Mobile Digital Art – FiftyThree and Guggenheim bring Digital Art to Classrooms
Creativity isn’t second nature only to a lucky few; we’re all born creative but, over our formative years, it’s slowly trained out of us. This is no doubt why, when asking a second grade class who thinks of themselves as creative, 95% of students will raise their hands. Fast forward to fifth grade and only 50% will, and by high school only 5% of students identify as creative (via).
FiftyThree want to help eradicate this trend, which is why they have teamed up with the Guggenheim Museum to do just that. For the past 44 years, the Guggenheim has sent teaching artists into New York City’s public schools through a wonderful program called Learning Through Art (LTA). By studying not only art, but the artistic process, students are taught to think more creatively. The year-long program targets 4th, 5th, and 6th graders, a developmentally pivotal age when kids typically decide whether they’re “creative” or not.
Understanding technology’s ability to accelerate learning, the Guggenheim introduced FiftyThree’s app Paper and iPad into the LTA program. Under the expert tutelage of teaching artist Jeff Hopkins, students from the 6th grade class at P.S. 86 used Paper alongside traditional art tools. Especially cool is that the resulting work is now on display at the Guggenheim Museum! The exhibition ends June 17th, so be sure to check it out if you’re in the area.
To commemorate this special program, the talented filmmaking duo Michael Tyburski and Eddy Vallante created this short film in collaboration with our team. Enjoy!
Joanne Carter
Joanne Carter is a British photography journalist, editor, curator, and the founder of *TheAppWhisperer.com*, one of the world’s leading platforms dedicated to mobile photography and art. Since its launch in 2009, TheAppWhisperer has become an international hub for artists of all levels to discover, learn, exhibit, and engage with contemporary photographic practice.Built on principles of inclusivity, accessibility, and artistic excellence, Joanne has spent almost two decades championing mobile photography as a serious artistic medium. Through interviews, critical essays, exhibitions, competitions, and education, she has helped shape and document the evolution of mobile art on a global scale.Her work has taken her internationally, lecturing on photography and mobile art at institutions and events including the Museum of Art in Seoul, South Korea, alongside appearances in the UK and Europe. She has served as a juror for international photography and mobile art awards across Portugal, Canada, the United States, South Korea, Italy, and the UK.Joanne is also the founder of *TheAppWhispererPrintSales.com*, one of the first online galleries dedicated exclusively to collectible mobile art, connecting artists with collectors across Europe, the United States, and Asia.Before founding TheAppWhisperer, Joanne worked extensively in print journalism and photographic publishing, including roles at a paparazzi photo agency and as deputy editor of a leading photography magazine. Her freelance journalism, criticism, and commentary have been published widely in both the UK and the US, with bylines in *The Times*, *The Sunday Times*, *The Guardian*, *Popular Photography*, *NikonPro*, *DPReview*, *Which?*, *Vogue Italia*, *LensCulture*, the *BBC*, and more recently, the *Financial Times*, where her published letters on photography continue to contribute to wider conversations around the medium.Alongside her editorial and curatorial work, Joanne’s own photographic practice has been exhibited internationally across the UK, Europe, South Korea, and the United States. Her work increasingly explores themes of grief, loss, death, memory, and the body.Her current research interests centre on grief, death, and poverty, with forthcoming postgraduate study leading towards doctoral research in these areas.Joanne is currently developing new long-form writing and photographic projects and is available for commissions, editorial projects, speaking engagements, and collaborations.Contact: joannetheappwhisperer@gmail.com)
