Launching student work from refrigerator doors into professional galleries and public spaces Richard Olsen, one of our leading visual Artists-In-Residence began a series of special arts exhibitions involving both students and artists. The first exhibit was held in the Esprit de Corp Corporate Headquarters, bringing children’s work into public settings.
Later, Authentic Allies: Artists and Children panel discussions included visitors Jessica Davis, then of Harvard University’s Education Department Project Zero, the superintendent of schools Waldemar Rojas, the curator of 20th century art, The Berkeley Museum’s Larry Rinder and SFArtsED artist Richard Olsen at Rena Bransten Galley in conjunction with the 1996 exhibition. It literally brought kids’ work into the cultural mainstream.
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The work of 3,000 students depicting ideas of home travels almost 3,000 miles. The Brick Project asked thousands of San Francisco school children to express their notions of home on wooden bricks with a variety of media. These works were featured at SFMOMA’s opening Family day in 1995, and the project went on to tour several U.S. galleries, ending at the Corcoran Gallery in Washington, D.C. The “cities” created by these bricks won the Scholastic Art and Writing Award Best Design.
