Park Studio: Tree House
17 May - 05 Oct 2014
Design schematic for the Santa Monica Museum of Art’s Park Studio: Tree House by Knowhow Shop, 2014, Courtesy of Knowhow Shop
PARK STUDIO: TREE HOUSE
17 May - 5 October 2014
Park Studio: Tree House is a public art installation and program series produced through the Museum’s spring break art program for teens. The Tree House is a groundbreaking project that combines art, architecture, and a site for education. It was designed by architecture collective Knowhow Shop and built by a team of students from local high schools. Park Studio: Tree House will feature numerous free programs including: an artist residency with the Llano Del Rio Collective; screenings; performances; and teen workshops with creative professionals from GOOD Magazine, Hedley & Bennett, Dublab, and Deutsch Inc.
The Tree House is located in a thirty-by-thirty foot green space with six palm trees, in the center of the Bergamot Station Arts Center parking lot. Over two dozen students worked with Knowhow Shop’s Kagan Taylor and Justin Rice to build the structure during their 2014 spring break. Each iteration of Park Studio, an annual SMMoA education program, culminates with a public exhibition of student artwork on-site at SMMoA.
Park Studio: Tree House public programs running throughout the summer of 2014 were conceived by students, artists, and organizations in partnership with SMMoA. The teen workshop series from April 15 through 17, during SMMUSD and LAUSD spring break, consists of lunchtime discussions and activities with visionaries from the fields of design, publishing, and branding—all concepts relating to outreach and engagement in the 21st century. Summer public programs include a double-feature screening of The Source Family and Dear Comrade hosted by the Llano del Rio Collective; and a workshop on DJ basics hosted by Dublab; and many more. Click here to see upcoming programs in the Tree House.
About Park Studio
Each Park Studio program pairs teens with accomplished artists and designers. Together they produce a public project relating to art and urban life. Past Park Studio artists include: Robbie Conal; Gajin Fujita; GRONK; Homeboy Industries; Arts Refoundry; Watts Labor Community Action Committee; HIT+RUN; Center for the Study of Political Graphics; Tim Rollins; and Francois Perrin, Dante Cacace, and Gil Le Bon Delapointe. High school participants, ages 14-19 years old, come from demographically diverse areas of Santa Monica. Recruitment is conducted through Virginia Avenue Park’s Teen Center, Santa Monica High School, Olympic High School, and the Police Activities League (PAL).
About Knowhow Shop
Knowhow Shop is a collaboration between Kagan Taylor and Justin Rice, both graduates of UCLA A.UD Masters in Architecture I program. Knowhow Shop was started as an extension of their shared interests in traditional craft, digital fabrication, education, and a commitment to contemporary architectural design. Knowhow Shop is a design/build studio, laboratory for material exploration, a classroom for digital and traditional craft, and a community space for strange and imaginative happenings. In their own architectural and design work, Taylor and Rice approach projects with a craftsperson’s sensitivity, genuine good humor, and a feral strangeness combined with a belief that what they make can redirect the discipline from the hyper-digital to a real-surreal. Visit knowhowshopla.tumblr.com for more information.
Student Participants: Kaitlin Alfaro, Hunter Buckhorn, Zahari Dimitrov, Mina Dimitrova, Julio Escarce, Kathrine Gallegos, Sophia Grecco, Bradley Hijar, Amy Juarez, Chih Yu Lee, Ryan Lee, Mark Marin, Amayrany Mendoza, Kira Oikawa-Clark, Samuel Teleki, Sandor Teleki, Jordan Vazquez, and Jared Velázquez
Park Studio: Tree House is organized by Asuka Hisa, Director of Education and Public Programs at SMMoA.
Support for Park Studio has been generously provided by the Eileen Harris Norton Foundation, the Barnwood Foundation, the Mike Kelley Foundation for the Arts, Southern California Edison, the Whittagy Fund at the California Community Foundation, and Kayne Capital Advisors Foundation. This program was made possible in part by a grant from the City of Santa Monica and the Santa Monica Arts Commission.
In-kind support was provided by Dr. Patricia Anawalt and Anawalt Lumber as well as Bergamot Café. Special thanks to Virginia Avenue Park, the VAP Teen Center, the Knowhow Shop, Ellen Bennett, Casey Caplowe, the Llano del Rio Collective, Deutsch Inc, and Dublab.
17 May - 5 October 2014
Park Studio: Tree House is a public art installation and program series produced through the Museum’s spring break art program for teens. The Tree House is a groundbreaking project that combines art, architecture, and a site for education. It was designed by architecture collective Knowhow Shop and built by a team of students from local high schools. Park Studio: Tree House will feature numerous free programs including: an artist residency with the Llano Del Rio Collective; screenings; performances; and teen workshops with creative professionals from GOOD Magazine, Hedley & Bennett, Dublab, and Deutsch Inc.
The Tree House is located in a thirty-by-thirty foot green space with six palm trees, in the center of the Bergamot Station Arts Center parking lot. Over two dozen students worked with Knowhow Shop’s Kagan Taylor and Justin Rice to build the structure during their 2014 spring break. Each iteration of Park Studio, an annual SMMoA education program, culminates with a public exhibition of student artwork on-site at SMMoA.
Park Studio: Tree House public programs running throughout the summer of 2014 were conceived by students, artists, and organizations in partnership with SMMoA. The teen workshop series from April 15 through 17, during SMMUSD and LAUSD spring break, consists of lunchtime discussions and activities with visionaries from the fields of design, publishing, and branding—all concepts relating to outreach and engagement in the 21st century. Summer public programs include a double-feature screening of The Source Family and Dear Comrade hosted by the Llano del Rio Collective; and a workshop on DJ basics hosted by Dublab; and many more. Click here to see upcoming programs in the Tree House.
About Park Studio
Each Park Studio program pairs teens with accomplished artists and designers. Together they produce a public project relating to art and urban life. Past Park Studio artists include: Robbie Conal; Gajin Fujita; GRONK; Homeboy Industries; Arts Refoundry; Watts Labor Community Action Committee; HIT+RUN; Center for the Study of Political Graphics; Tim Rollins; and Francois Perrin, Dante Cacace, and Gil Le Bon Delapointe. High school participants, ages 14-19 years old, come from demographically diverse areas of Santa Monica. Recruitment is conducted through Virginia Avenue Park’s Teen Center, Santa Monica High School, Olympic High School, and the Police Activities League (PAL).
About Knowhow Shop
Knowhow Shop is a collaboration between Kagan Taylor and Justin Rice, both graduates of UCLA A.UD Masters in Architecture I program. Knowhow Shop was started as an extension of their shared interests in traditional craft, digital fabrication, education, and a commitment to contemporary architectural design. Knowhow Shop is a design/build studio, laboratory for material exploration, a classroom for digital and traditional craft, and a community space for strange and imaginative happenings. In their own architectural and design work, Taylor and Rice approach projects with a craftsperson’s sensitivity, genuine good humor, and a feral strangeness combined with a belief that what they make can redirect the discipline from the hyper-digital to a real-surreal. Visit knowhowshopla.tumblr.com for more information.
Student Participants: Kaitlin Alfaro, Hunter Buckhorn, Zahari Dimitrov, Mina Dimitrova, Julio Escarce, Kathrine Gallegos, Sophia Grecco, Bradley Hijar, Amy Juarez, Chih Yu Lee, Ryan Lee, Mark Marin, Amayrany Mendoza, Kira Oikawa-Clark, Samuel Teleki, Sandor Teleki, Jordan Vazquez, and Jared Velázquez
Park Studio: Tree House is organized by Asuka Hisa, Director of Education and Public Programs at SMMoA.
Support for Park Studio has been generously provided by the Eileen Harris Norton Foundation, the Barnwood Foundation, the Mike Kelley Foundation for the Arts, Southern California Edison, the Whittagy Fund at the California Community Foundation, and Kayne Capital Advisors Foundation. This program was made possible in part by a grant from the City of Santa Monica and the Santa Monica Arts Commission.
In-kind support was provided by Dr. Patricia Anawalt and Anawalt Lumber as well as Bergamot Café. Special thanks to Virginia Avenue Park, the VAP Teen Center, the Knowhow Shop, Ellen Bennett, Casey Caplowe, the Llano del Rio Collective, Deutsch Inc, and Dublab.