Carving Connections

An independent study workshop with Amber Imrie

In Carving Connections, we will be following the threads through our practice, into our community and out into the world. Everything is connected, but to see through the chaos we must move with clarity, intention and passion.

Over six months we will engage in exercises to further illuminate your authenticity through your art. We will focus on strengthening your daily art practice routines to build resiliency, confidence, and self-assurance. This will include helping you identify what opportunities and institutions are right for you. Discovering and learning how to harness new technologies to give yourself more time for filling your creative cup and making art. We will also be connecting with our fellow global artist community through peer to peer feedback sessions and discussions. Every month, small exercises & assignments are given to help artists dig deeper into their practice and uncover hidden truths. We will also discuss professional practice topics as they pertain to the interests and needs of the cohort.

Our Independent Study Program consists of Six Class Sessions (Always recorded), Five Peer to Peer Feedback Sessions (30-40 mins per student, per session), Three 1-1 Mentoring Sessions (30-40 mins each), & One Culminating Showcase (Public Facing)
Session Type Descriptions:

Lecture / Discussion - 2 hrs
Once a month, these group gatherings will tackle information that applies to the group as a whole. Topics for these lectures will be based on foundational TAAS theories and tailored to the cohort through the specific needs and interests you share through your intake form. Monthly lectures will include presentations, special guests, breakout discussions, and exercises.

Cohort Feedback Sessions - 2.5 hrs
Once a month, you will meet in smaller groups of 4. Within these sessions, you will use compassionate critique strategies to help clarify, problem solve, and brainstorm your projects forward. Each month, you will have 30-40 minutes of direct feedback from your peer artists. Peer artists groupings will be constructed from the information you share on your intake form.

1-1 Mentor Meetings - .5 hrs
You will have three 1-1 mentoring sessions for 30-40 minutes each. During this time, you can ask questions, get feedback & personalized coaching advice. During your enrollment period you will select your 1-1 mentoring sessions times.

Culminating Showcase - Public facing & shared across our social networks
At the end of the Independent Study Program, TAAS will host a virtual showcase of the work and projects completed. At the beginning of the program, you will be asked to set your goals for this showcase. The showcase can include but is not limited to, online exhibits, virtual performances, video/ film screenings, artist talks, performative lectures, or other alternative strategies for digital showcasing. The showcase will be open to the public, shared on social media and through our newsletter.

Schedule:
Monthly Lectures & Feedback Sessions: Saturdays 12 - 2pm
Mentor 1-1 Sessions: TBD (this will be scheduled with you during enrollment)

NEW Student Partial-Scholarships
- Partial Scholarships for Artists age 50 & over (Partial-Scholarship Awards of $250)
*Continuing students who are over the age of 50 need not apply, TAAS automatically applies this support to your tuition.
** Payment Plans Available
***ALL Classes include FREE & Continuous Membership Access to our virtual Campus Programming

Jan 13th - June 28th

Saturdays
12 - 2pm ET

20
Students Max

$300 per month
with a 6 month commitment
USD

Amber Imrie is a queer artist, art educator, curator and founding team member of The Alternative Art School. She received her BA from UC Berkeley and MFA from Stanford University. She’s been the recipient of many awards, fellowships, and residencies including the Murphy Cadogan Award and Anita Squires Fowler Award in Photography. Amber Founded and was editor-in-chief of the art magazine, Venison Magazine from 2014-2017, ran a pop-up art residency, Camp Venison in 2015, and has facilitated critique sessions in and outside formal education. Imrie has taught at a variety of institutions, including UC Berkeley and Stanford University. Since 2020 Amber has worked alongside Nato Thompson building the Alternative Art School.

Most Recently, Amber was awarded the Artist 360 Grant from the Mid-America Art Alliance and the Creative Exchange Grant, from CACHE. Imrie lives in Arkansas, and is developing a new body of artworks centered on queering the rural American South.

Redneck, 2021 photography & performance
woven photography - archival pigment ink on cotton, batting, sewing thread / 39" x 60"
Clean, 2015, Video/ Performance
Amber Imrie, Isolation can Insulate or Suffocate, 2018 archival pigment ink on cotton, batting, sewing thread / 58 x 73x 5 in - 185 x 147 x 13cm
Home.Sweet, 2019 inkjet archival pigment ink photography on cotton, thread / 34 x 49 in - 86 x 125 cm

More Classes

Live online classes with the world’s best artists and curators

Monuments

With Krzysztof Wodiczko

In “On the Use and Abuse of History for Life,” Friedrich Nietzche asked, “What is the use to the modern man of this ‘monumental’ contemplation of the past, this preoccupation with the rare and classic?” That was 1874. Today, monuments to racism, white supremacy, colonialism, war, patriarchy, and oppressions across the world are toppled, disgraced, vandalized, and defaced. The course will provide space for an informed and open discussion and for development and sharing of the artistic concepts, and proposals for monuments.

Professional Practice for Artists

with Lexa Walsh

In this 7 week class, we will move intently toward building our professional practices as artists. We will cover the many ways to be in the Art World(s), and how to get there: Goal Setting, Grants, Budgets, Pricing, Residencies, Open Calls, Artist and Project Statements, Elevator Pitches, CVs, Documentation, Websites, Networking and Promotion, and the importance of Community. We will share tips and strategies to help define and finesse each of these, by identifying our audiences, contexts, processes, research and challenges.

Meaningful Marks

Contemporary Painting Workshop with Erlin Geffrard

Meaningful Marks is a contemporary painting workshop, wherein you will learn contemporary painting techniques, theory, and principles while exploring the power of marks to convey meaning and emotion in your artwork. In this course, you will create three paintings that build on the skills and concepts covered in class.