Central Asia Institute is the creation of Greg Mortenson, which began working in Pakistan in 1993 to promote rural education and literacy, especially for females along with teacher training, establishing libraries and temporary education in regions of natural disater or crisis. To date the Central Asia Institute has created 131 schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan, all in rural remote regions that had little or no educational opportunities for the children.

Cenreal Asia Institute
P.O. Box 7209  Bozeman, Mt  59771
406-585-7841
info@ikat.org

LATEST NEW YORK TIMES ARTICLE
July 17, 2010
PREVIOUS NEW YORK TIMES ARTICLE
December 9, 2009

I believe in the potential of imagination, creativity, community and culture. As a dedicated professional artist, business owner and educator I have enjoyed the energy and creative environment of Pioneer Square for many decades and as a member of the creative community, I have shared my artistic experience to inform, encourage and ennoble that environment.

I have been a professional fine artist since 1978, having lived and created in Pioneer Square for 31 years. As a visual artist I have created within the disciplines of painting, sculpture, ceramics, printmaking, textiles, installation, performance and music. I have also worked extensively in digital graphics, photography, audio, video and 3d. I have displayed my artworks in group and solo gallery and museum exhibitions.

I have worked in areas that would be considered cutting edge and avant-garde. For five years beginning in 1997, I worked with digital technology in the field of Music Visualization. The compositions I created were performed in venues, including MOMA, MTV, 25th Annual Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Awards, California Music Awards and MacWorld NY and San Francisco. It was groundbreaking, difficult and very interesting. A time I thoroughly enjoyed. But I would like to present another aspect of my career that I feel is deeper in value and more far reaching.

In 1972 I began teaching ceramics at the college level for one year. It was the first time I had instructed and I noticed the results in my students and myself. After receiving my BFA in painting and establishing a working studio while developing my creative skills, I returned to teaching in 1983. I am proud that my creativity has been exhibited in galleries, museums and public events but the energy seemed somewhat static. On a museum wall and also in extended performance, the art, a completed object or effect, has an emotional and intellectual exchange that lasts for a short time. Through teaching, I found a much richer dynamic. I had developed knowledge that I could apply, demonstrate and share, within a dynamic of many individuals with a desire to focus, study and practice. Rather than just exhibiting my knowledge, I could share the potential it contained and see the results in others. I gained new understanding of myself, communication and human nature.

I have taught drawing, painting, ceramics, photography and digital audio and video to students who are eager to grasp fundamentals, engage in the media and practice to create a signature style. I believe that stimulating the imagination forms an attitude of curiosity and wonder that promotes a desire to understand, helping the individual to becomes more involved and informed, with a new broader imaginative language of personal experience, that strengthens the individual and is passed on to the family and community. The power to shape community as well as individuals.

Since 2004 I have instructed elementary level public school students in after-school programs that provide experience in drawing, painting and ceramics. Because so many public schools have no classes dedicated to these areas of the arts, these students ages 5 to 10, who are such talented visual thinkers, need a space where they can grow through creative experience with support and encouragement.

The classes of the passed two years emphasize the discovery of creative solutions and learning teamwork. That clay is their medium and that they are artists and the two long tables where they create is their studio. They have responsibility for it. I demonstrate foundation forming, the use of tools and give leadership positions and promote sharing their knowledge and experience with new and younger members. From taking attendance, making sure everyone has clay and tools and for the studio clean-up, these young scholars make their studio and I am sure in the future, their community, function well.

Each year, as I have developed my fine art skills, I develop my mentoring skills to understand the dynamics of how to bring forth cooperation, respect, creativity and depth of thinking within a group of unique individuals. I have seen what important changes can occur through a hands on arts education. Experience in visual arts, music and theatre help students increase their academic achievements in reading, math and science. These young scholars need to use all of their senses to develop their fullest capabilities.

Sharing the creative experience began early on. My studio, in the 619 Western Avenue Building on the 5th floor along with the hallway Goldshoe Gallery has given access to the public each month for more than 20 years. I have hosted individuals, families, students, artists, collectors and journalists for approximately 250 evenings during ArtWalk. As well as private events and international guests hosted through the World Affairs Council. These evenings have enabled individuals to understand the creative workspace, view artworks, engage in sharing ideas and inspired conversation that stimulates change in themselves and the world around them.

I am very thankful for my education and knowledge. I can share its energy and see how it enables growth and understanding. But what if I had never learned to read? Then I would not know how to write also. This would be an extreme limitation. I would not be where I am.

In this year, 2010, I have joined in supporting the Central Asia Institute in their efforts to further the educational possibilities for students in Pakistan and Afghanistan by building schools with local participation in remote rural areas of Afghanistan and Pakistan. The building of schools, where there were none before, has resulted in substantial long lasting improvements for these communities. I believe that books, notebooks and pencils can be profound tools for social and economic progress.

During each Artwalk evening, while enjoying the arts, individuals can learn more about education, students, teachers and schools and help to support local efforts in their communities and the creative work of the Central Asia Institute. By contributing to an educational effort on the other side of the world I hope that each individual takes a moment to acknowledge the value of their own education and knowledge and support the idea that even in the poorest school districts, having access to basic education and the Arts is an important investment for the creation of a more evolved and creative community and world.

LATEST NEW YORK TIMES ARTICLE
July 17, 2010
PREVIOUS NEW YORK TIMES ARTICLE 
December 9, 2009