EXTRA CREDIT is a new education series that aims to provide a general overview of contemporary art and to demystify the field for those outside of the art world. It is ideal for anyone interested in learning more and for those looking to further engage with exhibitions and museums. Classes will take place on Sundays at 12PM from June 4 through July 30.

Robert Blackson and Kelli Morgan present What Isn’t Contemporary Art: A Class to Consider the Limits of Our Time on Sunday, June 4. Curators Blackson and Morgan begin this introductory class by exploring multiple definitions of contemporary art. What is it? When did it start? Who is it for? In our culture that can often feel stuck in the immediate present, Blackson and Morgan will explore generative examples of art that “unsticks” us from our contemporary understandings of society to allow for poetic and practical ways of becoming ourselves into the future. The core of this class is built around a respect for exchange and dialogue. Please come willing to share your experiences and expectations for what contemporary art has been and should become.

This event is free and open to the public; register here.

ROBERT BLACKSON has been the Director of Temple Contemporary at Temple University’s Tyler School of Art since 2011. Prior to moving to Philadelphia, Blackson was Curator of Public Programs at Nottingham Contemporary, and curator of BALTIC Center for Contemporary Art, Newcastle/Gateshead, UK. He has curated exhibitions with numerous artists including Sarah Sze, Shahryar Nashat, Matt Stokes, Jimmie Durham (co-curated with Candice Hopkins), Minerva Cuevas, Christoph Büchel, Brian Chippendale, Julianne Swartz, Anthony McCall, Harry Smith, and Big Chief of the Yellow Pocahontas Mardi Gras Indian Tribe, Darryl Montana. Blackson has contributed to a variety of catalogues and publications, including Art Journal, Cabinet, and Labyrinth, and he has lectured internationally on issues related to contemporary art practice. In 2012 he was named an Andy Warhol Curatorial Fellow. Blackson’s most recent curatorial projects include Symphony for a Broken Orchestra (2016/2017), reForm (2015/2016), and Funeral for a Home (2014).

KELLI MORGAN is a scholar, curator, author, lecturer, and teacher. Originally from Detroit, MI, she earned an M.A. in African American Studies in 2013 and received a B.A. in African American Studies and a graduate certificate in Public History-Museum Studies this spring from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. As a critical race cultural historian, Morgan specializes in American art and visual culture. Her work examines, critiques, and theorizes the ways in which American artists, art history, and art objects both challenge and reify the systematic mechanisms of anti-Black violence and oppression in the United States. She is the recipient of awards from the Ford Foundation and the Mellon Foundation, and was recently named the first recipient of The Winston & Carolyn Lowe Curatorial Fellowship for Diversity in the Fine Arts at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts.

Extra Credit is funded by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.