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Mission
The Santa Monica Museum of Art supports the art of our time through exhibitions and related programs that embrace diverse aesthetic, cultural, and ideological perspectives. The museum’s exhibitions and programs present innovative work by emerging and established artists; initiate and maintain artistic partnerships and collaborations; connect the visual arts to other systems of information and knowledge; and provide an opportunity for audiences to experience, understand, and enjoy contemporary visual culture.

Park Studio
Of the many education programs offered at the museum, Park Studio brings interdisciplinary art education outside of the museum's walls and into the community. This free, two-week program is held annually during the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District's spring break period. Contemporary artists lead workshops, art history lessons, and field trips to cultural sites. Park Studio is open to middle and high-school students who reside or attend school in the museum's immediate neighboring community.

Each year Park Studio explores a different theme to create artwork that resonates with youth and connects them to ideas in contemporary art. Past projects have incorporated graffiti, hip-hop, Shakespeare, music composition, murals, and animation. Acclaimed artists teaching Park Studio workshops have included Tim Rollins, Salomón Huerta, Lezley Saar, Frank Romero, and Gajin Fujita. All work created in Park Studio is exhibited at the museum during the summer.

Park Studio engages students in the discovery and creation of contemporary art. Involvement in the program offers participants a chance to sustain a respectful collaboration with artists and peers toward the creation of work—artistic, imaginative, edifying, and unique.

Park Studio 2004: www.parkstudio.org

Park Studio has created a new website, www.parkstudio.org, and set in motion an online presence for SMMoA’ s educational outreach.

Visual artists and educators Vanessa Cruz and Janice Ledgerwood worked with participants to create new animation projects and design the museum’s new education outreach website content. The theme of the relationship between humans and machines was generated in response to Park Studio’s current embrace of technology.

Cruz taught “drawing under the camera” animation which allows drawings and cut-outs to become animated through manual manipulation and digital capture. Ledgerwood introduced basic concepts in web design to collaboratively build an online group exhibition of the animation work for the website.

Park Studio participants visited the Armory Center for the Arts in Pasadena for the Art in Motion Festival exhibition Syzygy: The Human Remix (March 6–June 6, 2004) and returned with ideas and inspiration for their projects. The final website, conceived and created by the participants of Park Studio, features an interactive exhibition of each student’s artwork and written texts.

Participants in Park Studio 2004:
Emily Cheng
Gether Gibson, Jr.
Emily Grossman
Nick Hudspeth
Alex Jacobius
Lily Jacobius
Miguel Jiminez
Jane Liu
Jiro Maestu
Sheila Pane
Jivanto Van Hemert
Paris Yavuz

Asuka Hisa, Education Director, Santa Monica Museum of Art

Vanessa Cruz—Animation
Vanessa Cruz received her undergraduate education at the Rhode Island School of Design with a focus in film, animation, and video. She received a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in Experimental Animation from the California Institute for the Arts (Cal Arts). She is currently part of the animation faculty at Cal Arts and directs the Eagle Rock site of the Sony Pictures Media Arts Program. Cruz is actively involved with the Cal Arts Community Arts Partnership (CAP) program, a collaboration between prominent art centers in several communities throughout the city of Los Angeles. Partners include the Watts Towers Arts Center, Plaza de la Raza, Armory Center for the Arts in Pasadena, Inner-City Arts, and Self-Help Graphics. Cruz has also worked with major animations studios such as 20th Century Fox Animation and Realbuzz Comics. Equipped with extensive experience as an educator, Cruz brings a fine arts approach to animation. Cruz was the animation instructor and editor of the 2003 Park Studio animation project for SMMoA entitled CITY.

Janice Ledgerwood—Web Design
Janice Ledgerwood received her Bachelor of Fine Arts from Mount Saint Mary’s College and her Master of Fine Arts (MFA) from California State University, Fullerton. Her work combines computer technology with traditional art media and has been shown in numerous group and solo exhibitions. Ledgerwood is the Education Program Coordinator for the Art in Motion Festival (AIM), organized by the University of Southern California (USC) School of Fine Arts. She has taught Printmaking, Design Fundamentals, Web Design, Animation, and Digital Photography at USC and El Camino Junior College. She has also worked in an after-school digital media program with 4th and 5th grade students at Jefferson Elementary School in Pasadena.

Ariel Test—Park Studio Intern

Park Studio is generously funded, in part, by the City of Santa Monica Latino Community Arts Grants Program and The Annenberg Foundation. Park Studio also receives generous in-kind sponsorship from Barnes and Noble Booksellers, Crystal Geyser Water Company, Ruby’s Diner, Wild Oats Markets, and Whole Foods Market. Thanks to the Fairview Branch Library and the Thelma Terry Center at Virginia Avenue Park in Santa Monica. Special thanks to Sylvia Anderle, Amy Bouse, Doug Cavanaugh, Terrance Guillory, Concepción Hernandez-Rechtsjazd, Betty Macias, Keith Neal, parents of Park Studio participants, John Shatzel, Ariel Test, Lisa Sepulveda, Shannon Walker, SMMoA Board of Trustees, SMMoA Staff, and SMMoA Members.

For more information, please call Asuka Hisa, Education Director, at 310-586-6488, ext. 32 or email asuka.hisa@smmoa.org.