Tuesday, May 14 | 10-11:30 am

Instructors: Samantha Eckert & Nick Gaffney

The purpose of this class is to participate in a fun, visceral, and dynamic group experience that lessens the ambiguity and loftiness associated with art, focusing on a selection of artworks on view in AVA's galleries. Facilitated by experienced artists, you'll thoughtfully synthesize your own way of seeing artwork, while encountering other student's unique perspectives. The class will use exercises and activities designed to ignite creative responses, followed by a group discussion that revolves around specific pieces of art. You'll also look at pieces that might be hard to understand or find interesting at first glimpse. Looking closely at art - and talking about process, materials, form, and content - will deepen your artistic knowledge and ignite your creativity.

This session of Learning to Look will focus on the work of Peter Anderson and Caleb Brown, Joan Hanley, and  Denis Versweyveld, all of whom will be exhibiting their work at AVA, May 10-June 8.

Samantha Eckert is a Vermont-based emerging artist and AVA's Exhibition Manager. She earned her MFA in Visual Art in 2015 from Vermont College of Fine Arts in Montpelier, VT. Additionally, she holds a Certification in Museum Studies from The Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, NM. She received a grant to attend Anderson Ranch Art Center in Snowmass, CO, attended residencies at the Vermont Studio Center, in Johnson, VT, was a two-time artist in residence at The Studios at MASS MoCA in North Adams, MA, and recently spent six weeks as artist in residence at La Macina di San Cresci in her ancestral homeland, Italy.

Nick Gaffney received his MFA in Fine Arts/Photography from the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY, in 2002. He is AVA's Education Manager, and spent 15 years teaching Photography, Studio Art, and Digital Media in higher education. He has exhibited his photography throughout the country, including solo shows at AVA and the Vermont Center for Photography, in Brattleboro, VT. He has served on board for the Vermont Center for Photography and is also a member of the Lebanon Arts and Culture Commission. He lives in Lebanon with his wife, two daughters, and dog Ruby.