Teenagers are Talking about the 1999 Carnegie International

Fear of being "wrong" when responding to contemporary art is a barrier to teenagers'appreciation of the art of our times. To turn apprehension into curiosity, Carnegie Museum of Art is collaborating with local middle and high school students and teachers to create a video based on the 1999 Carnegie International—the museum's triennial survey of contemporary art—which opens in November. The teen-focused video is one element in a larger initiative sponsored by The Grable Foundation that will connect students to the influx of creativity from around the world triggered by the 1999 Carnegie International.

To produce the video, the museum has partnered with an advisory team of six students from Pittsburgh's Creative and Performing Arts (CAPA) high school. The students  take their video cameras to area schools and capture their peers' views about contemporary art.  What the kids discover is essential to ensuring that the final product will be accessible to a teenage audience. Footage of International artists discussing their work and interviews with the exhibition's curator, Madeleine Grynsztejn, will be among the video's highlights. The video will be available to all interested teachers as one way of making their own students'visits to the Carnegie International exciting and enriching.

For several months teachers have been preparing for the exhibition's presence in Pittsburgh.  Meeting regularly at the museum, they are developing interdisciplinary pilot projects based on the contemporary art collection to serve as models for interpreting works in the International. The excitement is building as students anticipate e-mailing fellow students in other countries to discover the cultural contexts in which the International artists are working. Watch for a special event next winter when Pittsburghers are invited to experience the International through the creative writings of teenagers.