We are excited to announce some significant Southland Institute developments taking place this fall and beyond. As you are likely already aware, the Southland Institute is dedicated to exploring, identifying, and implementing meaningful, accessible, sustainable alternatives to higher education in art and design in the United States.

While many of the Southland Institute's activities up to this point have been focused on exploration and identification, these newest developments are in the realm of implementation -- concrete offerings at both the postgraduate and the foundational level.

postgraduate: stone soup
At the postgraduate level, the Southland Institute is partnering with stone soup, a context for inquiry-motivated, discursive engagement among individuals involved in the production of visual culture in Los Angeles. Stone soup with the Southland Institute intend to function as a pedagogical supplement to, and continuation of, practices formed by and informed through educational experience.

Coordinated by Adam Feldmeth, and active for the last half-decade, stone soup is a bi-weekly discussion group, whose conversations are prompted by work as process, a current or upcoming exhibition, a text, a film, a thought experiment, an observation, a question. The format is one presentation per discussion, which will determine its own duration. Each presenter is responsible for determining the location of discussion. Stone soup discussions are free and open to anyone who wishes to participate. Regular attendance is encouraged.

A more in-depth description of the group, the conditions of its founding, and logistics for participation can be found at www.southland.institute/stonesoup.html

foundation: LACC Graphic Design Studio 1, 2, and 3
The second development is at the foundation level. An ongoing project of the Southland Institute over the past few years has been the exploration and identification of courses offered at Southland area community colleges, an institutional framework that is very low cost, often free, and open to all. We have been working to identify courses that are simultaneously rigorous and accessible, that operate on several registers, functioning as catalysts for growth and development for students from an extremely broad range of socio-economic, cultural, and developmental backgrounds. A selection of such courses have already been identified in photography, painting, drawing, building construction, and film-making. To this collection of high quality, publicly available courses, we are pleased to add the Southland Institute's take on a foundational sequence in graphic design and typography through the Visual and Media Arts department at Los Angeles City College.

This sequence of three courses is a series of workshops looking at some of the foundational principles of graphic design and typography and how they can be applied to real-world jobs and commissions as well as self-directed projects and practices.

Combining design education approaches from both academic and practical perspectives, the aim of these courses is to introduce and build competence and confidence with tools and ideas of graphic design that can be applied to a wide range of applications and outcomes. These courses are intended to provide a strong foundation upon which a professional as well as artistic practice can be built, and that can also prepare participants for successful transfer to a 4 year college, art school, or university for further study.

There will be a strong focus in all three courses on concept, revision, and inventive form-making.

The sequence of courses builds in complexity, and are as follows:
→ GD Studio 1: Intro Typography Workshop
→ GD Studio 2: Graphic Form and Research Workshop
→ GD Studio 3: Real Projects Studio

More information about these courses can be found at: www.southland.institute/LACCGD.html , and specific inquiries can be made by email to LACC@southlandinstitute.org
graduate typography workshop
Lastly, there are presently 4 spaces open for the Spring semester of the Southland Institute Typography Workshop, which is scheduled to begin in late January. We encourage self-directed, critical, curious makers and thinkers to apply, particularly those working with and around typography, publishing, language, and archives as part of their practice, who are enthusiastic about being involved the early days of an experiment in building an affordable, sustainable alternative to the current state of higher education in art and design in the United States. There is a modest, sliding scale tuition for the program, which enables it to run.
For more information visit: www.southland.institute/main.html
to apply: www.southland.institute/apply.html

Please share this email with anyone you know who may be interested in any of these offerings. The fall session of stone soup begins on October 7th. The current semester of LACC is already under way, but anyone interested in enrolling in the spring semester can begin the process by enrolling at LACC (https://www.lacitycollege.edu/Apply-Register/index), and sending an email to LACC@southlandinstitute.org expressing interest.

There will be a subsequent announcement in the coming weeks about additional public programming. Details are still being confirmed, but some exciting events are in the works.