Summer School

Summer School is a gathering of artists in a cocktail party talking about current issues. Among conversations about humanities and current events, the issue of education comes up and all of them have their thoughts on the subject. Some of them remember painful experiences from childhood in countries in which higher learning is highly respected, even more so than wealth and people without intellectual ambitions could and can be look down even if they have wealth.

Curious guests do not get into the conversation but they are all ears about the group chattering next to them. They know that is a rare event when a group of people separated by geographical and cultural differences have found a common ground because instead of being self-righteous, what they want is to listen, to learn and go ahead and make visual magic possible. What we see in these works is not always what we get.

Summer School addresses the current estate of decline and contradiction in our education system which currently ranks 17th in the world among forty countries with Finland, South Korea and Hong Kong at the top. The commonality between the aforementioned countries is a constitutional right of education for their citizens aside from political affiliations, which fosters a collective consciousness of progress, critical thinking and excellence. In the world’s power game it is not only about keeping score but also reevaluate the speed-rate at what other countries are escalating on the list. The exhibition presents a global perspective from national and international views including Latin America and Asian perspectives. Participant artists: Mayra Barraza, Tim Best, Du Chau,  Ryan Goolsby, Letitia Huckaby, Kathy Lovas, Mi-Hee Nahm, Leigh Merrill, Ryan Sarah Murphy and Laray Polk.