John Dewey's principles of education

holistic learning

Josef and Anni Albers, Charles Olson, Ruth Asawa, Walter Gropius, Ray Johnson, Robert Motherwell, Dorothea Rockburne, Cy Twombly, Robert Rauschenberg, Susan Weil, Merce Cunningham, John Cage, Buckminster Fuller, Franz Kline, Aaron Siskind, Willem and Elaine de Kooning, and Mary Caroline Richards.

Black Mountain was founded in 1933 by John Andrew Rice, Theodore Dreier, Frederick Georgia, and Ralph Lounsbury,

academic freedom

educate a student as a person and a citizen

prioritizing art-making as a necessary component of education

incubator for artistic talent

Buckminster Fuller- - the first large-scale geodesic dome

The Black Mountain Review - Charles Olson

non-hierarchical methodologies that placed students and educators on the same plane

the value and importance of balancing education, art, and cooperative labor, students were required to participate in farm work, construction projects, and kitchen duty as part of their holistic education.

The students were involved at all levels of institutional decision-making. They were also left in charge of deciding when they were ready to graduate, which notoriously few ever did.

supplemented by art making as a means of cultivating creative thinking within all fields

materials and form & plato

Alma Stone Williams, Carol Brice and Roland Hayes, Percy H. Baker, Jacob Lawrence and Gwendolyn Knight, Mark Oakland Fax

Black Mountain Festival

two frescos painted by Jean Charlot

Black Mountain College Museum & Arts Center

The Journal of Black Mountain College Studies is a peer-reviewed, open-access digital publication that publishes articles, essays, and creative work related to the school and the individuals associated with it.

Leap Before You Look: Black Mountain College 1933-1957,

While plenty of people participate in a form of hashtag activism (a valid, though very often-critiqued way of connecting with others on an issue online), it’s tricky to move past posting or retweeting something you agree with and to explore activism in non-digital spaces given our current penchant for relying heavily on social media as a means of engagement. Getting involved with your immediate neighbors—and, therefore, immersing yourself in the communities you understand and can best contribute to, is something Odell herself cherishes. Taking a moment to volunteer at a nearby park, joining a CSA, or getting acquainted with local advocacy organizations are all prime examples of activism that doesn’t depend on engaging with the attention economy.