The Britt Nelson Visiting Artist program
This program brings professional artists into Gordon’s classrooms. Students work alongside these artists, who lead them through projects that mirror the process of the artist’s own work. While learning new skills, students draw larger lessons from these professionals, individuals who have found a way to stay engaged in the arts, and in the world of ideas, throughout their adult lives.
As part of the residency, each visiting artist gives a presentation to all three divisions of the school. These presentations are open, so that parents, alumni and the general public can share the Gordon students’ experience.
The Britt Nelson Fund was established in 1996 in memory of Britt Nelson, the mother of three Gordon students and wife of a Gordon graduate. Income from this fund provides for an annual visiting artist, giving Gordon students an opportunity to immerse themselves in one of Britt’s quiet passions: the creative world of self-expression. The fund also provides for two annual faculty travel grants.
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The twenty-sixth Britt Nelson Visiting Artist is Kah Yangni
above: Yangni visited Gordon in December as part of the annual Book Fair. They gave a series of workshops for students, and gave an in-depth interview to the fifth and sixth grade newspaper
Gordon is thrilled to welcome Kah Yangni in 2024 as the Britt Nelson Visiting Artist. They will be on campus this month, working with students in every grade level and drawing on their rich background in printmaking, illustration, murals, and art as a tool for building communities.
This was the twenty-sixth residency sponsored by the Britt Nelson Fund, which was established in 1998 to support Gordon's commitment to hands-on art education.
They will be giving two artist talks as part of their residency, directed to students but open to parents and caregivers, Thursday, February 8th at 1:35pm and Tuesday, February 13th at 2:30pm in the Wales Theater.
Yangni was most recently in the news as the illustrator of Not He or She, I’m Me, named one of four Honor Books at the American Library Association’s 2024 Youth Media Awards
Yangni makes hyper vibrant art about justice, queerness, joy, and healing – using cut up paper, drawings, and Photoshop to show a world where people are free. Their art can be found on billboards and murals, in kids books and magazines, and on bedroom walls around the world. Their art has been shared by people like Indya Moore of the television show Pose, and they’ve been covered by NBC News and Them. Their poster work is in the permanent collection of the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Free Library of Philadelphia. They’ve been awarded residencies with The On Being Project, Women’s Studio Workshop, and the Wedding Cake House. Kah’s first picture book, The Making of Butterflies by Zora Neale Hurston and Ibram X. Kendi, was released in March 2023.
Their work can be explored at www.kahyangni.com
Since 1998
Since its founding, the Britt Nelson Fund has brought the following artists to Gordon’s classrooms:
| 1998 | Painter Melissa Miller |
| 1999 | Glass artist Ursula Huth |
| 2000 | Storyteller and illustrator Baba Wagué Diakité |
| 2001 | Architect Roddy Langmuir |
| 2002 | Textile artist Jeung Hwa Park |
| 2003 | Sculptor Allison Newsome |
| 2004 | Sculptor Kitty Wales more about the 2004 program |
| 2005 | Photographer Marian Roth more about the 2005 program |
| 2006 | Puppeteers Dusan Petran and Aniece Novak |
| 2007 | Designer Gunnel Sahlin |
| 2008 | Painter and printmaker Joseph Norman |
| 2009 | Sculptor Ben Anderson Illustrator Amy Bartlett Wright Illustrator Julie Ann Collier more about the 2009 program |
| 2010 | Illustrator Bert Kitchen |
| 2011 |
featured in this video
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| 2012 | Metalworker Jim Reynolds |
| 2013 | Bookmaker Rebecca Goodale more about the 2013 program |
| 2014 | Ceramicist Seth Rainville more about the 2014 program |
| 2015 | Animator Hayley Morris more about the 2015 program |
| 2016 | Textile artist Hiroko Harada more about the 2016 program |
| 2017 | Designer Gunnel Sahlin more about the 2017 program |
| 2018 | Textile artist Brooke Erin Goldstein more about the 2018 program |
| 2019 | Goldsmith Steven Lubecki more about the 2019 program |
| 2020 and 2021 |
Ceramicist and screenprinter David Allyn more about the 2020 and 2021 program |
| 2022 | Screenprinter Jazzmen Lee-Johnson more about the 2022 program |
| 2023 | Sculptor Rena Rong more about the 2023 program |
| 2023 | Muralist and illustrator Kah Yangni |