CoCre8

Smart Museum, Arts + Public Life, Urban Gateways

Teaching Artist 2014+15

CoCre8 is an experimental model of collaborative arts education that brings together a cohort of high school students and educators, artists, and arts administrators to look at, talk about, and make art. Each participant is an equal stakeholder in the process, contributing their unique skills and perspectives to the work of dismantling traditional learning hierarchies and embracing multiple roles as learner, teacher, and maker. Collectively, participants explore the many ways in which art can help us think critically and creatively about our world.

The six-week sessions take place outside of school hours at the Smart Museum of Art, the nearby Arts Incubator in Washington Park, and the Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts.

The CoCre8 project was launched in 2013 by the Smart Museum of Art in collaboration with the University of Chicago’s Arts + Public Life Initiative and Urban Gateways. 

There were 38 participants in 2015. Participating schools were: DuSable Leadership Academy, Hyde Park Academy, University of Chicago Charter School Woodlawn Campus, and King College Prep.