Skin Deep – Interdisciplinary Arts (2017)

San Francisco Arts Education Project’s Interdisciplinary Arts presents Skin Deep

June 3 – July 29, 2017
Opening Reception Saturday, June 3, 1-4pm
New exhibit at Minnesota Street Project displays talents of six students working with Agelio Batle and Delia Batle

SAN FRANCISCO (May 23, 2016) –  Appearances aside, behind, inverted and twisted reveal new layers. Marked by a three-dimensional reconfiguring of larger-than-life photographs, the six students of San Francisco Arts Education Project’s Interdisciplinary Arts subjected themselves to collage-like makeovers that challenge attempts to define them from the outside.

The Interdisciplinary Arts Class of 2017:

• Bella Fernandez
• Marina Kyle
• Jasmine Liang
• Janet Lin
• Kyra Monterrosa
• Kristin Tan

Skin Deep is on exhibit June 3 through July 29, 2017 in the San Francisco Arts Education Project’s art studio-classroom in Minnesota Street Project, 1275 Minnesota Street (@24^th Street), San Francisco, second floor. Opening reception is Saturday, June 3 from 1pm to 4pm. Regular hours are Tuesday-Thursday 11am-4pm and Friday 11am-1pm. First Saturday hours on June 3 and July 1 are 11am to 8pm.

Skin Deep and the Interdisciplinary Arts Program are funded in part by the Crankstart Foundation, the Germanacos Foundation and Macy’s.

The San Francisco Arts Education Project’s Interdisciplinary Arts Program is a fully scholarshipped visual arts intensive for a small group of high-school students taught by renowned San Francisco artist Agelio Batle and his wife, Delia Batle, in the Batle Studio. The program has been designed to develop:

• technique – with some instruction to strengthen basic drawing along with basic skills in collage and 3-D fabrication. Students are also be taught to make and think in sculptural terms using primarily found material.
• artistic voice – skills are applied to artworks that explore the idea of “self,” personal interests and personal history. Among other tools, students use Pinterest as a way of collecting images that excite them.
• creative thinking – students are given a variety of free association exercises to help expand creative thinking, or, as Agelio calls it, sideways thinking. Students are encouraged to address questions that have no correct or incorrect answer but rather lead to a searching, mind-opening thought process leading to unique solutions.

In the just-concluded school year, which ran from October 2016 through May 2017, six students participated in discussions about contemporary art and artists, with regard to content, form and technical skill. Building the aesthetic thinker is vital to the art process, with thought an important preliminary skill before beginning hands-on work in the applied arts.

About Agelio Batle

The investigative nature of Batle’s work may stem from his background in the sciences. He received a BA in Biology from the University of California at Santa Barbara. Not wishing to pursue a career in science, he returned to his lifelong interest in art and earned a Master of Fine Arts degree from California College of Arts and Crafts, graduating with High Distinction honors. Batle’s artwork includes stage design, art installation, performance art and drawing as well as sculpture. His work has been seen in museums and galleries across the United States.

About SFArtsED

Founded in 1968 (as the Alvarado School Arts Workshop) by renowned artist Ruth Asawa, SFArtsED has transformed the lives of children, their families, teachers, artists and volunteers. Programs include SFArtsED Summer, In-School Artist Residencies, After-School programs, The SFArtsED Players Musical Theater Company, Interdisciplinary Arts Program and apprenticeships for college and high school students. SFArtsED moved into its new space at Minnesota Street Project in March 2016, marking the first time in the organization’s nearly 50-year history that it has a space of its own for instruction, exhibition, seminars, workshops and gatherings of all kinds. www.sfartsed.org

About Minnesota Street Project

Located in San Francisco’s historic Dogpatch district, Minnesota Street Project offers affordable and economically sustainable spaces for art galleries, artists and related nonprofits. Inhabiting three warehouses, the Project seeks to retain and strengthen San Francisco’s contemporary art community in the short term, while developing an internationally recognized arts destination in the long term. Founded by entrepreneurs and collectors Deborah and Andy Rappaport, Minnesota Street Project was inspired by the couple’s belief that philanthropic support for the arts today requires an alternate model—one suited to the innovative nature of Silicon Valley and the region as a whole. Their vision of a dynamic, self-sustaining enterprise that shares its economic success with arts businesses and professionals aims to encourage heightened support for the arts from newcomer and established patrons alike.

For more information, photos or to arrange interviews, please call 415-551-7990, e-mail info@sfartsed.org or visit www.sfartsed.org. Right click on images below to download.