K-12 Teacher Professional Development Workshop with José Betancourt, 19th Century Camera-less Photography
Friday, February 28, 2025, from 8:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m.
Email Mandy Durham, Museum Academy Assistant at mdurham@hsvmuseum.org to sign-up!
José Betancourt, Professor of Art and Photography at the University of Alabama in Huntsville, will lead us through a workshop focused on the Photographic Blueprint, or the Cyanotype.
Brought to the attention of photographers in 1842 by British scientist Sir John Herschel, the Cyanotype was not really used expansively until the late part of the 19th century for actual construction blueprints and photo postcards. Today it is used as an alternative photographic technique which does not require a camera. Sometimes you see the term Sun Prints because the exposure of the chemicals is through ultraviolet light and the sun is the best source.
19th Century Camera-less Photography Teacher Professional Development Workshop will assist teachers in aiding students to develop critical thinking skills and in the understanding of the creative process. Betancourt will introduce ways of printing alternative photographic techniques. Teachers will learn ways to enhance their visual arts classroom curricula. Each participant will complete a finished work of art.
Betancourt has been working with the Cyanotype process for over 30 years and continues to show his own work and his collaborations with New York artist Susan Weil. Their Blueprints series has been exhibited and collected internationally with the Sundaram Tagore Gallery in New York City and the Rudiger Schöttle Gallery in Munich, Germany.
The workshop is presented in conjunction with the Visual Arts Achievement Program (February 23), Congressional Art Competition, Youth Art Month and Juried Art Teachers’ Biennial (February 23-27) exhibitions.
The Workshop will be held on Friday, February 28, 2025 from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. in the Huntsville Museum of Art’s Museum Academy studios. There is no fee for this workshop. Space is limited. Register Early! A workshop confirmation letter will be sent to you via email upon receipt of your registration. Lunch will be on your own! Area school systems have been notified regarding this teacher professional development workshop.
Parking: Guest parking will still be free but will require validation. Follow the instructions via the signs in the parking lot and enter the validation code from the Education/Academy staff in the Academy studios upon arrival.
Sponsored by Huntsville Museum of Art, Alabama State Council on the Arts (ASCA), Alabama Arts Alliance (AAA) & Huntsville-Madison County Art Education Association (HMCAEA)
Photos courtesy of the artist.