John Grant Workshop at Charlottesville High School

October SSG exhibiting artist John Grant was generous to lead an Outreach workshop with fourteen AP Studio Art students at Charlottesville High School. As a prelude the workshop, the CHS students took a field trip to Second Street Gallery a week ahead of time to see the show. They were able to view Grant's sixteen works of art hanging in a gallery setting, and had some quiet, contemplative time with the exhibition.







This collaboration was great for everyone involved, as the students were able to take a field trip to SSG and see the exhibition, and in turn we were able to bring that artist right into their classroom. The class met Grant personally during morning announcements at the high school on October 27th. We had prepared for the workshop by connecting Grant's scanner and laptop computer to the monitor inside of the classroom which projects onto an interactive white board. All the classes have these white boards, which was essential for our project, and a great tool for teachers and artists alike!



Grant opened a discussion with the students to find out who was really interested in making a career as an artist, and almost all the hands in the class raised up, which he was glad to see. Grant opened up and talked about his journey as an artist, and through that story, we learned a lot about his life. He was a member of the United States Navy, a graduate from the University of Virginia, and a partner in a publishing firm here in Charlottesville. Grant mentioned that fine art doesn't necessarily allow him to make a living, but through stock photography he is able to capitalize on images that he has created which publishers and authors can choose for their book covers.







Grant highlighted Lynda.com as a great resource students who are interested in furthering their design, photography, and editing skills via computer software. The interactive videos allowed Grant to gain an in-depth knowledge of Adobe Photoshop, which he uses to layer the compositions of his photographic works.

For the Hands-On portion of the workshop, the AP students hunted around the classroom for creative objects to be scanned into Photoshop. Grant was particularly interested in a cardboard shoe that one of the students had created. It was amazing to see how three-dimensional objects could be scanned onto a computer by simply leaving the top of the scanner open in a darkened room. We were all shocked with Grant showed how he was able to completely change the lighting, mood, and color of one of his landscapes "Cedar and Egg" by accidentally using a dirty scanning surface! The detail and clarity of the shoe, colored pencils, and light bulb that the students collected can be seen in the pictures below.







Thanks go out to AP Studio Art teacher Jennifer Mildonian, who was instrumental to the organization of the workshop. SSG would also like to thank Mary Johnson for photographing the workshop, and Caitlin Clonan for volunteering her time to help as well. Most of all, thank you John Grant for sharing your story, insights, and artistic techniques with our Charlottesville community.

Post by AG.