It is difficult to quantify the impact that Ted Purves had at California College of the Arts (CCA) during the fifteen years he taught there. During that time, first as faculty and then as the Chair, he helped to shape the graduate program’s curriculum and started the Social Practice workshop. When it first took students in the fall of 2005, the Workshop was the first academic program of its kind in the country.

 

Ted helped to form the fledgling field of social practice itself, through his work, his writing, and his unfailing warmth and generosity. His former students have carried his ideas all over the world, and his legacy continues at CCA.

 

The Ted  Purves scholarship is an investment in community. It will help keep the visionary spirit of social practice alive and support a deserving student in the graduate program.