By The Carolyn Campagna Kleefeld Contemporary Art Museum released their new video series Plugged-In Virtual Connections on Wednesday, featuring ten Southern California based artists whose interviews were used to create educational lessons for Long Beach students.
Kleefeld Contemporary hosted a launch event for the first season of the video series on Oct. 21 to share more about the artists and how it is part of the Plugged-In Virtual Connections educational program, which provides digital art lessons to Long Beach Unified School District and ABC Unified School District teachers.
The first season of the video series will be paired with companion lessons and prompts available on the Kleefeld Contemporary’s website.
For participating schools, Christina Alegria, Kleefeld Contemporary’s curator of education, said at the launch event that museum docents will lead the lessons.
These lessons will include digital presentations and as well as an opportunity for students to create art with provided supplies.
This educational program, according to Kleefeld Contemporary’s website, will be used to “encourage critical thinking, collaborative process skills, and emotional awareness.”
Amanda Fruta, public affairs and communications specialist, said at the launch event that the artists in the videos will discuss their practices and how they use their materials in new ways in the videos.
The artists include Analia Saban, June Edmonds, Samira Yamin, Lester Monzon and Ahree Lee.
The Plugged-In Virtual Connections program is funded by a grant from the RuMBa Foundation, a Long Beach based organization that helps to create access to art for LBUSD students.
Alegria said that with the help of the foundation, the virtual artist series and educational program was made possible for students.
“I think they need art more than ever and I’m glad that we can bring this to them,” Alegria said.
