EDUCATION AND LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS | Print
The Corcoran’s Youth and Family
The Corcoran Gallery of Art’s Youth and Family newsletter and program guide is a sister publication Corcoran’s Night and Day. Produced twice a year, the publication mails to a sub-set of the University’s and Gallery’s mailing list. The guide highlights museums and educational programming for children and families that wish to learn about art in the unique setting of a college and museum of art. The program appeals to diverse audiences from children to young adults and highlights various had offerings, including family days, youth classes, summer art camps, and pre-college classes.
For the inaugural launch of the publication, we commissioned a new mascot—Project Wilson. Four candidates entered the race: a griffin based on the Corcoran’s architectural ornamentation; a bear and a buffalo, based on two Bierstadt paintings from the collection; and a lion that referenced two bronzes sculptures flanking the museum’s front entrance. Project Wilson—the mascot voting and election process—was timed to coincide with the 2008 US Presidential election. Named after the Corcoran founding father—William Wilson Corcoran—Wilson the Lion appeared in the premiere Youth and Family publication released in mid-January, published with his inaugural address and a cheeky homage to Andy Warhol on the cover.
This publication further strengthened ties between the museum and the college, particularly the Departments of Continuing Education and Public Programs. Long term-planning among the departments helped build stronger ties to the permanent collection and travelling exhibitions.
PHOTO (above): Denny Henry
Illustration by Tad Carpenter
Award
University & College Designers Association Annual Design Awards
Award of Excellence • 2009
▲ Figure 1/9: Printer twice a year—as the publication title implies—focuses on the public programming and continuing education for ‘youth and families.’
▲ Figure 2/9: After a Fall 2008 election—Project Wilson—a new mascot was identified. The Spring/Summer 2009 publication includes Wilson's acceptance speech.
▲ Figure 3/9: The publication is divided into three categories: Youth, Family, and Young Adult.
▲ Figure 4/9: Family programs typically focussed on weekends, aimed at connecting young minds with the permanent and temporary collection.
▲ Figure 5/9: Young adult courses often tied to a temporary exhibition. The Department of Continuing Education often offered courses to help students prepare for a career in the arts.
▲ Figure 6/9: Summer camp played a large role in the Corcoran's outreach to various communities.
▲ Figure 7/9: Design for summer camp pages, required tight alignment with our copy editors to fit large volumes of text in confining page counts.
▲ Figure 8/9: Overall, from layout to copyfitting, this was an exercise in achieving clarity for an content-rich document.
▲ Figure 9/9: The masthead references the Corcoran’s ‘Night and Day’ publication (top). The Corcoran’s typefaces included Minion and Gotham—this 4 colour publication employs Gotham Rounded, and overprinting CMYK inks (middle). The spotlight on a feature artist or theme includes a ‘fun facts’ section.
The Corcoran Gallery of Art
The Corcoran College of Art + Design
Washington, DC, USA
The Coran Gallery of Art Youth and Family magazine
Firm of Record
Corcoran Gallery of Art—office of Design
Washington, DC
Project Lead
John deWolf (creative director and design)
Public Programs
Sarah Durkee (Director of Public Education), Michelle Clair (Manager of Public Programs), Erin Higgins (Program Coordinator), Caroline Conway (Program Coordinator), Laura Pasquini (Director of Youth and Family Programs), Marika Shannon (Coordinator of Youth Programs, Melissa Green (Coordinator of Community Programs), Linda Powell (Head of Interpretation), Joanna anderson (Coordinator of Student and Educator Programs), Megan Sayre (Registrar),
Continuing Education
Doris Ostrander (Director of Continuing Education), Katie Omberg (Continuing Education Advisor).
Marketing and Communications
Sara Beth Walsh, Jessica Semler (editors)
Consultant
Tad Carpenter, illustration
Time-Frame
2009