MAIL ART & ART PEDAGOGICS ?

[Mikula Lüllwitz]

Dear Mail Art Family,

does anyone of you out there know of any projects or literature dealing with the connection of MAIL ART and ART PEDAGOGICS ? Maybe there are pedagogues who read these lines... and maybe someone of you already brought MAIL ART into the class room and to younger people ?

as becoming an art teacher, i would like to write my master thesis about my most beloved field of art: MAIL ART ! therefore i search for academic and proven information about the alliance of MAIL ART and ART PEDAGOGICS and it´s importance !!!

thanks a lot for your help !

best wishes from german countryside,

mikula.

[Ruud Janssen]

In 1985 (then as a teacher) I did a mail-art workshop with children (age 15-16) who learned about mail-art and had to create a mail-art piece and could actually send out their mail. I offered them to teally send out the enveloppes, to some mail-art connections I knew ans also to the presidents of USA and USSR.  One child sent out their enveloppe to Mr. Reagen (then president) and she actually got a thank you note from the white house.

The project was educational. They learned to reach out into the world.

In those days there was no Internet yet for 'the public'

[Heleen de Vaan]

There are several mail artists who have done mail art projects / workshops for school kids (including me, but that was on a very low base, and not all published on the internet ). And there are many, smaller and larger, mail (art) projects for school kids all-over the world.

Among them this project, years ago in your neighbouring country:
http://www.vansebroeck.be/fierens-mailart/KIDSPROJECTS/Artikelen/20...

Andy Hoang, mail artist, teacher and IUOMA member has facilitated the connection between mail art and school.kids some years ago, among others by a website about 'school saps'. Maybe you could ask him for further information?


As far as I know there are a few scientific studies on mail art, but I didn't see studies on the combination of mail art and pedagogics so far. Of course mail art is broader than 'normal' art and art pedagogics, due to the possibility, and even aim, to connect internationally and to have postal services participate in the making of art.

[De Villo Sloan]

I encounter people doing mail art in education at all levels. We've had people doing doctoral research. Many people are working with kids or doing mail art workshops in their communities. I get m-a on a fairly regular basis from college art students who are doing m-a as part of a course they are taking.

I think you need to be more specific about age groups and kinds of institutions.

IUOMA has a mail art book group. There is a fair amount of research on m-a. Chuck Welch (CrackerJack Kid) has a good book from a university press that is solid in terms of scholarship, IMHO.

That said, there are some strong anti-academic feelings among mail artists - that this is something that should stay outside of institutions and scholarship. So you should consider that too.

Good luck. The educators are definitely here. You just have to connect with them.

[Katerina Nikoltsou (MomKat)]

Also, check "Events" , here is our announcement in 2009:

INTERNATIONAL MAIL ART 2009 GREECE

and with university students making mail art at that 2009 exhibit/workshop:

[Katerina Nikoltsou (MomKat)]

Here's the blog of a most recent event:

Documentation from Germany's School/Stamp projects

[Katerina Nikoltsou (MomKat)]

Welcome to UOMA, Mikula, best of success with your thesis!

You may go to the top of the page here and "search" for mail art and schools,etc.,

there have been several events and exhibits in the past.

I am a retired professor of art ed from the Pedagoical School of Aristotle University in Greece

and we held a mail art workshop and exhibit back in 2009

see the blogs about German and Netherland schools, too:

MAIL ART 2009 GREECE

Documentation from Germany's School/Stamp projects

Mail Art Calls from Minden,Germany, via three countries Oct2014

Schools in Germany have mail art projects

Kids mail art from the Netherlands