When the shelter-in-place went into effect, I had a bunch of pre-cut construction paper squares that were just about to hit the classrooms. I was also having discussions with friends and colleagues about domesticity, locality, ways of delivering lesson plans for our students, and ways to bring people into contact with contemporary art in our neighborhoods. 

This project is meant to teach young people about how contemporary painting has conversations with the past. It’s like playing a visual game: one artist makes an artwork, then a very enthusiastic fan of that painting makes one in response to the first. And it goes on forever. In the past, I’ve asked my students to search for a contemporary painter they feel they can “speak back to.” I chose to look at the work of Brice Marden and decided he would be the perfect artist to riff off in my front window.