serves as a laboratory for the creation and advancement of international contemporary art. Artpace believes that art is a dynamic social force that inspires individuals and defines cultures. Our residencies, exhibitions, and education programs nurture the creative expression of emerging and established artists, while actively engaging youth and adult audiences.
Artpace is located downtown at 445 North Main Avenue, between Savings and Martin streets, San Antonio, Texas. Free parking is available at 513 North Flores. Artpace is open to the public Wednesday through Sunday, 12-5 PM, and by appointment. Admission is free.
© 2009 Artpace San Antonio
445 North Main Avenue San Antonio TX 78205 t 210 212 4900 f 210 212 4990 www.artpace.org
© 2009 Artpace San Antonio