I am very happy that Dear You will be a part of Valencia Design Education Forum 2020 / #VDEF2020! The theme of this year’s forum is Analogue+Digital.

Welcome to the presentation/workshop “Mail Art + Pen Friends = Dear You Art Project” on Thursday, November 5th from 11-12 (EEST) and from 17-18 (EEST) there will be a Spanish speaking translator. Both presentations will happen via ZOOM. Register by emailing Arlene at arlene.dearyou(at)gmail.com. You will receive the ZOOM link after registration.

Dear You connects children, their teachers, and artists internationally by making and sharing art with new friends from abroad. Through this process of exchange, a child’s worldview is widened and their skills for self-expression are honed. The exchange of process-based art projects with their new friends living in all corners of the world opens up dialogue, perspectives, and understanding. 

Arlene Tucker, the founder and creator of Dear You, will share how the project has evolved since its inception in 2013. She will also give insight as to how digital and analogue practises have supported the project and exchange between all participants living in all corners of the world. Due to COVID-19, Dear You's methodology and practise of inclusion and exchange have been challenged.  She will share and open discussion how these challenges have pushed for more innovation to blossom. We will put these concepts into practise in an online process-based exercise.  By opening dialogue through art practise, we can create meaningful experiences and inclusive spaces.

Valencia Design Education Forum 2020 / #VDEF2020 is organised by the team of the New Art School, Glug Valencia and EASDV.

The mission of the VDEF2020 is to bring together industry, lecturers and students to discover new ways of working together, forging curriculum that is more appropriate for this time. VDEF2020 is a practitioner’s conference that seeks solutions that are immediately applicable for the betterment of Art and Design Education as a whole. We are looking to have an honest and open conversation about the current state of practice based art and design education.

For questions and submissions please email: [email protected]

LIVE STREAM LINKS for #VDEF2020
MAIN STREAM CHANNEL https://www.youtube.com/c/thenewartschool

Also available at:
https://www.facebook.com/designeducationtalks
https://www.facebook.com/newartschool
https://www.twitch.tv/thenewartschool
https://www.pscp.tv/newartschool
https://www.pscp.tv/GlugValencia/

Numerous studies have shown that art and cultural activities strengthen the cultural capital of children, while supporting their identities and capacities to actively participate in society (Arts Equal, 2019). How can we expand diversity, high-quality and equal accessibility to these activities for all children? How can we affirm diversity and identity through children’s culture and education?

Panelist will share best practices, lessons learned, new ideas that can be applied as well as new questions and challenges to meet. These actors have a key role in pushing the limits in children's culture and education and many of them are actively working to overcome these challenges. Most of them are working in public institutions and/or in the third sector in Helsinki and the Metropolitan area. This Panel celebrates the 5th Anniversary of Kolibrí Festival.

PANELISTS:
- Cátia Suomalainen Pedrosa Suomalainen Pedroza, Helsinki City, Kulttuurikeskus Caisa 's Director
- Pirjetta Mulari, Helsinki City, Annantalo's Acting Director
- Ines Montalvao, Heureka the Finnish Science Centre; Concept & Experience Designer/Finnish Bio Art Society
- Analía Capponi-Savolainen, ArtsEqual research initiative Researcher

MODERATOR:
Arlene Tucker artist, educator and diversity agent

Language: English
Duration: 1.45 min
Production: Kulttuurikeskus Ninho ry thanks to the support of Svenska kulturfonden & Globe Art Point. & Caisa

COORDINATION:
Laura Gazzotti info(at)ninho.fi

Kolibrí is a unique multicultural, free and open art festival for the most diverse, plurilingual and intergenerational audiences. On this 5th anniversary of Kolibrí we will travel to the AMAZONIA, the heart of the World. We’ll get to know and be amazed by its biodiversity, the variety of its indigenous communities and their ancestral knowledge and cultures.

I am so proud to be the moderator for the panel discussion Children’s Culture & Diversity: Pushing Limits on Wednesday, September 23 from 17:00-19:00.  We will open up, challenge, and be critical of the following questions; How can we create diverse, high-quality and accessible activities to children? How can we promote diversity and identity through children’s culture and education?

We've got a great line up of talented, experienced, and extremely knowledgeable panelists. They will share best practices, lessons learned and new ideas as well as new questions and challenges to be faced.

Panelists:

• Cátia Suomalainen Pedroza, Helsinki City, Director of Kulttuurikeskus Caisa
• Eva Wilenius, Espoo City HelMet, Services Manager at Sello Library
• Pirjetta Mulari, Helsinki City, Acting Director of Annantalo
• Inês Montalvão, Heureka – the Finnish Science Centre Concept & Experience Designer. Finnish BioArt Society
• Analía Capponi-Savolainen, researcher at Sibelius Academy, UniArts Helsinki
• Johanna Nonna Mattila, theater practitioner, Chairwoman at Kulttuuriyhdistys Suomen Eucrea ry and culture secretary at Kynnys ry.
  
  

Welcome to Caisa in Helsinki or join online via Zoom. Register and join via Zoom by sending an email to info-kolibri(at)ninho.fi with "Diversity Panel" in the subject line.

See you there!

X arlene

Konstrundan 2020 -osallistujat on nyt valittu: yhteensä 291 ammattitaiteilijaa, käsityöläistä ja muotoilijaa avaavat ateljeensa ja työpajansa yleisölle syyskuun toisena viikonloppuna 12.-13.9.2020. Tänä vuonna saimme hakemuksia 306 henkilöltä. 

Useissa vierailukohteissa työskentelee enemmän kuin yksi henkilö ja siten mukana on noin 190 vierailukohdetta Eckeröstä lännessä Kuopioon idässä ja Hangosta etelässä Inariin pohjoisessa. Alkuvuosina Konstrundanin osallistujat olivat enimmäkseen ruotsinkielisiltä rannikkoalueilta, mutta viime vuosina kiinnostus ja osallistuminen on mukavasti kasvanut kielirajojen yli myös maan suomenkielisille alueille. 

Tästä löydät kaikki osallistujat alueittain. 
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THE PARTICIPANTS FOR 2020 ARE CHOSEN

The participants for Konstrundan 2020 are now chosen. This year Konstrundan is arrangedduring the weekend 12-13 September.

​The participants for Konstrundan 2020 are now chosen: a total of 291 professional artists, artisans and designers will open the doors to their studios and workshops for the public during the weekend 12-13 September. This year 306 persons applied to participate. 

Many of the visiting points are shared working spaces of several artists, hence this year’s art circuit has 190 visiting points from Eckerö in the west to Kuopio in the east and from Hanko in the south to Inari up north.

During the first years of Konstrundan, most of the participants were from the Swedish speaking regions along the coast, but during the last few years the interest has gratifyingly grown over the language boundaries to include more of the Finnish-speaking regions of our country.

Here you find all the participants organised according to region.

Konstrundan is an established event, arranged in Finland since 2008. The goal of Konstrundan is to increase the understanding for professional contemporary art, craft and design as well as to promote creative work.

Konstrundan happens during the second weekend of September and we hope to gather over 15 000 visitors. We are hoping to organise the project according to plan, but are continuously monitoring the corona virus situation. As a new addition this year, and as a backup plan in case we have to cancel the physical Konstrundan, we are offering our participants the chance to present themselves with a short video on our website. 

I am so honoured and excited to be at TUO TUO from June 18th for a couple of weeks!

Many months ago, Kaitlyn Hamilton, one of the co-founders of TUO TUO, was going to join the Nonviolent Communication group Vishnu Vardhani and I ran as part of Pixelache Lab.  For many reasons, concrete and mystical, that did not happen.  As Kaitlyn, so sweetly proposed the other day, perhaps that mishap was just a catalyst for our meeting.  NVC may have brought us together, but the rest is for us to figure out.  I, too, am a believer of trusting the universe and this is what has fallen onto my path.

This was supposed to be the summer I was going to return to Taiwan to visit my family as I haven't seen them already in years.  Corona came, which put all long distance travel plans on hold.  I am so thankful for TUO TUO for hosting me and then I cannot wait to continue my trip to Kuopio and to Iisälmi to see Emma Fält and all of my dear friends there.  Thankful for the people I have in my life and for living in such a beautiful country.  After such a long dark winter, Finland finally graces us with a beautiful summer.  Light for night and a thousand lakes that drift into the sea.

While at TUO TUO I will continue Free Translation Sessions, Solmu Sarja Knot Series, and continue the development of my hair project.  You are most welcome to join any of these events or to have a some tea with me.  Please click on the links to see how you can participate.

Finally, I will have time to delve into my own thoughts and experiment!  My conversation with Des Pawson last month got my mind even more spinning on the raw complexity yet refined simplicity a knot carries.  My daily conversations with my mom have been a huge source of inspiration and continue to comfort me in these strange times where uncertainty seems to blanket over everything.  How any of this will manifest itself is yet to be seen.  

I am there in this knot.

Join me.

XOXO
arlene