During Marc Fishers visit a few weeks ago I learned of the passing of one of my favorite teachers, Micheal Piazza. Micheal was an incredibley generous and one of the most genuine people I have ever met. He was genuinely interested in his students. Our class size was small and we would get together and just talk sometimes we talked about art, sometimes we talked about politics, mostly we talked about life. He is one of the first teachers I had that gave us his phone number, If you ever need anything, anything at all please call he said, Im here to help you. Micheal was the first socially engaged artist I had as a teacher. Our class hardly ever meet in the classroom, we would rather explore the city and find places to talk. We met in cafes, We once went to the Chicago Board of Trade. He also brought Temporary Services to my sculpture class in 1999. Through his work with incarcarated youth and the developmentally disabled. Micheal taught me that artists could do more than just show in a gallery, they could make a significant contribution to community.
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