{"id":2289,"date":"2011-05-04T20:51:40","date_gmt":"2011-05-04T20:51:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/?p=2289"},"modified":"2018-12-05T14:06:09","modified_gmt":"2018-12-05T20:06:09","slug":"beth-krensky","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/beth-krensky\/","title":{"rendered":"Beth Krensky"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Beth Krensky in her studio. Photo by Zoe Rodriguez<\/p><\/div>\n

Beth Krensky has been creating art ever since she could walk. Her work as a child was performative \u2013 creating footprint circles in the mud, or walking the line between the waves of the ocean and the sand. Little did she know that she would always be at home in this in-between space. Her work defies traditional categorization. Is she an artist, educator, scholar, activist or ethnographer? \u201cNo one knows where to put me, so I get to sort of dance in that in-between space. . . . It\u2019s so comfortable for me to be in that indefinable space,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

As a child, Krensky would \u201cpaint for hours and hours.\u201d Although she displayed great skill as a painter, she continued to create three-dimensional work. She remembers her time as a four year old, finding beauty where no one else did. She would combine items discarded by others to create small sculptures. She would also collect objects from the natural world, finding ways to organize these collections into larger compositions. Krensky benefitted from public reinforcement of her efforts. \u201cA friend of ours took all of my art and made their entire basement a gallery of my work. So, as a little girl, I got to look at my artwork up on the walls. I still hold that person very dear because of that. They really validated my art.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Krensky has orchestrated her early enthusiasm for art with a commitment to education and activism. After Krensky received her art training at the Boston Museum School, she pursued a master\u2019s degree with a focus on critical pedagogy and art education from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and her formal education culminated with a Ph.D. in Education from the University of Colorado at Boulder. That training is enriched by years of nonprofit work. She freely shares her knowledge with others, both in the classroom as well as other forms, like her book,\u00a0Engaging Classrooms and Communities through Art: A Guide to Designing and Implementing Community-Based Art Education<\/em>, co-authored with Seana Lowe Steffen. This is a step-by-step guide to implementing successful art projects in communities. One step instructs readers to include a celebratory conclusion to the project, where neighbors, families, and friends can come together to view the art created by these communities. Krensky is ensuring that young people have a similar experience as she did \u2013 seeing their work displayed and \u201chonored in an audience environment.\u201d Her initiative as an educator has positively impacted countless youth, touched in one way or another by her influence. Some have had the pleasure of taking classes from her directly, while others are taught by teachers she has trained. Students of hers at the University of Utah are inspired and motivated by her commitment to engaging youth through the medium of art. Many of them go on to lead community art classes of their own in neighborhoods all over the country.<\/p>\n

In 1991, Krensky became frustrated that the voices of children were not represented in legislation directly impacting their lives. While others may simply complain about or ignore such a problem, Krensky took action. She co-founded the nonprofit Project YES (Youth Envisioning Social change) with Carole Macneil. This organization engages youth in grassroots action, trains future leaders, and utilizes art as a vehicle for social change. Project YES has thrived, and continues to serve over 1,000 youth annually. Krensky is a constant advocate for youth, speaking frequently of their potential to positively impact their communities. \u201cIn particular, I am very interested in children\u2014what happens to them, what is possible for them, and what our responsibility, as adults, is for them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even though she is no longer directly involved in nonprofit administration, Krensky’s work as an artist and educator still focuses on, as she describes it, \u201cunheard stories about children, families, and people crossing divides \u2013 those that are not part of the dominant discourse.\u201d Krensky defies traditional boundaries, seeing them as meeting grounds, not as inseparable divisions. Her art highlights elements common to the human condition, not the differences between its individual members. Many of her pieces comment on the untold stories of children from war zones, women in oppressive cultures, and those who have been marginalized by the policies of the powerful. Because of this thoughtful attention to the plight of others, her art resonates with individuals from a variety of cultures. She exhibits all over the world, and observes that even when language barriers exist, people can still understand the very deep meaning behind her pieces.<\/p>\n