We sent flyers home about this presentation today. I hope to go. See you there. Cheryl

There is another great current event tfor extra credit hat is local and available for students: Ashes and Snow, at the Nomandic Museum which is currenty located on the Santa Monica Pier. It is $10. for students. Advise them not to go on Mondays, because that is a day reserved for tours. It is there until 5/14. I have talked to a friend of a friend who saw it in New York, and says it is not to be missed. I have had one student already go, and she said it was fantastic! The artist (a documentary film maker and fine arts photographer is actually Canadian) but his work had some of its first exhibitions at the Parco Galleries in Japan.The mixed media photographic artworks are done on handmade Japanese paper. Another great reason for going is to see the show is the architecture. The Nomandic Museum is the traveling home of "Ashes and Snow". This is Shigeru Ban's ( he architect) 2nd erection of the Museum, the first being in New York from 3/5-6/6, 2005. The museum is constructed of 152 steel cargo containers, which are 10 and 20 feet long, and are rented. The containers are stacked in a checkerboard pattern 34-feet high to form the walls of the three wings of the Museum, and the openings between the containers are secured with a diagonal, fabric-like membrane. The total height of the Museum, including the peaked roof is 56 feet. This Japanese architect is considered to redefine the boundaries of contemporary architecture with his innovative use of unexpected materials and an intuitive response to space. He also has done the Japanese pavislion at Expo 2000 in Germany. Are there any Torrace teachers after 2/9, of course, that would like to make an adult field trip out of this after school someday and then stop for dinner?

I would also like to hear how this went. I posted the flyer and discussed this event with my sophomore honors English classes. Many were familiar with Wong, but no one went to the event. They thought is was too expensive and I didn't offer extra credit. I even had a free ticket to give out and no one took it. Teens don't like to go somewhere alone, I suppose. I would have liked to have used the ticket myself but was too busy grading papers and prepping.

One of the things we discussed in my honors English classes is how a TV star can speak to people about his experience as something that others could relate to. It seems the common problem with this type of situation is as follows: The people organizing the event want a famous name to draw the crowd, but that doesn't insure that such a person will be someone with whom the audience can actually relate. His story could be entertaining but not so much a reflection of people's reactions, adjustments, and experiences to US culture.

I would imagine that Wong was interesting but not someone my students could relate to or even look upon as someone having a typical experience, which in and of itself, is difficult to define. A TV star, however, could hardly come close to most people's experiences.

A more viable experience could have been a panel of people from different walks of life being prompted with some interesting questions that would touch on many lives. But the draw would probably not have been as great.

[Edit by="selwood on Feb 12, 11:01:11 AM"][/Edit]