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| directory of teaching artists: JEANNE LEFFINGWELL |
| “Playing with beads stimulates the imagination, builds hand-eye coordination, reinforces basic arithmetic, and elegantly introduces patterning and designing in a way that is tactile and fun.”
-- Jeanne Leffingwell
Jeanne Leffingwell, nationally known for her architectural glass bead sculptures, has pushed the boundaries of that medium. She reveres and seeks to pass along the bead-working and craft techniques she has learned and collected all her life. Jeanne has taught in many communities in the Northwest as well as in Alaska, and in Tomatlán, Mexico. Along with making art and teaching, Ms Leffingwell writes for several nationally distributed craft magazines, and is currently working on a book and manual about The Million Bead Project, of which she is founder and director. Describe a transformative process that has occurred in your own practice as an artist or in a past residency as a teaching artist. The culminating event in one of my first residencies was a show of my students’ work at the gallery in their city hall, which incidentally, most of them had never been in before. When I returned for the opening (after finishing the installation with parent volunteers and dashing home for a quick shower) I was 15 minutes late. What I found were rooms already filled with students pulling on their parents’ and grandparents’ hands and racing around to find their own works first, then their friends’ and then their group pieces. I took this in for a few minutes, while no one even noticed me (the big shot Visiting Artist!). Then I realized what a huge success it was because those students had total ownership. When have you been able to recognize learning taking place? I recognize learning taking place when a student who has been struggling with a certain process or concept looks up at me unexpectedly and finishes my sentence. Or when the room actually goes quiet because the students are all on task! (This works for elementary age not necessarily high school…) I often recognize learning has taken place when I compare the second or third beadwoven design a student has created with his or her first one. When, at the beginning of a residency only one or two students can thread a needle and by the end all of them can, I know learning has taken place! What excites your imagination and in turn how does your work excite imagination for your audience? I am excited by scale, the idea of building something wonderful and huge out of tiny cellular bits (like beads). I find great stimulation in the mathematical and engineering challenges of design and fabrication, and I’m a born organizer. I love the synergy that happens when I get to draw on the skills and talents of others. But it’s the exchange of ideas and energy, while refining and collaborating that I find most nourishing and exciting. What characteristics mark a successful collaboration for you? When I look at the end result(s) and they are better than I had imagined. And when I have more energy at the “finish” than what I started with. How do you foster creativity, both in your own work and as a teaching artist? I try to breathe deeply. I write, draw, and brainstorm with others, especially non-artists. Once in awhile I run away, to get some solitude. As a teacher, I tell the kids they can’t possibly make a mistake I haven’t already made. I also try to wear bright and interesting clothes so they will wonder about me. Three key understandings of this discipline are:
Three Idaho Humanities Content Standards that correlate with each of the
core concepts identified above:
Vocabulary words that relate to this discipline: grid n 1. a network of evenly spaced horizontal and vertical lines on a map, used as a basis for finding specific points 2. a network of squares formed by horizontal and vertical lines tem·plate n 1. something that serves as a master or pattern from which other similar things can be made var·i·a·tion n 5. an altered version of an original… outline vt 1. to draw a line showing or emphasizing the shape of something sym·met·ri·cal or sym·met·ric adj 1. having both sides of a central dividing line correspond or be identical to each other 2. relating to or having balanced proportions, especially in two halves of a whole a·sym·met·ri·cal or a·sym·met·ric adj 1. not arranged in a symmetrical way com·plex n 1. a whole composed of various interrelated parts Encarta® World English Dictionary © 1999 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Developed for Microsoft by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc. Subject areas outside of the fine arts that relate to potential residency work include: Math Science Drafting and technology Anthropology & Cultural Studies Economics References
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 Discipline: Visual Arts / Mixed Media Phone: (208) 882-7211 Email: jleffingwell4@gmail.com Website: www.millionbeadproject.org Special Populations I work with: All, especially middle school and teens.  ICA Artists by Disciplines Music Ken Harris Dance Wendy de la Harpe Joy Esplin LiAnne Hunt Norma Pintar Rachel Swenson Theater/Storytelling Joy Steiner Teresa Clark Language Arts Malia Collins Judy Sobeloff Visual Arts Deana Attebery Tom Bennick Judith Brand Sue Rooke Lizette Fife Helen Grainger Wilson Terrie Kralik Jeanne Leffingwell Benjamin Love Linda Wolfe Video/Media Arts Peppershock Media |
 Phone: 208/334-2119 or 800/278-3863 Fax: 208/334-2488 Mailing address: P.O. Box 83720, Boise, ID 83720-0008 Street address: 2410 North Old Penitentiary Rd., Boise, ID 83712 |