In 1933, John Rice founded Black Mountain College in North Carolina as an experiment in making the arts central to learning. Though it operated for only twenty-four years, this pioneering school played a significant role in fostering avant-garde art, music, dance, and poetry, and an astonishing number of important artists taught or studied there. Among the instructors were Josef and Anni Albers, John Cage, Merce Cunningham, R. Buckminster Fuller, Karen Karnes, Willem de Kooning, and M.C. Richards, and students included Ruth Asawa, John Chamberlain, Ray Johnson, Robert Rauschenberg, and Cy Twombly. Leap Before You Look is a singular exploration of this legendary school and the work of the artists who spent time there. Scholars from a variety of fields contribute original essays about diverse aspects of the college--spanning everything from the college's farm program to the influence of the Bauhaus--and about the people and ideas that gave it such a lasting impact. Catalogue entries highlight selected works, including writings, musical compositions, visual arts, pottery, and weaving. The book's fresh approach and rich illustrations convey the atmosphere of creativity and experimentation unique to Black Mountain College that served as an inspiration to so many. This timely volume will be essential reading for anyone interested in art, radical pedagogy, and the enduring legacy of the college. -- Front jacket flap

• Imaginary landscape / Helen Molesworth
• Ruth Erickson
• Michael Beggs
• Jeffrey Saletnik
• Spectodrama (Black Mountain Stage Studies) / Jeffrey Saletnik
• Jenni Sorkin
• Jonathan Hiam
• David Silver
• Lauren Bellard
• Ruth Erickson
• Brenda Danilowitz
• Michael Beggs
• Jenni Sorkin
• Brenda Danilowitz
• Ruth Erickson
• Alice Sebrell
• Brigid Cohen
• Bryan Barcena
• Bryan Barcena
• Bryan Barcena
• Eva D??az
• Martin Brody
• Cindi Strauss
• Ruth Erickson
• Jenni Sorkin
• Jenni Sorkin
• Jenni Sorkin
• Ruth Erickson
• Martin Brody
• Harry Cooper
• Ash Anderson
• Ash Anderson
• Ash Anderson
• Ruth Erickson
• Jennifer Gross
• Helen Molesworth
• Jeffrey Saletnik
• Steve Evans
• Steve Evans
• Ruth Erickson
• Ruth Erickson
• Jennifer Gross
• Steve Evans
• Steve Evans
• Bryan Barcena
• Katherine Markoski
• Jennifer Gross
• Gloria Sutton A progressive education / Josef Albers. Photographs of mati??res / Bauhaus in America / Xanti Schawinsky / Marguerite Wildenhain. Large jar / Arnold Schoenberg and musical interpretation at the Black Mountain College Summer Music Institute of 1944 / Building autonomy. Creating community: The farm and work program at Black Mountain College / The Design-Build Program at Lake Eden / A. Lawrence Kocher. Stool and side table / Josef and Anni Albers: Mexico and modernity / Josef Albers. Graphic tectonic lithographs / Weaving / Anni Albers. Free-hanging room divider / Ray Johnson. Untitled / There is another way: Hazel Larsen Archer. Photographer, educator / Musical cosmopolitans at Black Mountain College: John Cage, Lou Harrison and Stefan Wolpe / Texture of the South: Roland Hayes and integration at Black Mountain College / Jacob Lawrence. Watchmaker / Leo Amino. Carnivorous Plant #22 / Summer Session 1948 / R. U
• John Cage. "Defense of Satie" / Ceramics at Black Mountain College 1949-1956 / Sh??ji Hamada. Vase / Karen Karnes. Untitled (Candleholder) / Peter Voulkos. Rocking Pot / M.C. Richards / The 1950s: Ways of life / Lou Harrison. Rapunzel / Theodoros Stamos. North Carolina Landscape / Harry Callahan. Eleanor, Chicago / Arthur Siegel. Untitled (Nude against Glass Block) / Aaron SIskind. North Carolina 11 / Chance encounters: Theater Piece No. 1 and its prehistory / Franz Kline. Painting / Robert Rauschenberg. Untitled (Night Blooming Series) / Robert Rauschenberg. Untitiled (a birthday picture for Hermine) / Charles Olson / Charles Olson. Mayan Letters / Ben Shahn. Song / Between media: The Glyph Exchange / Cy Twombly. MIN-OE / Robert Duncan. The Song of the Borderguard / Black Mountain Review / Joseph Fiore. #7-54: The Gathering / The formation of the Merce Cunningham Dance Company / Ruth Asawa. Dancers / Intentional communities /

• Director's foreword / Jill Medvedow
• Curator's acknowledgements / Helen Molesworth