Dear Usdan community,
Time crept back in to dominate my consciousness for two reasons. Usdan was supposed to open its gates this Monday, June 29. Plus, spring ended and summer started with the solstice last Saturday, June 20.
A few hours before the solstice, I recorded a voice memo while walking around the campus. You can listen to it here or read below:
Today is June 20th; it’s about 12:35pm. I think these are the last five hours of spring 2020. And, I think I moved out to Usdan on March 21st, which was the first day of spring, and today is the last day. So, I guess it has been a strange spring - the spring that time shifted and the future got disrupted. So, let’s see what summer holds. I’m curious. I think it could be exciting.
Since 1968, Usdan has been one thing: a youth summer arts day program of a great scale. In summer 2020, this beloved former version of Usdan cannot be. What else can Usdan be?
I am jazzed
about Usdan Online, particularly the range of the new courses, the freedom to explore new pedagogies, and selfishly the Watercolor Painting for Adults course in which I enrolled. Furthermore, I am exhilarated for the opportunity to think differently about how and for whom Usdan fulfills its
mission: to instill in young people the desire and drive to creatively contribute to the world now and for the rest of their lives.
How else do you propose we realize Usdan’s mission? We need your fresh and honest points of view. Let’s embrace these creative constraints to continue making Usdan the place we wish the whole world to be.