Museums and Community Collaborations Abroad

Welcome to Building a Transatlantic Bridge, an innovative project providing opportunities for collaboration and interaction for high school students in the Greensburg Salem School District and for high school students in Oberhausen, Germany.

Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Westmoreland Museum Visit


A couple of weeks ago, the Drawing II class traveled to the Westmoreland Museum for a tour of The Valley of Work. There the students began sketching and planning for their animated drawings.
This was a quick collaborative stop-animation practice film...which we recognized the flaws in and began much more sophisticated drawings since... we can't wait to see and share the outcome of this new project!


The cooperation keeps on growing

On Thursday 25th in the morning Katie and Anita left Germany. Only a few hours later the Bridge Project went on. Once more we could welcome our teachers. This time a training about ”social networks“ took place.
Our partner school, the Heinrich-Böll-Gesamtschule, opened its doors so that we and the teachers from the other schools could use their computer room. Thanks for this!

And one more institution became a friend of our project: the LVR-Medienzentrum in Düsseldorf. Specialized on new media the media center turned out to be a perfect partner. The concept of our project was convincing and the professionals supported us with a trainer who talked about ”social networks“: about the status quo, about chances, but also about risks. It was very helpful.

By the way, the trainer of the media center joined our Facebook-Group and became a fan of us!









Tuesday, March 30, 2010

A day in the museum

On March 9th the museum invited teachers of our partner schools in order to provide them with more information about our exhibition "Feuerländer". We showed them paintings that are going to be presented in our halls. Many ideas came up about how the works could be integrated into the school projects. The meeting was very successful. But that wasn´t all.

Antje talked about the trip to Greensburg so that the others could get an impression about the Greensburg Salem High School and the region. Furthermore we showed the teachers our permanent exhibition about heavy industry including presentations of running machines. We also informed them about our education programs. Many teachers took part in this meeting.

Thanks for coming!

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Starstruck

Today was a great day, and what an awesome finale to me and Anita's visit to Germany! First we had a beautiful day to visit the papermill. It was really cool to see the machines working, learn the history, and I made some paper of my own. It was a lot of fun. Then, we saw the cathedral in Cologne. It was awesome - very large and ornate. Then, back to Oberhausen to the Gasometer. They have an exhibition of the solar system with a replica of the moon hanging illuminated - it is two schoolbusses in diameter, at least. HUGE! but the best part was yet to come. They had a special event in the Gasometer, an American astronaut gave a presentation. Alan Bean from Apolo 12! He was very inspiring. And, I snuck in to talk to him after the speech. He was amazing! Who knew you had to travel to Germany to meet an astronaut!

Sunny Day

I heared it in the radio: Today there will be a sunny and warm day. It´s the right time for a visit
of our venue in Bergisch Gladbach. It´s an old paper mill.
After that we´ll drive to Cologne to see the cathedral!

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

back to school

Today Anita and I along with Stephanie and Mr. Beckmann, visited the Gustav-Heinemann Schulzentrum. It was really cool - murals painted on the walls and students artwork hanging everywhere. The head of the school met with us and gave us a tour. He talked about the new school building, equipped art rooms, and even solar panels on the roof for energy. The students school day used to end at 2:00 for more family time, but the school is now changing for a longer school day. Students have some really creative videos planned. We had our picture taken for two newspapers. We visited the new Folkwang Museum in Essen, went to a special meeting of friends of the museum and then a delicious dinner. I'm exhausted! What a great day!

Museum Education Director and Greensburg-Salem Administrator Travel to Germany For Building a Transatlantic Bridge Project

Katie Barnard, Director of Education and Visitor Services, and Anita Rometo, Community Liaison for the Greensburg-Salem School District will arrive in Oberhausen, Germany on March 21 to meet with Stephanie Buchholz, Project Coordinator at the LVR-Industriemuseum, in conjunction with Building a Transatlantic Bridge, a partnership between the Westmoreland Museum of American Art and the LVR-Industriemuseum. During their visit, they will tour the various former industrial sites that have been transformed into cultural destinations, as well as visit with teachers and students of the three participating Oberhausen high schools.

Read press release.

Museum and more

On Monday we went to our museum. Katie and Anita saw our permanent exhibition and talked to the museum staff. After that we went to the big shopping mall "Centro" and ate at a Brauhaus.
Burkhard showed us the Peter-Behrens-Building, our exhibition hall for "Feuerländer - Regions of Vulcan". We also saw the collection of the LVR-Industriemuseum.
In the evening we got a guided tour through the Galerie Ludwig, a castle in Oberhausen, where art is presentated.
Our day ended with an invitation of our "friends of the museum". We had a great dinner in the restaurant at the castle. The teachers and headmasters as well as some colleagues of the museum joined this event.

Sunday, March 21, 2010

Katie and Anita arrived in Germany!

Only a view hours ago Katie and Anita arrived at the airport in Düsseldorf!

Me and Antje picked them up. Together we drove to the harbour in Duisburg (it is located at the river Ruhr) for having lunch.
It was 7 a.m. U.S.-time, so it was really a very early lunch time for them today!.

In the evening me and Burkhard will show them the "Landschaftspark Duisburg" and we will climb with them on a blast furnace. In the dark the whole area is illuminated, so it will be surely very impressing.

The photo shows the view from the blast furnace (it is 70 metres).

We are looking forward to a GREAT time!

Read more:

http://www.landschaftspark.de/en/home/index.php

In the Paris Airport

Hi everybody! We made it over the ocean - Anita and I are waiting for our flight from Paris to Dusseldorf. It is early in the morning here - we slept a bit on the plane. Looking forward to seeing our friends again and having a great time in Oberhausen!!!

Thursday, March 18, 2010

I can't wait to go to Germany on Saturday!!!

Anita Rometo, Community Liaison at the GS School district will be travelling with me!

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

I hear America singing...


Walt Whitman - the classic voice of the American poetry - envisioned in his poem I hear America singing a country of people working for the greater good of mankind - he described workers coming together as part of the whole society developing industry and production.
When Katie, Amy, Stefanie and I looked into the showcase in front of the Rivers of Steel Heritage museum in Homestead a completely different facet of the day-to-day work of the Homestead Steel Workers was revealed there: "Days since last injury" panels were showing the days without a working accident, safety helmits and safety lamps illustrated that working in a steel mill was exposing men to danger.
We got inside the museum - a former hotel, the meeting point of the strikers during the Homestead Strike (a serious labor disput between the Assoziation of Iron and Steel Workers and the Carnegie Steel Company) - expecting to see some instructional films about how to avoid accidents at work. We did see them! But Ron Baraff also took us around the museum explaining about the former Industrial Area in the Mon Valley and about his great vision: the redevelopment of the Steel Industry Historic Site. The cost to implement this vision would require the collaborate support and investment of the private, public and philanthropic sectors, he told us. I hear America singing, the varied carols I hear, those of planning teams...
The Mon Valley is a mirror image of the Ruhrvalley (coal mining, steel production) - Duisburg is a city in the Ruhrvalley - the Duisburg-Nord Landscape Park is "a public park which was designed in 1991 with the intention, that it works to heal and understand the industrial past. The park closely associates itself with the past use of the site: a coal and steel production plant" (Wikipedia) . The park is - a model for Rons vision of a revitalized industrial area in the Monongahela Valley.
On my way back home to Oberhausen I had a dream that Ron´s vision had become a reality: Wearing hard hats and goggles, surrounded by the sounds, smells and heat of the mill, a virtual reality attraction guides Katie, Amy, Stephanie, Ron and me through a steel mills interior and working blast furnace, where we are faced with the dangers the steelworkers were faced in the past. After a meal at the mill´s cafeteria and a stroll through the Steel Industry Artifacts Park*, we enjoy the fascinating lightshow at night, are amazed of the prismatic colors of the blast furnace looking like another kind of beacon and listen to that certain sound of memory:
"At night the party of young fellows, robust, friendly, singing with open mouths their strong melodious sounds."
* an idea based on the "Carrie Furnace Site Conceptual Plan"

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Oberhausen meets Greensburg


Business as usual today at the Heinrich-Böll Gesamtschule in Oberhausen. The students of the art class (11) are working on the town history of Oberhausen- they want to make a short video showing the process of industrialization und structural change in the Ruhrarea.
At the same time art students of the Greensburg Salem Highschool are doing the same thing -
they are studying the history and urban development of the Steel City Pittsburgh to make a comparable video. Pittsburgh and Oberhausen ,Greensburg Salem High und HBG : students are building a Transatlantic Bridge.
Only a few days ago Stephanie Buchholz and I were still at school in Greensburg - meeting Kelley Audia and the students of her art class in person. We were excited to talk to her and the students about their/our first project, the "journals"and to discuss new ideas for a second video project.
I felt so familiar with the class situation, so I thought about taking over and giving the lessons.
Business as usual!

Latest news!

The LVR-Industriemuseum is happy to welcome back Katie Barnard, Director of Education at the Westmoreland Museum of American Art, at the end of march. Katie worked with us on our museum education project – Transatlantic Bridge - already in December. This year she will be accompanied by Anita Rometo, Community Liaison of the Greensburg Salem School District. Intensive conversations will be conducted with our museum employees and the involved teachers of the partner schools. Furthermore, we want to take the opportunity to show our guests some parts of the European Capital of Culture 2010. We look forward to welcoming them!

The photo shows Stephanie Buchholz, Katie Barnard (second from left), Amy Baldonieri (Westmoreland Museum) and our German teacher Antje Reiber (Heinrich-Böll-Gesamtschule Oberhausen)

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

New article about Transatlantic Bridge


NRZ, 09.03.2010

Friday, March 5, 2010

NEW: Web site now also in English

Our web site is now also translated into English*!!!
Just klick on the American flag: http://www.feuerlaender.lvr.de/

*Further translations will be soon online


Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Roll over Chopin
















This year we are celebrating not only the "European Capital of Culture Ruhr 2010", but also the 200th birthday of Frédéric Chopin, the famous Polish composer and pianist. Just in his twenties he broke new grounds with his "études". Chopin’s music changed the playing and the building of the piano as well as composing piano music. He has been revolutionary and 1830 he composed a "Revolutionary Étude". Our Polish friends have every reason to celebrate a musical hero, who, unfortunately, passed away when only 39 years old. Warsaw, Paris and New York are just organizing concerts in memory of his genius.


Our Polish friends also take part in the exhibition "Feuerländer – regions of Vulcan". Several Polish painters will represent their country, including Piotre Naliwajko and Bronisław Krawczuk. Sure, that’s not the only reason for thinking about Chopin relating the exhibition. Chopin, who has been living in Paris, the European "Capitale du Musique", since he was 21 year old, is also known for synaesthetic effects of his music. Balsac, Heine and Nietzsche didn’t shrink from comparing him with the famous Italian Renaissance painter Raffael. On the other hand Philipp Runge, the German Romantic Painter, claimed a beautiful painting has to include music.

















Well, the paintings, called together by means of the "burning" slogan "Feuerländer" will not only be beautiful. But the beholder of these quite often "fiery" objects on the industrialization of coal and steel should also be affected by sparks of synaesthesia. Of course he shouldn´t admire a picture just like adoring a "prince", as old Schopenhauer has demanded 1819, still representing with his words a pre-industrial era. In the wake of the consumer society and new Warhol art is more likely aligned with reproducible stars. But in contrast to the constant flickering and shimmering of the post-modern media, in front of the original works of art in our exhibition the audience will be experiencing the real three dimensional measures, the gamut of its colours, the traces of the artist’s brush, in a word: its particular atmosphere, its "mood".




Sketchy drawing of the "Kyriatiden", February 27th

Perhaps Runge is somehow right and we hear some kind of melody or sound, don’t know, whether a harmonious or even a jarring one. Let me end up this reflection with a question: Should we just play Chopin in the background of the exhibition - not only in honour of the Polish European artist, but simply on the occasion of the international dimension of the presentation and in order to highlight or provoke possibly unique synaesthetic opportunities?

Long after Runge Wilhelm Albermann has built a group of four sculptures, known as "Kyriatiden" (1879-81). Originally designated for the gable of an art gallery in Düsseldorf, the classical "Kyriatiden" are now placed near the building of the "Kunstverein". Albermann shows the four allegories of art. Whereas Architecture and Sculpture are making up a pair on the right, on the left Music with the "lyra" and Painting with brush and palette are standing hand in hand, deeply attached to each other.

Monday, March 1, 2010

Photos from Visit


This was in the local paper on Friday, February 26 from Stephanie and Antje's visit. We really enjoyed meeting you both and hope that you enjoyed your snowy visit to Greensburg!

Window to Germany: The Westmoreland-Video-Chat

German teachers talk to the staff of the Westmoreland!

Video made by: U. Bugdoll