By Micah Ariel James
In support of Hancher’s continuing efforts to engage people across the state, illusionist and teaching artist Kevin Spencer will present workshops at seven Iowa middle schools in early February. Accompanied by Hancher Executive Director Chuck Swanson, Spencer will visit with 8th grade students who contributed to a mural that will be displayed in the new Hancher building.
Spencer’s tour will last four days, with stops in Algona, Spencer, Storm Lake, Council Bluffs, Iowa City, Muscatine, and Maquoketa.
During the 2014-2015 school year, while in the 7th grade, students from each of these cities created art pieces inspired by photographs they took of themselves, as well as by their ideas about performance. Those works will be incorporated into a mural created by Anita Jung, a professor in the University of Iowa’s School of Art and Art History.
Spencer’s workshop will help those students reflect on the characteristics and merits of the work they created. Students will examine their personal artistic growth since their first involvement with the project and analyze what and how people can learn in and through the arts.
This project will build on work Spencer began during his last Hancher residency in 2014. In the days leading up to his public Hancher performance, Spencer gave presentations at the Iowa City Public Library and Twain Elementary and worked with local company Combined Efforts Theatre. In addition, he met with several University of Iowa professors and doctoral students to discuss arts integration strategies for the classroom and for patient care. He also traveled to care and treatment centers in Spencer, Algona, Bancroft, and Burt to share his magic and its healing and empowering effects.
Below: Photos from Kevin Spencer's 2014 Hancher Residency
