Students Learn through Action in Creative Vizcaya

With support from the Janet Traeger Salz Charitable Trust, Vizcaya launched a new educational program, Creative Vizcaya, that connects students with local artists to participate in art-making workshops.

In May 2022, the program served a total of 210 students from Booker T. Washington Senior High School, Miami Norland Senior High School, Miami Springs Senior High School, and Jose Marti MAST Academy.

The featured artists for this program included:

Amalia Caputo

Shawna Moulton, a multidisciplinary artist and art educator. Her work includes paper-casting figures, illustrations on handmade paper, and watercolor painting.  Students created a relief style composition using dyed recycled paper inspired by the relief sculptures that decorate the interiors of Vizcaya.

Beatriz Chachamovits, an environmental artist focusing on the decline of the coral reef ecosystems. Chachamovits’ work includes drawing, sculpture, and installation.  Inspired by the artist’s work, students created a clay coral sculpture. These works were collected to be featured in a large-scale clay coral reef installation. This collaborative piece will be exhibited for Chachamovits’ “Modeling The Reef” installation.

Amalia Caputo, a photo and video-based artist, with a focus on memory and the archive. Caputo and students created a visual atlas of Vizcaya’s interior and exterior spaces. Together, participants were able to produce a large-scale collaborative photo archive documenting their favorite characteristics that comprise Vizcaya.

Amalia Caputo, a photo and video-based artist, with a focus on memory and the archive. Caputo and students created a visual atlas of Vizcaya’s interior and exterior spaces. Together, participants were able to produce a large-scale collaborative photo archive documenting their favorite characteristics that comprise Vizcaya.

Tom Virgin, a printmaker and has work that ranges from prints and book arts to sculpture and public works. He is the founder of Extra Virgin Press, an independent letterpress studio. Virgin demonstrated the process of creating and printing an original work. Students were able to take home a custom Vizcaya print hand-made by the artist.

By breaking up students into small groups, this approach helps students think critically as they learn different artistic disciplines, like papermaking and photography, while also immersing them in topics like preservation and architecture. Relive the program through the photo gallery below. To learn more about upcoming programs for students and teachers, check out the website.

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