Be among the first to get a sneak peek at the newest episode of the Peabody Award-winning PBS series Craft in America and celebrate the power of imagination and the child in all of us as the Skirball Cultural Center explores the ways in which play facilitates discovery, builds bridges, and enhances learning. 

After screening a segment of the latest Craft in America episode, the Skirball will lead a panel discussion with artists, educators, and parents about the importance of incorporating play and imagination into arts education.

The segment will be introduced by Patricia Bischetti, Executive Producer and Director, Craft in America. Our panel will be moderated by Rachel Stark, Vice President, Education and Family Programs, Skirball Cultural Center. Panelists include Lisa Bierman, director, writer, and teacher; Jane Fung, Member, Skirball Teacher Advisory Council; and Dr. Kristin Vanderlip Taylor, Associate Professor of Art Education at California State University, Northridge.

Program Schedule

10:30 am: Doors open
11:00 am: Screening and Panel Discussion
12:00 pm: Refreshments, complimentary admission to Noah’s Ark*

*Registered attendees will have an opportunity to board Noah’s Ark at 12:00 and 12:30 pm. Space is limited.

Premiering on PBS on December 29 (check your local listings), the latest episode of Craft in America is all about “Play” and features a segment on Noah’s Ark at the Skirball. The series is part of Craft in America’s multimedia efforts to promote and advance original handcrafted work, including the delightful puppets that roam Noah's Ark.

Lisa Bierman is a director, performer, consultant, and educator born and (mostly) raised in Los Angeles. Her shows are often immersive, experiential, or multi-disciplinary. Most recently, she developed the dance/theater piece Abbale with Bodies In Play which was performed at ODC in San Francisco. Other favorite collaborations have been with activist/actor Brandon Kyle Goodman and IAMA Theater on the Latrell Show, cARTel: Collaborative Arts LA on site specific pieces at Think Tank Gallery, and the Carousel at the Santa Monica Pier. She’s thrilled to be back at the Skirball, where she co-directed the wordless puzzle adventure The Builder and the Dove with Mister and Mischief.  

Jane Ching Fung has over thirty-six years of teaching experience in Los Angeles public schools. She holds a degree in Child Development and a Masters in Curriculum and Instruction. Jane is National Board Certified in Early Childhood, a Milken Educator, and an LAUSD 2021 Teacher of the Year. Her experience as an educator includes multiage (Pre-K through Grade 2), early childhood inclusion, reading intervention, and teacher credentialing classes at California State University, Northridge, and LAUSD's District Intern Program. Currently, Jane works as a UCLA Math Project coach with LAUSD and Montebello Unified School District educators. She has been taking students to the Skirball Cultural Center for the past eighteen years and is a member of STAC (Skirball Teacher Advisory Council). 

Dr. Kristin Vanderlip Taylor is an Associate Professor of Art Education at California State University, Northridge (CSUN) and previously taught visual art in LAUSD schools for fifteen years. Her research focuses on collaboration, transdisciplinary curriculum, visual and critical literacy, pre-service art teacher education, mentoring, and building communities for professional learning. She is the principal investigator/co-facilitator of the Art Ed ColLab, a mentoring community of practice for beginning visual art teachers, developed in collaboration with art educators Dr. Laurie Gatlin and Dr. Brian Trimble from California State University, Long Beach (CSULB).