Random picture that keeps making me laugh. I don't know the source or where it came from. 

Website Reviews for the week:

CAPE: Really boring looking website that looks as though it was made from a standard template. However, there are lots of cool resources hidden in it. There's a section devoted to Art Assessment that I'd like to spend more time looking through. There are lots of arts integration resources, articles, books that the site points out that are intriguing me. 

Ingenuity, Inc: Better design, Chicago flag colored theme. I'm really enjoying the ArtLook section. I'm able to check out how many certified art educators are at each school and the partnerships of schools throughout CPS (places like the Lyric Opera, etc.). SAIC is even listed with its partnerships with schools. 

Civil Disobedience

I'm fascinated by bemboszoo.com. Maybe it's my love for typography, but this website is playful, engaging and mesmerizing.

AREA Chicago: http://www.Areachicago.org: Simple design with easy navigation. I appreciate that the website clearly states what it is about on the homepage on the upper right hand side. Very user friendly.

Stockyard Institute: http://stockyardinstitute.org: This website is more design savvy than AREA Chicago. It also seems to have more substance to it. Its organized well, engaging, and has accessible social media links.

Museum 2.0 Blog: museumtwo.blogspot.com: Museum 2.0 is visually unexciting. Its title image is poorly designed and somewhat cheesy. It has interesting content with poor design narrative qualities. Also, for a website that discusses art there are minimal images used.

Took a break from endless homework this weekend for a delicious dim sum excursion and a Terrarium Workshop at the Chicago Cultural Center's Prairie Exhibition.

This exhibit (which can be seen behind the terrarium) fuses art and technology to mimic the sounds of the prairie, i.e. my backyard during summertime. The installation consists of tiny motors attached to rods which protrude from a rather expansive metal grid. They rotate, shake, and mimic cricket sounds at a variety of different speeds and intervals.

Seems to me that it would be best described as a robot prairie.

Website Reviews

This week we looked at the Museum of Contemporary Art website and The Art Teacher's Guide to the Internet.

The MCA website has a clean layout and is very easy to navigate. On the main page, the hours are listed on the left side along with a calendar displaying the date as well as events that are occurring today. There is a slideshow of what is currently going on, as well as thumbnails of current and future happenings. It is user-friendly and simple.

The Art Teacher's Guide "Lies at the crossroads of art, technology and pedagogy" and is rather underwhelming. The blog has a layout similar to that of the MCA; dates on the left side, menu bar at the top, white background with lines separating the body from the menu. Though relatively easy to navigate, it is visually lacking.

Maybe I'm biased, but the MCA seemed like a more engaging and interesting website. There seems to be a lot more to look at.