On Monday, I got the chance to have coffee with a political appointee who works in a part of the Department that focuses on policy. His career, prior to becoming a political appointee at the age – I would guess – of no more than 26, consisted of working on a state political campaign for a summer during college and then on the Kerry campaign another summer. He also had taught in a Brooklyn public school through Teach for America. Upon the completion of his undergraduate degree at Harvard, he applied to law school, but didn’t go. Even still, he does not have a law degree, but he is seriously considering getting it because he sees it as a chance for him to open doors to higher positions in the future, as many of his colleagues and superiors have law degrees. He cautioned someone going into law school that weren’t firm in their direction (whether that be a specific policy or area of law) because he said that there was a high-likelihood that one would get caught up in the ambition of the other law students and lose his sense of direction or focus.
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Others' paths
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Future plans
The best part of Friday’s work day was the hour-and-a-half-long talk I was able to have with my supervisor about making connections planning for the future. I explained how I was in the midst of applying for the Truman Scholarship, which is forcing me to iron out where I would like to go to on to study, what I’d like to do out of school, and where I’d like to see myself in 10 years. Up until this point, I have planned to take a very organic approach to my future, recognizing that most people change careers upwards of seven to eight times in their lifetimes. I figured that I would go any number of ways, and wherever I settled, that was where I was supposed to be. This application is looking for something altogether different. My boss, while in college, had her sights set on teaching college-level French, which she did for a number of years immediately after completing her master’s program. But after a few years, she met her to be husband and she changed paths. And as a result of that and a few more changes, she has ended up at ED. But she is thinking about transitioning yet again in the future.
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I guess I am intimidated of choosing a specific path because I’m scared that it will limit me – that I might turn down a great alternative option. But when it comes to my decision of what to do next spring, I’ll have to make a decision. I recognize that it’s better to have made a decision and have planned than assume that things will fall together, but I can’t help but think that so much of my future will be decided for me – I’ll either receive a certain scholarship/fellowship/admission/employment offer or not.
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Regardless, I ought to do some serious thinking about graduate school, law school, Teach for America, or work, and decide what I would most like to be doing.
.
I guess I am intimidated of choosing a specific path because I’m scared that it will limit me – that I might turn down a great alternative option. But when it comes to my decision of what to do next spring, I’ll have to make a decision. I recognize that it’s better to have made a decision and have planned than assume that things will fall together, but I can’t help but think that so much of my future will be decided for me – I’ll either receive a certain scholarship/fellowship/admission/employment offer or not.
.
Regardless, I ought to do some serious thinking about graduate school, law school, Teach for America, or work, and decide what I would most like to be doing.
Dog walking
I spent Saturday exactly how I’d like to see my weekends in the future. After hearing about Eastern Market from a few different people, I decided to make my way there and see what it was all about. While I tried and failed to accomplish my main goal which was to try their Blue-Bucks (buckwheat pancakes with blueberries), I had a fantastic time. There were shops lining the streets with everything from jewelry, to paintings of the city, to hand-made china, to freshly grown vegetables. And everywhere you looked, people were walking their dogs. Seeing each dog made me instantly excited, but also jealous and longing to be with my own beagle and basset hound, of which there were none at Eastern Market. All-in-all, it was an extremely relaxing and enjoyable experience. I can see myself, and look forward to, walking around a place like Eastern Market in the future, walking my dogs.
Monday, November 15, 2010
Political will
There were over 300 applicants for the Promise Neighborhoods grants. In addition to helping individual neighborhoods through funding, it has increased the collective wealth of knowledge by pooling together best practices, allowing schools to see “what the potential solutions are” based on what has worked in other, possibly similar, areas.
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The next speaker was Mayor of San Antonio Julián Castro, who spoke about the role of local government in Promise Neighborhoods.
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Within San Antonio, he is dealing with 15 independent school districts, making his task harder to handle. Coming from a long-term development standpoint, he described the problems he deals with in urban education as the age-old question of the chicken or the egg; how do you help schools when neighborhoods are poor, but how do you improve neighborhoods when schools are bad? To this, Castro has tried to improve multiple aspects of the neighborhood in-step with each other. In addition to improving the school, he has put in great efforts to getting jobs into the area because this will not only help to develop the area, but it will also help to keep educated people from the neighborhood there, which is a vital component to improving the neighborhood in the long-run.
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So in an effort to tackle the problem holisticly, Castro outlined things he is doing to improve the community and, thus, improve schools: after school programs, $1000 education scholarships to students who achieve 3.0 and 95 percent attendance for college at a Texas school, support for Pre-K, and development of infrastructure in those neighborhoods. A key, he says, to the development of infrastructure and the programs is that the community is engaged in the process. This does two things: first, the community feels a part of the process, and therefore will not diametrically oppose themselves to any reform; and second, it will aid in the effort of creating effective programs because the people immersed in the issue have insight that those on the outside do not. And like Canada, Castro believes that you need to be able to facilitate the image in a kid’s mind, despite the tough neighborhood, of his/her success.
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When discussing how he maintains the political will to work on and devote energy to these neighborhoods, he says that “the way to ensure that there is community-wide support is to make clear the goals throughout the community, what they want to see done and how the community can see the benefits. This way, they can believe in and want that the same goals you have. Where you get pushback is from other poor communities, but my response is that ‘we’re starting here, but will grow into your community as well.’”
.
The next speaker was Mayor of San Antonio Julián Castro, who spoke about the role of local government in Promise Neighborhoods.
.
Within San Antonio, he is dealing with 15 independent school districts, making his task harder to handle. Coming from a long-term development standpoint, he described the problems he deals with in urban education as the age-old question of the chicken or the egg; how do you help schools when neighborhoods are poor, but how do you improve neighborhoods when schools are bad? To this, Castro has tried to improve multiple aspects of the neighborhood in-step with each other. In addition to improving the school, he has put in great efforts to getting jobs into the area because this will not only help to develop the area, but it will also help to keep educated people from the neighborhood there, which is a vital component to improving the neighborhood in the long-run.
.
So in an effort to tackle the problem holisticly, Castro outlined things he is doing to improve the community and, thus, improve schools: after school programs, $1000 education scholarships to students who achieve 3.0 and 95 percent attendance for college at a Texas school, support for Pre-K, and development of infrastructure in those neighborhoods. A key, he says, to the development of infrastructure and the programs is that the community is engaged in the process. This does two things: first, the community feels a part of the process, and therefore will not diametrically oppose themselves to any reform; and second, it will aid in the effort of creating effective programs because the people immersed in the issue have insight that those on the outside do not. And like Canada, Castro believes that you need to be able to facilitate the image in a kid’s mind, despite the tough neighborhood, of his/her success.
.
When discussing how he maintains the political will to work on and devote energy to these neighborhoods, he says that “the way to ensure that there is community-wide support is to make clear the goals throughout the community, what they want to see done and how the community can see the benefits. This way, they can believe in and want that the same goals you have. Where you get pushback is from other poor communities, but my response is that ‘we’re starting here, but will grow into your community as well.’”
HCZ
On Monday, I had the opportunity of hearing Geoffrey Canada speak about his experiences with Harlem Children’s Zone (HCZ) and the lessons he has gleaned from his experience. There were other speakers as well, such as the mayor of San Antonio, a White House policy advisor for the Promise Neighborhoods Initiative, and a woman who had worked in Appalachia to increase diploma completion and college entrance. Here is a summary of what I got out of the briefing:
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From the White House policy advisor: In July 2007, then candidate Obama had proposed a promise neighborhoods initiative to be modeled after Canada’s HCZ. Essentially, the idea is to tackle the problem of urban education collectively: not simply looking at creating good school opportunities, but getting parents involved, providing health/fitness/food education, creating a culture that says “education is cool,” ensuring that kids are save, providing the opportunity to work and gain experience that way, and many other aspects of urban life that stand in the way of fully developing academically and becoming a competitive employee.
.
Their challenge, she said, was to think differently and be creative. They couldn’t simply take the HCZ and replicate it in other neighborhoods. They needed to take ideas, lessons, and general principles from Canada’s experiences that were transferable to other areas. She said that the three key concepts they got out of the HCZ were: 1) there needs to be a pipeline of programs – support throughout every stage of adolescent life because if you stop at any point, they are left back in the failing situations they were in before; 2) you need to reach all kids in an area because their friends and peers have a large impact on their desire to achieve; and 3) every aspect of reform needs to be informed and driven by data because that is the only way you can determine whether a program is effective. She liked to say that they were “predicated on outcomes.”
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Next, Canada spoke, saying: First of all, his job is not something for everybody to try to do – it has been a difficult road for him. The most frustrating thing, however, has been the debate over whether or not the effects of the HCZ can be replicated elsewhere. To this, he says “Absolutely. Sadly, only in our business [education] would you hear such a defeatist response to a question of whether or not people can achieve something.” He is further frustrated by the fact that the education of kids isn’t treated more like science, where the failure of the first initial heart transplants didn’t serve to say that it couldn’t be done, but rather that they provided information for future attempts so that they could be done better. He acknowledges that the education of a child is complicated, but he says that so is a heart transplant, and “we didn’t give up on that.”
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Canada stated that you can try to educate kids by providing a good school, but your best bet in providing them better opportunities in the future are to save the community, which takes much more than a school Prior to the HCZ, he would hear routinely from people that he wouldn’t be able to change the culture of a community. Obviously, he has demonstrated this to be false.
.
Canada attributes the success of his program to a number of different aspects. The first is that education and support must be in place at every stage of development. Other schools, such as KIPP, only deal with kids within a certain age segment. This, he believes, does not make a long-term impact on their futures because they are no longer supported and, through returning to their original locations, are encouraged to revert back to their old habits. Also, by having support and education throughout all stages of life, older students can become active participants in rebuilding their community and serve as role models to the younger kids of where they can go themselves.
.
To the question of whether their success is just a matter of education, he says “yes and no.” Yes, it is just a matter of education, but without the underlying foundations intact, education is not possible. If a kid is obese, as 30 percent of his students are, they struggle to learn. If they have asthma, as another 30 percent do, they struggle to learn. He says that these issues need to be addressed before you can expect a kid to learn. Also, there is so much education that takes place outside the classroom. In order to develop fully, the kids need to be engaged in other things as well. This is why Canada’s schools provide many other extra-curricular activities. “I have yet to meet a parent with money who questioned whether or not their kid ought to be a part of the soccer team.” He says kids won’t be best served if we expect them to wholly devote themselves to academic endeavors. He also employs about 1,000 kids because he believes that employment is another vital component to developing competitive job-seekers in the future. He says “kids without job experience are missing a lot.”
.
Within his 97 block radius, Canada takes on the responsibility of the students within his charter schools and those in the public schools. This way, he says, kids cannot fall between the cracks when they drop out of one school or transfer. He does this also because he says that the schools community ought to be the target for reform, not a specific one. With regards to the debate of public versus charter, Canada says that this is a faulty debate because the concern should merely be making the schools, of any type, better.
.
In order for the promise neighborhood program to be effective, he says that he must have a “critical mass” of students. With this critical mass, he is able to change the culture around education, as students’ peers are also on the same path and, thus, supporting them on their academic journey. Without the critical mass, a student’s educational path is an uphill battle because it goes against the culture he is in. In the HCZ, he works with 8,000 students, of which there are 11,000 in the area.
.
“If there’s one guarantee when working in education, it is that there will be a lot of things that don’t work.” Canada really believes in having a data-driven system: if the numbers say a program isn’t working, he doesn’t keep it running or accept those results. To do this, Canada says that there needs to be flexibility to be able to change and adapt to the successes/failures of programs because problems will always be changing and there will always be new issues with which to deal. He asks himself, “In the end, is the program moving in the right direction?”
.
He thinks that the best results for kids come through competition. The defeatist mentality is allowed to seep into the system simply because the public schools in many areas are able to stay open even while they aren’t functioning. Competition will bring about a can do attitude, because schools will have to perform in order to survive.
.
He says that the earlier you intervene in a child’s education, the earlier you see results – and also create even greater potential. He says his lessons learned are that the community needs to be ready for change before it can start to improve. Given that, the community needs to be engaged in every step of the development process, otherwise the community will rebel and the programs will not be responding to problems in the most effective way. The community one would look to have a promise neighborhood has probably been neglected for a long time, and when it’s not neglected, outsiders have come in and changed everything, regardless of how the community functioned or what it thought of the changes. As a result, the community is in stop mode – stop to every change someone wants to make. To deal with this, one has got to be in conversation with and get involved with the people that are being served. In Canada’s experience, the people that will say “stop” initially are not the ones that will help rebuild the community. They will go off to the side, while others do what they can to be a part of the change. Through this involvement in the change, Canada says, people will come to believe in the goal that you have for the community and believe that it can get there.
.
In contrast to the belief that supportive parents are a requirement for academic success of a child, Canada has had many kids without supportive parents succeed. He says that while he has lots of programs in place that are intended to help facilitate parent involvement, he also has just as many there to help kids who do not have the same supports make it academically.
.
When asked whether or not he believed his funding model would be replicable – because the HCZ now receives large amounts of money – he says that it can be replicated because, as promise neighborhood grantees, these schools have been given validation that the HCZ did not have in the beginning. This validation, he says will go a long way in convincing donors that their school is a worthy cause.
.
When asked “what do you say to a kid to make them care about their education? How do you combat the depression and acceptance of failure among a community?” Canada responded that you encourage a kid no matter where they are at. This looks different for different ages, but the goal of encouragement should stay the same.
.
As his mantra, Canada says that education “is a matter of science and faith.” Science, in that, it is driven and informed by facts and numbers; faith, in that, when you can’t fully see your goal come to fruition, you still move forward.
.
From the White House policy advisor: In July 2007, then candidate Obama had proposed a promise neighborhoods initiative to be modeled after Canada’s HCZ. Essentially, the idea is to tackle the problem of urban education collectively: not simply looking at creating good school opportunities, but getting parents involved, providing health/fitness/food education, creating a culture that says “education is cool,” ensuring that kids are save, providing the opportunity to work and gain experience that way, and many other aspects of urban life that stand in the way of fully developing academically and becoming a competitive employee.
.
Their challenge, she said, was to think differently and be creative. They couldn’t simply take the HCZ and replicate it in other neighborhoods. They needed to take ideas, lessons, and general principles from Canada’s experiences that were transferable to other areas. She said that the three key concepts they got out of the HCZ were: 1) there needs to be a pipeline of programs – support throughout every stage of adolescent life because if you stop at any point, they are left back in the failing situations they were in before; 2) you need to reach all kids in an area because their friends and peers have a large impact on their desire to achieve; and 3) every aspect of reform needs to be informed and driven by data because that is the only way you can determine whether a program is effective. She liked to say that they were “predicated on outcomes.”
.
Next, Canada spoke, saying: First of all, his job is not something for everybody to try to do – it has been a difficult road for him. The most frustrating thing, however, has been the debate over whether or not the effects of the HCZ can be replicated elsewhere. To this, he says “Absolutely. Sadly, only in our business [education] would you hear such a defeatist response to a question of whether or not people can achieve something.” He is further frustrated by the fact that the education of kids isn’t treated more like science, where the failure of the first initial heart transplants didn’t serve to say that it couldn’t be done, but rather that they provided information for future attempts so that they could be done better. He acknowledges that the education of a child is complicated, but he says that so is a heart transplant, and “we didn’t give up on that.”
.
Canada stated that you can try to educate kids by providing a good school, but your best bet in providing them better opportunities in the future are to save the community, which takes much more than a school Prior to the HCZ, he would hear routinely from people that he wouldn’t be able to change the culture of a community. Obviously, he has demonstrated this to be false.
.
Canada attributes the success of his program to a number of different aspects. The first is that education and support must be in place at every stage of development. Other schools, such as KIPP, only deal with kids within a certain age segment. This, he believes, does not make a long-term impact on their futures because they are no longer supported and, through returning to their original locations, are encouraged to revert back to their old habits. Also, by having support and education throughout all stages of life, older students can become active participants in rebuilding their community and serve as role models to the younger kids of where they can go themselves.
.
To the question of whether their success is just a matter of education, he says “yes and no.” Yes, it is just a matter of education, but without the underlying foundations intact, education is not possible. If a kid is obese, as 30 percent of his students are, they struggle to learn. If they have asthma, as another 30 percent do, they struggle to learn. He says that these issues need to be addressed before you can expect a kid to learn. Also, there is so much education that takes place outside the classroom. In order to develop fully, the kids need to be engaged in other things as well. This is why Canada’s schools provide many other extra-curricular activities. “I have yet to meet a parent with money who questioned whether or not their kid ought to be a part of the soccer team.” He says kids won’t be best served if we expect them to wholly devote themselves to academic endeavors. He also employs about 1,000 kids because he believes that employment is another vital component to developing competitive job-seekers in the future. He says “kids without job experience are missing a lot.”
.
Within his 97 block radius, Canada takes on the responsibility of the students within his charter schools and those in the public schools. This way, he says, kids cannot fall between the cracks when they drop out of one school or transfer. He does this also because he says that the schools community ought to be the target for reform, not a specific one. With regards to the debate of public versus charter, Canada says that this is a faulty debate because the concern should merely be making the schools, of any type, better.
.
In order for the promise neighborhood program to be effective, he says that he must have a “critical mass” of students. With this critical mass, he is able to change the culture around education, as students’ peers are also on the same path and, thus, supporting them on their academic journey. Without the critical mass, a student’s educational path is an uphill battle because it goes against the culture he is in. In the HCZ, he works with 8,000 students, of which there are 11,000 in the area.
.
“If there’s one guarantee when working in education, it is that there will be a lot of things that don’t work.” Canada really believes in having a data-driven system: if the numbers say a program isn’t working, he doesn’t keep it running or accept those results. To do this, Canada says that there needs to be flexibility to be able to change and adapt to the successes/failures of programs because problems will always be changing and there will always be new issues with which to deal. He asks himself, “In the end, is the program moving in the right direction?”
.
He thinks that the best results for kids come through competition. The defeatist mentality is allowed to seep into the system simply because the public schools in many areas are able to stay open even while they aren’t functioning. Competition will bring about a can do attitude, because schools will have to perform in order to survive.
.
He says that the earlier you intervene in a child’s education, the earlier you see results – and also create even greater potential. He says his lessons learned are that the community needs to be ready for change before it can start to improve. Given that, the community needs to be engaged in every step of the development process, otherwise the community will rebel and the programs will not be responding to problems in the most effective way. The community one would look to have a promise neighborhood has probably been neglected for a long time, and when it’s not neglected, outsiders have come in and changed everything, regardless of how the community functioned or what it thought of the changes. As a result, the community is in stop mode – stop to every change someone wants to make. To deal with this, one has got to be in conversation with and get involved with the people that are being served. In Canada’s experience, the people that will say “stop” initially are not the ones that will help rebuild the community. They will go off to the side, while others do what they can to be a part of the change. Through this involvement in the change, Canada says, people will come to believe in the goal that you have for the community and believe that it can get there.
.
In contrast to the belief that supportive parents are a requirement for academic success of a child, Canada has had many kids without supportive parents succeed. He says that while he has lots of programs in place that are intended to help facilitate parent involvement, he also has just as many there to help kids who do not have the same supports make it academically.
.
When asked whether or not he believed his funding model would be replicable – because the HCZ now receives large amounts of money – he says that it can be replicated because, as promise neighborhood grantees, these schools have been given validation that the HCZ did not have in the beginning. This validation, he says will go a long way in convincing donors that their school is a worthy cause.
.
When asked “what do you say to a kid to make them care about their education? How do you combat the depression and acceptance of failure among a community?” Canada responded that you encourage a kid no matter where they are at. This looks different for different ages, but the goal of encouragement should stay the same.
.
As his mantra, Canada says that education “is a matter of science and faith.” Science, in that, it is driven and informed by facts and numbers; faith, in that, when you can’t fully see your goal come to fruition, you still move forward.
Collective bargaining agreements
In light of my education focus, I have taken a particular interest in better understanding unions: how the function, what good they do, and how they hinder reform. As I was organizing all of ED’s publications (ever!), I came across the most recent, and possibly the only, collective bargaining agreement for federal employees within ED. It was completed in 1995 and its predecessor is nearing completion as I type.
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Having watched Waiting for ‘Superman’ and seen its onslaught of union practices not more than two months ago, I brought a fairly critical eye to my reading of the agreement. One thing I noticed was the quick turn-around and response time that was outlined in the section on grievances. For example, if an employee wants to file a grievance, they have 10 days (LOOK UP) to do so (as a general rule, given there are no extraneous circumstances). I thought this was quite brief; 10 days to have an incident occur, figure out the proper procedures, and respond to it. But through talking with my professor, a former FMCS employee, I came to understand the problems that can arise from leaving the response-time window open too wide. If a person is allowed to file a grievance at any point after an incident, there’s virtually nothing stopping someone from filing a retaliatory grievance. The meat of the bargaining agreement, according to my professor, is the section on grievances. This outlines exactly how a violation of the contract will be addressed – thus, detailing how each issue at the margin will be dealt with.
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Today, union workers constitute little more than 10 percent of the total workforce. But they represent nearly 40 percent of the public sector.
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Another fortunate opportunity I had was to discuss unions with three guests to my class who had worked in mediation-related fields; one was a retired lawyer who had worked at a private company as a mediator/facilitator, another was a current FMCS employee, and the other had worked in the HR department of a private company and with aviation unions. Each had experience at some point in their career, working with unions, although I do not know if they were ever a part of contract negotiations. When asked what she thought of unions generally and whether she liked dealing with them, the FMCS employee explained that she thought they were a valuable entity, as long as the leadership was concerned first and foremost with serving its members. Employees are best served when they are working, which is also a goal of hers – to get people back to work – but she had spoken of times where leadership either ineffectively served members by focusing on non-issues, or poorly served its members by bringing a self-interested, prideful attitude to the table. She also said that instances, such as these, were rare.
.
Having watched Waiting for ‘Superman’ and seen its onslaught of union practices not more than two months ago, I brought a fairly critical eye to my reading of the agreement. One thing I noticed was the quick turn-around and response time that was outlined in the section on grievances. For example, if an employee wants to file a grievance, they have 10 days (LOOK UP) to do so (as a general rule, given there are no extraneous circumstances). I thought this was quite brief; 10 days to have an incident occur, figure out the proper procedures, and respond to it. But through talking with my professor, a former FMCS employee, I came to understand the problems that can arise from leaving the response-time window open too wide. If a person is allowed to file a grievance at any point after an incident, there’s virtually nothing stopping someone from filing a retaliatory grievance. The meat of the bargaining agreement, according to my professor, is the section on grievances. This outlines exactly how a violation of the contract will be addressed – thus, detailing how each issue at the margin will be dealt with.
.
Today, union workers constitute little more than 10 percent of the total workforce. But they represent nearly 40 percent of the public sector.
.
Another fortunate opportunity I had was to discuss unions with three guests to my class who had worked in mediation-related fields; one was a retired lawyer who had worked at a private company as a mediator/facilitator, another was a current FMCS employee, and the other had worked in the HR department of a private company and with aviation unions. Each had experience at some point in their career, working with unions, although I do not know if they were ever a part of contract negotiations. When asked what she thought of unions generally and whether she liked dealing with them, the FMCS employee explained that she thought they were a valuable entity, as long as the leadership was concerned first and foremost with serving its members. Employees are best served when they are working, which is also a goal of hers – to get people back to work – but she had spoken of times where leadership either ineffectively served members by focusing on non-issues, or poorly served its members by bringing a self-interested, prideful attitude to the table. She also said that instances, such as these, were rare.
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Art and Amys
Saturday was the day for art. Having head from my boss the day before that there was a special exhibit at the National Gallery of Art and having seen an advertisement for the photography collection of Elvis at 21 at the National Portrait Gallery, I made plans to see these exhibits.
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At the National Gallery of Art, I walked around and saw many of the gallery’s most famous pieces, including the da Vinci I had seen while in D.C. last fall. This time, I took the time to read the panel about the artwork and realized that it was double-sided. Then, I made it down to the Chester Dale Collection, which I loved! I have always been drawn more to artwork that is rich in its color and contrast, so much so that it appears almost overexposed or oversaturated. And this collection was filled with such artwork. There were cartoon sketches by Van Gogn, a oil painting on cardboard – yes, cardboard – Picasso, Renoir, and nearly 100 more.
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At the National Portrait Gallery, before getting to the Elvis exhibit, we were able to see one entitled “Hide and Seek,” which included artworks highlighting aspects of life that would otherwise remain in the shadows. There was a self-portrait of a woman who, weighing nearly 300 pounds, laid naked next to a puddle in an attempt to make the statement that although she, in many ways, stands out, is still a part of nature and the world around her. The was also a disturbing photograph of a man who, according to the paragraph next to the painting, had just died. His eyes were wide open and he lay, lifeless on a bed with a tape recorder next to him. Apparently, his friend had taken the picture of him after he had died and having set his recorder next to his body. Another disturbing one was a silver platter that had on it a thick painting that resembled Francisco de Goya’s Saturn Devouring His Son. Upon reading the description, this piece had been done in remembrance of the artist’s friend, who had died of AIDS. To create it, the artist had mixed his friends ashes with nail polish, creating what was now on display on the silver platter.
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Perhaps the most challenging artwork was the pile of candies laid in the corner of one of the rooms. Each was wrapped in bright-colored wrapping. I had initially passed by the piece, chalking-up its presence in an art gallery to a wave of contemporary art that, in my mind, was off-the-wall and lacked not only the artistic talent of older art forms, but also lacked articulate, meaning. I couldn’t have been farther off. I saw a warning sign that stated that consumption of the candy may be a choking hazard. This is what initially stopped me. I thought to myself, “Wait, why would this be here? Aren’t you supposed to leave the artwork alone?” So I went back to read a bit about the painting.
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The artist’s lover had recently died of AIDS. The 175 pounds of candy was meant to symbolize his partner prior to his illness. According to the description, everyone is invited to take a candy, to enjoy the sweetness of the artist’s relationship with his partner. But as the last of the sweet disappears, the viewer is to realize that they were quietly aided in the death of his partner, allowing the gay community and AIDS to be pushed to the side and ignored.
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Then, we made it to Elvis’ exhibit, seeing pictures of him on tour, with his high school sweetheart, and of him on stage – with a hound dog (which made my seriously miss Buddy and Basil)! Being 21 myself, I couldn’t imagine living a life like that right now.
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Then, we made our way to Two Amys. And for the second time, I fell in love with food. We got the bruschetta, warm olives, pizza, and I ordered a bottle of wine. As a first-timer, I didn’t know why she was explaining to me that she had opened it at the bar – because they have had bottles of this wine explode upon opening – or why she had poured a little into my glass to see my response. But no matter, I picked up on my cues quickly, and soon we were enjoying a great – my first – bottle of wine.
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At the National Gallery of Art, I walked around and saw many of the gallery’s most famous pieces, including the da Vinci I had seen while in D.C. last fall. This time, I took the time to read the panel about the artwork and realized that it was double-sided. Then, I made it down to the Chester Dale Collection, which I loved! I have always been drawn more to artwork that is rich in its color and contrast, so much so that it appears almost overexposed or oversaturated. And this collection was filled with such artwork. There were cartoon sketches by Van Gogn, a oil painting on cardboard – yes, cardboard – Picasso, Renoir, and nearly 100 more.
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At the National Portrait Gallery, before getting to the Elvis exhibit, we were able to see one entitled “Hide and Seek,” which included artworks highlighting aspects of life that would otherwise remain in the shadows. There was a self-portrait of a woman who, weighing nearly 300 pounds, laid naked next to a puddle in an attempt to make the statement that although she, in many ways, stands out, is still a part of nature and the world around her. The was also a disturbing photograph of a man who, according to the paragraph next to the painting, had just died. His eyes were wide open and he lay, lifeless on a bed with a tape recorder next to him. Apparently, his friend had taken the picture of him after he had died and having set his recorder next to his body. Another disturbing one was a silver platter that had on it a thick painting that resembled Francisco de Goya’s Saturn Devouring His Son. Upon reading the description, this piece had been done in remembrance of the artist’s friend, who had died of AIDS. To create it, the artist had mixed his friends ashes with nail polish, creating what was now on display on the silver platter.
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Perhaps the most challenging artwork was the pile of candies laid in the corner of one of the rooms. Each was wrapped in bright-colored wrapping. I had initially passed by the piece, chalking-up its presence in an art gallery to a wave of contemporary art that, in my mind, was off-the-wall and lacked not only the artistic talent of older art forms, but also lacked articulate, meaning. I couldn’t have been farther off. I saw a warning sign that stated that consumption of the candy may be a choking hazard. This is what initially stopped me. I thought to myself, “Wait, why would this be here? Aren’t you supposed to leave the artwork alone?” So I went back to read a bit about the painting.
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The artist’s lover had recently died of AIDS. The 175 pounds of candy was meant to symbolize his partner prior to his illness. According to the description, everyone is invited to take a candy, to enjoy the sweetness of the artist’s relationship with his partner. But as the last of the sweet disappears, the viewer is to realize that they were quietly aided in the death of his partner, allowing the gay community and AIDS to be pushed to the side and ignored.
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Then, we made it to Elvis’ exhibit, seeing pictures of him on tour, with his high school sweetheart, and of him on stage – with a hound dog (which made my seriously miss Buddy and Basil)! Being 21 myself, I couldn’t imagine living a life like that right now.
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Then, we made our way to Two Amys. And for the second time, I fell in love with food. We got the bruschetta, warm olives, pizza, and I ordered a bottle of wine. As a first-timer, I didn’t know why she was explaining to me that she had opened it at the bar – because they have had bottles of this wine explode upon opening – or why she had poured a little into my glass to see my response. But no matter, I picked up on my cues quickly, and soon we were enjoying a great – my first – bottle of wine.
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