1933-1956 Black Mountain was an experiment in 'progressive education theory'. John Dewey believed that Fine Art should be taken from it's role as 'embellishment' and placed squarely in the center of a general curriculum.
Only later it came to be seen as the heart and soul of the avant-garde in America during the 30's. It began as a "non-authoritarian" school in North Carolina from 1933-56 by John Price. Run by Joseph Albers of the Bauhaus School fame. One of the major innovations of this school was the complete mixing of fields. There were many meetings of artists, writers, composers, playrights, and in the case of Fuller, engineers.
One of the group projects was the assembling of geodesic domes to his specifications.
Music was a introduced as a staple of the curriculum.
Attracted experimental artists from many disciplines:
and many others.
The official publication of the school was the Black Mountain Review which was edited by Robert Creeley for a time.
Related nodes:
Source:
Duberman, Martin. "Black Mountain: An Exploration in Community", W.W.Norton, 1993
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Last updated 05.01.04