Creative Conversation with Marcy Bernstein

Traditional artist presentations begin with the artist showing the work and discussing their ideas to an audience.  When that is complete, the audience is invited to respond.

But what would happen if we flipped the order?

In a Creative Conversation, the artist is silent as a facilitator prompts the viewers to respond to what they see, think and feel and to explore what specific elements in the artwork stimulated their intuitive ideas. Viewers are encouraged to delve deeper into the works of art and start to deconstruct their ideas based on the color, texture, composition, values, subject matter, symbolism.  The artist listens quietly as different viewers respond to the work. This process is often very enlightening to the artist as they hear how their work is being received and interpreted on a purely visual level withought the interference of preliminary information or instruction about the work..  Is the artist getting their intention across in a way that they want?  Are other ideas being stimulated?  When this portion of the conversation is complete the artist will then have the opportunity to respond to the unfiltered feedback they received during the Creative Conversation and to add any details or information that would increase audiences understanding of their art.

This is a process that that helps all parties to grow. Art lovers are helped to become more engaged and visually literate, and artists have the privilege of being like the proverbial fly on the wall! They are able to get a peek into what viewers see in their art, without the imposition of information about the artists intentions.

Moderated by Marcy Bernstein - Marcy is a community arts educator.

She holds a BFA in Painting from Parsons School of Design a teaching certification from Bank Street College of Education  and an MFA in Painting from SUNY New Paltz In 2015, Bernstein had a life-changing bicycle accident that brought her 30-year career, teaching painting and photography in a New York inner-city high school, to a close.

However, this was not an ending but a transformation.

Marcy founded Roost Studios and Art Gallery, a non-profit for the arts, in 2016.  In her role as Executive Director, Marcy coordinates, curates, and produces community art events, fulfilling a mission to build community through the arts.

Pushing boundaries, and facing challenges, both creatively and physically, are inseparable qualities from which Marcy’s life and work stem.