Isaiah Zagar, Vernacular Outsider Artists

 

Isaiah Zagar is an amazing artist who encompasses a number of  aspect of art I have been pursuing throughout my career: my love of found object ceramics and mosaics, his unique relation to place (South St. in Philly) and the outsider artist nature of his work.  I put together this movie to highlight his career for my Therapeutic Arts class. I see his work as having healing qualities, both for him and the community he shares it with.

Integrated Arts Club at Denton's MLK 2011/2012

 

 

 

I developed an arts program at MLK recreation center in Denton, TX in the 2011/2012 school year, in conjunction with the Nick Cave Artists in Residency at UNT, the Graduate Student Art Education Association and in partnership with  my talented actor/musician husband, EARL BATES.  We teamed up along with the help of some fabulous undergrad students to present programming once a week that incorporated art, drama, dance and percussion.  It lasted 6 months and served dozens of kids. I learned that combining the arts with technology was a sure way to involve even the most recalcitrant kid .  I provide a link to some  You Tubes of their self- created costumed dances.

The Broken and the Beautiful

Although I haven't had time to make much new work since I've been here in Texas. I am now teaching a class where my students are learning to create mosaics using  found ceramic objects and mirror.  So I am posting these so they can see the potential of creating with the broken and the beautiful.

About Me

I am a doctoral candidate at the University of North Texas and have had wonderful opportunities here to explore multiple aspects of art and art education.  Living in one of the fastest growing metropolitan areas in the US offers many opportunities, so I am teaching courses about art education and art therapy at 3 universities: University of North Texas, Texas Christian University and Texas Women's University, or UNT, TCU and TWU . In this blog I will be posting images of my artwork, and the artwork, videos and presentations I have  facilitated  in community settings, and with  students, as well as articles I have written about these topics.