Art & Emergence Learning Cooperative

10-week small group learning experience centering individual and collective growth
through a focus on ecological art, social practice, and art activism theory
Cohort III: June - August 2025
applications will open March 14 and are due by April 15, 2025
About The Learning Experience
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The Art & Emergence Learning Cooperative is a 10-week small group learning experience for working artists seeking to deepen their practice, grow collectively, and broaden their radical imagination of the future.
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The cooperative will run for 10 weeks (June - August 2025)
The syllabus is tailored to serve the practices of the cohort. The program will explore the confluence of ecological art, social practice, and art activism, through:
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weekly readings (ex: excerpts from Emergent Strategy by adrienne maree brown, Plastic Capitalism by Amanda Boetzkes, Arts of Living on a Damaged Planet)
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weekly group meetings (discussions & critiques)
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bi-weekly individual studio visits (5 per artist)
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bi-weekly visiting artist talks (5 total)
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This learning experience will prioritize meaningful connections and community: it will be made up of 3-5 artists, selected based on the strength of their work as well as their potential to grow with and from each other. The meeting schedule will be based on the schedule needs of the selected artists.
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Please join my newsletter for updates on this program.​
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Bird's Teaching Background
I am an artist, curator, and educator who prioritizes caretaking and connection. My work explores the throughlines between history and ecological crises, engaging with communities, scientists, and site-specific materials to investigate land memory, systems of complicity, and possibilities for emergence.
I've served as middle school teacher, instructional coach, principal of a turnaround school in New Orleans, and director of social studies, supporting school leaders across the South to implement equitable learning practices and anti-racist history education. Currently, I'm teaching undergraduate studio art at Georgia State University and doing freelance consulting for organizations across the U.S, specializing in adult learning, equity, and organizational systems. I received my B.S. in art history from Skidmore College and master’s degree in education leadership from Columbia University.
Recent facilitations:​​
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Observing and Imagining the Health of the Santa Cruz Watershed, University of Arizona School of Art, Nov 2024
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Grateful Gathering: Foraging for Wild Ink Materials on the Atlanta BeltLine Westside Trail (with Maria Soto), Atlanta, GA June 2024
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The Way of Water: Exploring Local Ecosystems (with Renee Royale), Virtual Workshop, April 2024
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Creative Visioning In Community: Authentically Expanding Your Support Network, Emory University and North carolina, 2023
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Working With Site-Specific Earth Pigments, New York City, Rhode Island, New Oeleans, North Carolina, and virtual, 2023
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Finding Grounding: Nature Connection + Art Learning Experience (with Lilia Kapsali Grant), Baton Rouge, LA, Fall 2023
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Atlanta Land Memory Project: Exploring Personal, Scientific, and Historical Layers of Place, Atlanta, GA, Spring 2023
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Art & Emergence Learning Cooperative, Cohort I, virtual, Winter/Spring 2024
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Teaching Philosophy
Excellent teaching can be a form of social practice, create experiences that shift people’s perspectives. I'm interested in using creative processes to interrogate issues of inequity and imagine alternative ways of being through education and relationships. Teaching is based on relational accountability. Through a balance of challenge, support, and trust, education can be transformative, liberating, and expansive.
Cohort I: Winter/Spring 2024
Cohort II: Fall 2024

Cohort III of the Art & Emergence Learning Collaborative
applications will open in Spring 2025
applications now closed
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SLIDING SCALE
Tier 3 $2,000
Tier 2 $1,250
Tier 1 $500
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1/3 of cost due upon selection
1/3 due at the end of the first whole month
1/3 due at the end of the second month