Daily Danai

Art & Design Education

How to create an Inclusive Classroom

Last year I encountered challenges in creating a safe environment for students. When people feel unsafe in a conversation there are two paths: silence or violence. Silence can be used as a means to avoid potential situations by withdrawing (by any means) from the conversation. Violence is when verbal strategies are used in an attempt […]

Continue Reading

KAOS masterclass

“the goal of education is not to let students ‘fit’ in the future, but to offer them a structure by which they can shape that future”. KAOS pilots Last week I attended a 3 day masterclass hosted by the KAOSpilots. The goal of the masterclass is to design a ‘course on pedagogy’ for experienced teachers […]

Continue Reading

Authentic Relationships

Yesterday I had the pleasure of giving an introduction for teachers of the Willem de Kooning Academy during the opening of the ‘Drive & Development Week’. The event was organized by the Education Station. Our goal was to stimulate the exchange of ideas between teachers beyond the boundaries of disciplines or departments. The topic of […]

Continue Reading

Gap between Academy and Work

Last month I had the pleasure of contributing to an interview for Dude, Dutch Designers Magazine #1 2018, which is out now. The article was about the transition from art academy into the professional design practice. It argues that a smooth transition is rarely the case for many students. There are questions if design design […]

Continue Reading

How to Quit Homework

Last Friday I made a visit to Gorssel where our 2nd year WdKA illustration students were spending some days to draw and paint outside, visit musea like Kroller Moller Park. Our goal of the fieldtrip is to strengthen the bond between students and stimulate informal learning. We chose for an isolated location to be away […]

Continue Reading

2018 Personal Change

“Sad Satan 2018” The sculpture above was a gift made by Han Hoogerbrugge. He gave it to me for my new job at the WdKA. The title is “Sad Satan’ and it has two holes in his head; where his horns used to be. Since January 2018 my position at the WdKA has changed from […]

Continue Reading

Zine-Camp invitation

Rejoice! My Hands are Dirty! I am excited to announce that this Sunday the 11th of November I will present my own freshly printed zines during Zine-camp at Worm in Rotterdam. I am looking forward to show what more than ’10 years of academic studies’ can amount to. The event is exclusive, because my zines […]

Continue Reading

Professor in Illustration

Yesterday I visited the symposium and departure lecture of profession dr. Saskia de Bodt. Over the last 9 years she has been the Dutch ‘special professor in Illustration’ at the University of Amsterdam. This position was supported by the Fiep Westendorp Foundation.  She wrote several publications among which: From Poe tot Pooh; illustration to pay […]

Continue Reading

Deep Dark Questions

Published at: link How to explain your artistic vision during art education assessments Introduction With the implementation of ‘competency assessments’ at the Willem de Kooning Academy (WdKA), students are faced with a new form of evaluation in which they must demonstrate within the setting of a formal portfolio, presentation and dialogue (assessment) that they have […]

Continue Reading

What can Possibly go Wrong?

this is a rough first text on the subject of failing on personal student projects. Any feedback is welcome. “How students can fail in personal projects at the WdKA” Before the summer holidays it’s ‘project assessment time’. When it comes to independent student projects it can be difficult to understand for students why they failed. […]

Continue Reading

Will Instagram Render the Art Academy Obsolete?

I have some rough thoughts about this question. The question belongs to one of my illustration students. I think it’s a relevant question because many illustrators promote the use of Instagram. I hope to further elaborate on my thoughts later. Instagram is a social networking application.  It allows you to share photos or videos within […]

Continue Reading