Presenter - Marcia Cohen

Marcia Cohen, Visual Artist and Educator
Afternoon Breakout Session

Location, Location, Location! Having a Feel for the Locale Color

My presentation describes the projects of students in "Color Theory and Application", an introductory course in the first-year program at SCAD Atlanta (Savannah College of Art and Design). This illustrated presentation serves as a visual record tracing the evolution of a color analysis exercise using notable architecture in Atlanta, Georgia. The focal point of the project was to identify a color palette while creating a site-specific study of the surrounding architecture and to collect physical materials along with researching the history of each location. Students developed a “color story” complete with physical color samples and collected ephemera from the site. Emphasis was placed on the task of creating a well-designed color presentation board including a self-contained “shadow-box” framed device for the display of the collections of colored samples. The project culminated in an exhibition on campus. Historical cities were often designed with a sense of order and sensitivity to perceptual patterning. The use of color was also an important element in shaping urban plans as color plays a role in the expression of the locale; as does the ambient light and architectonic form. Color is a signifier of the elemental and collecting the geographical samples on location creates an indigenous palette with surprising results. In this project students focused on local coloration, the physical materials surrounding the site, the architecture styles and the historical relevance of each building for the city of Atlanta. In addition, students developed innovative methods for collecting color ephemera, sketching, color matching and photo documentation.

Bio

Marcia R. Cohen, visual artist and educator, received a BFA from Wayne State University in Detroit Michigan and an MA from the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque. Her artwork and scholarship examines the intersection between color, nature and culture. Cohen maintains an active exhibition record and has lectured at national and international conferences dedicated to the interdisciplinary dimension of color. Awarded a 2019 artist residency at the Josef and Anni Albers Foundation she has been awarded residencies in Iceland, the Azores Archipelago and Santa Fe, New Mexico. Cohen received the 2008 Museum of Contemporary Art of Georgia Working Artist Project, a Fulbright Hays Fellowship to Morocco and Tunisia in 2011, a 2012 American Academy in Rome Affiliated Fellowship and a 2019-2020 Research Fellowship from Duke University Department of Jewish Studies. Marcia Cohen is a Professor Emerita from SCAD Atlanta and the Atlanta College of Art.