Robert Reed Drawing Workshops: Collaboration between Penn State, Hunter College, Whitney Museum, and Palmer Museum

Robert Reed’s contributions to creative practice and drawing as a discipline will be celebrated in a series of workshops hosted by the Penn State Stuckeman School early next year. The first workshop will be held February 21-24, on the University Park campus and will be followed by a one-day event on Saturday, March 23, in New York City at Hunter College and the Whitney Museum of American Art. The workshops will be comprised of lectures, discussion panels, and drawing workshops. The discussions and lectures will be open to the public and discuss key topics related to Reed’s teaching and painting. The workshops will engage college-level visual arts and design students. The curriculum for the workshops will be developed by Reed’s students and colleagues and based on research of Reed’s pedagogy and curriculum. In conjunction with these events will be exhibitions of both Reed’s visual art and of his teaching archives. The Palmer Museum of Art will collaborate on the curation and exhibition of Reed’s drawings and collages, representing several periods of his work and the close link between his pedagogy and creative practice. The Rouse Gallery in the Stuckeman Family Building will exhibit materials gathered by the researchers including his assignments, photographs of his drawing workshops, and previous student work. A version of these exhibitions will be re-mounted for workshop in New York. “Access to Reed’s work and pedagogical discoveries will benefit artists, designers, and educators,” noted Cathy Braasch, Reed’s former student, assistant professor in the Department of Architecture at Penn State, and project director. “The events will also identify areas for further research and curation of Robert Reed’s work and create vibrant documentation of his contributions to our culture and creative practices.” Robert Reed taught drawing and painting for over 50 years (primarily at Yale University 1969-2014), received the 2004 College Art Association Distinguished Teaching of Art Award, and was the first African American professor tenured by the Yale School of Art. Documentation of his pedagogy and art is not accessible to the public, but his innovative curriculum and unique studio culture have influenced the teaching and creative practices of generations. He also taught many students who did not pursue art or design, but gained a visual literacy—an understanding of art and the built environment—that became a fundamental lens for their understanding the world. For more information and a complete schedule of events, please visit the Robert Reed Drawing Workshop website.