Each summer for the last 21 summers, young artists collaborate with professional artists to create new work at SFArtsED Summer, a program of the San Francisco Arts Education Project. This summer, one group of students worked with Richard Olsen in a two-week mixed-media visual arts class, while another worked with Tiersa Nureyev in a two-week fashion design class. Work in That.Now.This. –created by 36 students ages 10 to 14– comes from those sessions.

MIXED MEDIA VISUAL ARTS
From artist Richard Olsen: For two weeks we investigated different ways of experiencing, thinking and doing things. Themes dealing with identity reoccurred, often in surprising ways. Paintings of one’s “soul” resided alongside large figures comprising diverse elements. These works led to papier-mâché heads on spinning records as well as composite portraits of different students. The world of objects was not exempt. Drawings of objects in the room were affixed with body parts. A simple potato chip was enlarged and somehow had its identity transformed in the process.

Identity is a fluid idea. In the course of the class, we stretched, deepened and, in some cases, deconstructed its representation and content. The title of this show is That.Now.This. As its acronym (TNT) implies, celebrating what young artists do can be an explosive event.

FASHION DESIGN
From artist Tiersa Nureyev: As humans we seek to communicate our ideas, values and commonalities. We do this via words, actions, art and
with what we put on our bodies. Every outfit is a commentary, sometimes intentional and sometimes not. As Harold Koda said, “Fashion’s potency as communication is inarguable.” 

In the two weeks of this summer’s Fashion Camp we explored the idea of creating a very
intentional persona and imagining what and how that identity could be expressed via fashion and costuming. The only parameters were to primarily use 2nd hand knitwear, create both a mask and costume for the body and to find inspiration in the unusual, mythical and fantastical. Aside from these guidelines the kids had free reign. And reign they did. The students pushed themselves to create everything from mermaid cats to geisha fish
to characters inspired by Mexican folklore. 

All of the garments made during the two-week period were unique and thought provoking. Each student’s
creation pushed and engaged with the topic of identity and clearly illustrated how you can be that, and through a simple a change of garb, become
this. –Tiersa Nureyev

About Richard Olsen
Mr. Olsen is an artist, writer and art educator who has worked with SFArtsED since 1993. He was the head of the art department at Gateway High School and taught art education at the San Francisco Art Institute. Mr. Olsen has curated many shows with SFArtsED including at Rena Bransten Gallery, Southern Exposure Gallery, the SF Arts Commission Gallery and the SF Museum of Modern Art. Most recently, Mr. Olsen curated the wildly successful INTERNATIONAL ORANGE: The Bridge Re-imagined at the Mills Building and in 75 "bridge" galleries around San Francisco. At SFArtsED, his students’ work has won a number of awards including the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum’s “Best of Design” award with a subsequent exhibition at the Corcoran Gallery in Washington, D.C. He has lectured on art and education at UC Berkeley, SF State, the College of Notre Dame, the SF Museum of Modern Art and other institutions. He has also taught in public and private settings, including children deemed “severely emotionally disturbed.” Mr. Olsen received his BFA and MFA from the San Francisco Art Institute.

About Tiersa Nureyev
Ms. Nureyev has been with SFArtsED since 2005 and is a graduate of California College of the Arts. This will be her 11th year with SFArtsED. Her body of work resides in the intersection between art, design, and craft. Her entry point into these disciplines is typically textile based and materials driven, with an emphasis on fashion design and construction. She is also an educator, and brings the same spirit of artistic, cultural and material exploration to her work with students of all ages.