Olivia Gude: Who knows who Heather McAdams is? Anybody?

M2: She's a cartoonist.

Olivia Gude: Yes. She's a cartoonist. She also does experimental film. She develops cartoons in the Reader that are kind of wacky, autobiographical cartoons. So we each did projects with the teachers, based kind of on our work. We thought it might make more sense to do the school. For instance, teaching kids through autobiographical cartooning really becomes a way to talk about their lives. Really, beyond that, to the context of their lives. The project that I did really was working with mostly middle-school and high school kids. With those kids, doing projects that are about their sense of what happened to them while they were in grade school. It's taking a look at who you are has to do with these experiences that you've had. It raised the issue for the high school art classes of, "How much discursive space has a teacher created for people to really talk about issues in their lives?" By kids reflecting on what happened to them when they were in school when they were much younger. That's an example of the kind of work we do. The final part of the project was dealt with in a symposium at the NCA, with something like 125 teachers. The main core of the work that took place in that semester was the project of teachers making all this artwork. Then the teachers were in subgroups or affinity groups with other teachers and the artists, each designed their own projects. There was some money in the grant to help pay for supplies. Then they taught the project to the school. Then they showed it at Gallery 400 at the University of Illinois at Chicago. The final part of the project was one of these things that I'm sure you guys will know what I'm talking about. One night it's late and you're writing a grant. You go, "Okay. Follow up show at Gallery 400." Then you write, "And a website!"

[laughter]

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