On May 23, Arts for Colorado had the distinct pleasure of hosting Dr. Steven Tepper’s “Bigger than Me” lecture at the Center for Visual Art at Metro State University Denver on Santa Fe on the intersection of art and the economy, and history of how we teach the arts. Dr. Tepper is the Dean of the Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts at Arizona State University.
“Two defining experiences have long informed Tepper’s work.After drawing a still life during a high school arts class, Tepper felt confident with his technical prowess, but noticed his boot, vase, and book looked far different than those of his classmates. “I’m not an artist; I’m not drawing weird things,” Tepper recalls thinking at the time. “A seed of doubt was planted.”
He entered college still considering a career in the arts where he encountered a professor who didn’t believe in grading art. Instead, he gave every student a ‘C’ grade, believing real artists shouldn’t care about grades.”That,” says Tepper, “was the last art class I ever took.”
Tepper believes that art and design more »