Continuing Education

CE Saturday Seminars

The Continuing Education Department is excited to announce a new series of CE Saturday Seminars/Workshops:

Historic Furniture Survey
Meeting locations will be sent to participants.
4 weeks, Saturdays, Apr 25-May 16, 2009 9am-12:00pm
Various North Bennet Street School and BAC instructors
Tuition: $295

North Bennet Street School and Boston Architectural College’s Department of Continuing Education join together to present a unique four-session class on furniture making and design. In the first class, learn the history of furniture making in New England from a BAC professor. In the second class, use your historical knowledge as you hit the streets of Boston on a walking tour of a historic house, followed by a demonstration of furniture making techniques at NBSS. For the third class, visit two more historic homes, including the Nichols House Museum, and then spend the fourth class at North Bennet Street School, learning more about the making from noted NBSS furniture makers.

The Art of Kitchen Remodel
Part I: Saturday, May 2, 9:00 am – 12 Noon
Part II: Saturday, May 9, 9:00 am – 12 Noon
Instructor: Leslie-jon A. Vickory
Tuition: $295

The kitchen, so often referred to as “the heart of the home,” is also the most expensive and complex living area in residential construction. Mechanical elements—heating/cooling, ventilation, plumbing and electrical systems—must be engineered to mesh seamlessly with fine finish products: cabinetry, tile-work, well placed lighting fixtures. All the while, structural, budgetary and scheduling constraints must be adhered to.

This 2-part workshop will review all aspects of the remodeling process—from selecting the right design professional to generating a final “punch-list”—giving participants the tools they need to make their remodeling project a creative, rewarding and successful experience.

Course Objectives:
Part I:
Review how the goals of remodeling develop scope and scale of project Identify impact of project from a financial, physical and emotional stand point Determine which professional(s) are best suited for the work to be done Discuss the design and specification process Review permitting issues Review elements of kitchen design and style

Part II:
Brief review of Part I Discuss the mechanical demands of a kitchen (ventilation, plumbing, electrical, etc.) Overview of materials (i.e. cabinetry, countertops, tile, appliances) Pulling it all together: the construction process and schedule

Class will begin promptly at 9:00 am, with a 20 minute break mid-way and time reserved for a Q & A period at the end of each day. Participants are encouraged to take notes.

Please feel free to bring refreshments.

Landscapes Inspire Artists 
Part I: Art in the Land: Contemporary Land Art
Part II: Drawing the Urban Landscapes
Tuition: $295

Part I: Art in the Land: Contemporary Land Art
Saturday, April 25 10:00a.m. – 4:00p.m.
Instructor: Kevin Benham

Artists have historically been drawn to the landscape as a source of inspiration and discovery. In the last few decades, they have begun working at the scale of the landscape and have used ideas of phenomenology to alter the land and our perceptions of the American landscape. This workshop and seminar will look at historical precedents of land art and explore how artists have influenced contemporary landscape architecture. The seminar will cover topics ranging from the Hudson River School and artists in the American West to landscape in contemporary photography. Land art from the sixties and seventies will be explored as a precursor to contemporary visions of land art.

As part of the workshop, class participants will look carefully at landscape phenomenology and record a phenomenon using the media of their choice. The participants will then use their recordings to propose a temporary installation of their work.

Course Objectives:
1. Develop and understanding of Contemporary Land Art
2. Become conversant in contemporary practitioners of Land Art
3. Understand the role of the temporal and phenomenology in the work of Land Artists
4. Develop skills in observation and the recording of phenomenon.

Class Mechanics:
10:00 a.m.-11:30 a.m. Lecture covering the genesis of land art.
11:30 a.m.-12:00 p.m. Lecture exploring the relationship of land art to contemporary landscape architecture
12:00 p.m. -1:00 p.m. Lunch Break
1:00 p.m.-2:30 p.m. Class participants record selected phenomena
2:30 p.m.-3:00 p.m. Class participants prepare for presentation
3:00 p.m.-4:00 p.m. Critique of work and discussion

Required Class Materials:
1. Digital Camera or some other recording device of your choice (sound recording for example) 2. High quality sketch book or high quality drawing pad
3. pencils, pens, charcoal, or pastels for drawing observations

Students should dress appropriately for the time of the year and be prepared for inclement weather.

Part II: Drawing the Urban Landscape 
Saturday, May 2
10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Instructor: Kevin Benham

Painters like James McNeill Whistler and Charles Sheeler were fascinated by the industrial and urban landscape as a source of inspiration for their work at the turn of the twentieth century. This workshop will discuss the influence of the urban landscape on painting and art from the early twentieth century to contemporary modes of representation.

In addition to lectures, participants will use charcoal and other media to draw the urban landscape at selected sites throughout Boston. Drawing exercises will emphasize the relationship between the built environment to natural processes as well as developing drawings that emphasize the phenomenology of the site.

Course Objectives:
1. Develop an understanding of how the industrial and urban landscape has influenced artists.
2. Develop an understanding of how the industrial revolution shaped art and the landscape
3. Develop skills in representing the urban landscape
4. Develop skills in understanding the role of natural processes in the urban landscape

Class Mechanics:
10:00 a.m.-11:30 a.m. Lecture and discussion of the depiction of the Urban Landscape in Art and Photography
11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Lunch
12:30 p.m.-3:00 p.m. Drawing Workshop (alleys near Newbury Street)
3:00p.m.-4:00 p.m. Critique of work and discussion

Required Class Materials:
1. 22”X30” sketch pad for quick drawing exercises.
2. 22”X30” Arches hot press water color paper (3 sheets) or 22”X30” Charcoal paper (3 sheets)
3. vine charcoal (a variety of hardness)
4. compressed charcoal (a variety of hardness and thickness)
5. gum eraser or other eraser

Students should dress appropriately for the time of year and be prepared for inclement weather.