ICD 2022: Understanding Colour: Teaching the Science of Colour (Robin Kingsburgh)

Colour is a compelling topic that plays an important role across many disciplines. Although most often taught within the milieu of art and design, colour and colour phenomena provide an ideal entryway into science. Understanding Colour is a full-year course offered at York University's Division of Natural Science in the Faculty of Science, and has been taught by the author for over 20 years. The course examines colour from multi-disciplinary perspectives, including history, physics, chemistry, biology, and astronomy, as well as art. With a hands-on ‘kitchen science’ approach, students explore various colour phenomena (including mixing coloured media) within the framework of the scientific method. The course has been highly successful at York University, receiving many positive yearly reviews from students who are always surprised at how colour turns up in their everyday lives. Teaching the science of colour within the ‘general education’ context is valuable - to help improve science literacy and develop critical thinking skills. It is also valuable for artists and designers, giving them a deep and comprehensive understanding of colour without daunting technical detail, and enhancing or augmenting their work in unexpected ways.
Robin Kingsburgh is a trained astronomer and painter. Her background in science comes from the University of Toronto (B.Sc. 1988) and University College London (Ph.D. in Astronomy, 1992). She worked as a postdoctoral fellow in Baja California at the University of Mexico from 1993-1996. Her painting experience comes from studies in Canada, France and the U.K, and has paralleled her scientific development. She has longstanding interests in the intersections of art, science and education. Robin currently teaches various natural science courses at York University, including Understanding Colour, The History of Astronomy, and The Nature of Time. She has curated numerous shows and events in the Toronto area, featuring artwork inspired by the ideas and methodologies of science. She co-President of the Colour Research Society of Canada, co-Chair of AIC 2022, and an elected member of the Ontario Society of Artists. Robin's website is at robinkingsburgh.com/.
From our CSA International Colour Day 2022 event: Progress in Colour Education. Online, Sunday March 20, 10.00 AM - 12.30 PM AEDT
Six members of the ISCC/AIC Colour Literacy Project from around the world spoke on different aspects of colour education. Robert Hirschler (Hungary) presented a review co-a3thored with Andreas Schwarz (Germany) of the seven "contrasts" of Johannes Itten, David Briggs (NSW) illustrated alternative frameworks for visualizing colour relationships for painters, and Robin Kingsburgh (Canada) described her remarkable multidisciplinary colour course at York University. These presentations were followed by two short reports, one by Paul Green-Armytage (WA) on two related workshops conducted with Sean Adamas, and the second by Maggie Maggio and Luanne Stovall (USA) giving an update on recent activities of the Colour Literacy Project.