The Pasadena / San Gabrial Valley Journal News - Black African American Business, Educational and Social News

This summer, three institutions join their efforts to celebrate a love of reading and the visual aesthetics surrounding the very human act of reading the written word. Art Center College of Design will launch this endeavor with an exhibition of the photographic work of André Kertész. The Armory Center for the Arts will offer children art-making experiences that explore reading. The Pasadena Public Library will feature a photography contest for teens, along with their summer reading club and Try-It @ Your Library camps for teens. In three of the camps, teens will learn and perfect their photography skills. In its most basic sense, the act of reading remains the same today as it was a century ago. But there are aspects of reading that are unique to this century, to this specific generation and this particular time and space. Through computers, the Internet and other electronic media, humans are reading and acquiring information in ways never imagined 50 years ago, let alone one or two centuries ago. Information, ideas, messages, facts and all manner of vital communication is presented in a written format without ever coming into contact with a human hand. Art Center, the Armory, and the Pasadena Public Library have come together to explore various aspects of reading and what it looked like in the past, what it looks like today, and how reading may possibly manifest in the future.

André Kertész: On Reading June 26 - August 23, 2009. Andre Kertész: On Reading is a collection of 104 gelatin-silver photographs by this significant and influential photographer, taken over a 50-year period, beginning in 1925. On view in the Alyce de Roulet Williamson Gallery at Art Center College of Design, the exhibition highlights Kertész' signature style of visual poetry and choreography in everyday life. By capturing individuals immersed in the act of reading in a variety of settings-parks, cafés, libraries, rooftops, backstage, street corners, trains, and bookstands-Kertész uses the activity of reading as a constant motif for his narrative, which weaves in and out of public and private spaces. These observations form an engaging, and often amusing, study of the universal and captivating power of reading. Gallery hours are Tuesday-Sunday, noon-5 p.m.; and Friday, noon-9 p.m. http://www.artcenter.edu/williamson
Armory Summer Art Classes July 6 - September 4, 2009. The act of reading often takes us to a visual place, a place we can imagine, visualize and picture. In this way, reading and art share a symbiotic relationship. The Armory's summer studio program offers classes where reading and art come together. Themed classes such as Building Stories for ages 4-5, Storybook Lands for ages 4-5, and Bring Stories to Life for ages 6-9 offer students the experience to combine reading, drama and art while expanding their imaginations through creativity and exploration. http://www.armoryarts.org
Reading in the 21st Century: Photography Contest for Teens! July 1 - July 22, 2009. Express yourself through the lens of a camera on the subject of "Reading in the 21st Century." Entries will be accepted at all Pasadena Public Library sites from July 1 - July 22. Winners will be notified by August 1. Prizes will be awarded: First Prize is $100, Second Prize is $50, Third Prize is $25, and Honorable Mentions receive $5.00 gift card. Winning entries and Honorable Mentions will be on exhibit at the Central Library during the month of August 2009. http://pasadenapubliclibrary.net/libraryteens