$20; Members $15
Imagine a place to learn and express oneself in Germany and later in North Carolina that were world’s apart but would share a common philosophy regarding individual artistic vision.
The Bauhaus (building house) was a German art school operational from 1919 to 1933 that combined crafts and fine arts. The school became famous for its approach to design, which attempted to unify individual artistic vision with the principles of mass production and emphasis on function.
Black Mountain College was a private liberal arts college in Black Mountain, North Carolina founded in 1933 that emphasized holistic learning and the study of art as central to a liberal arts education. Many of the college’s faculty and students would go on to become highly influential in the arts as part of the American avant-garde. We will explore the history and commonality of both institutions and their relevance in today’s society as well as the contributions that are part of our daily lives.
Presented by Carl Shatley who holds a Master of Arts degree from Duke University in History and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Art from Greensboro College and studied at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. He has lectured at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Greensboro College, Guilford Technical Community College and Davidson County Community College. Carl is also an exhibiting artist and photographer.v
HMA is On-The-Go, so this time we will be hosting the lecture in the Keiser Room located in the West Wing on the Salt Block.
A Brief History of Black Mountain College:
"The story of Black Mountain College begins in 1933 and comprises a fascinating chapter in the history of education and the arts. Conceived by John A. Rice, a brilliant and mercurial scholar who left Rollins College in a storm of controversy, Black Mountain College was born out of a desire to create a new type of college based on John Dewey’s principles of progressive education. The events that precipitated the college’s founding occurred simultaneously with the rise of Adolf Hitler, the closing of the Bauhaus school in Germany, and escalating persecution of artists and intellectuals in Europe. Some of these refugees found their way to Black Mountain, either as students or faculty. Meanwhile, the United States was mired in the Great Depression.
The founders of the college believed that the study and practice of art were indispensable aspects of a student’s general liberal arts education, and they hired Josef Albers to be the first art teacher. Speaking not a word of English, he and his wife Anni left the turmoil in Hitler’s Germany and crossed the Atlantic Ocean by boat to teach art at this small, rebellious college in the mountains of North Carolina.
Legendary even in its own time, Black Mountain College attracted and created maverick spirits, some of whom went on to become well-known and extremely influential individuals in the latter half of the 20th century. A partial list includes Willem and Elaine de Kooning, Robert Rauschenberg, Josef and Anni Albers, Jacob Lawrence, Merce Cunningham, John Cage, Cy Twombly, Kenneth Noland, Susan Weil, Vera B. Williams, Ben Shahn, Ruth Asawa, Franz Kline, Arthur Penn, Buckminster Fuller, M.C. Richards, Francine du Plessix Gray, Charles Olson, Robert Creeley, Dorothea Rockburne and many others who have made an impact on the world in a significant way. Even now, decades after its closing in 1957, the powerful influence of Black Mountain College continues to reverberate."