Artistic Vision
Art Education. Straight Up.Archive for Art Education
Pop Goes the Culture (Sports vs. The Arts, Part 7)
In my final post for this series, I’m going to quickly touch upon our culture and its influences upon both young and old.
The influence of pop culture on the hearts and minds of today’s young people (arguably, most Americans) is undeniable. Regardless of the contemporary medium you select, pop culture is pervasive. Two of the primary core values of pop culture are:
- The push to influence thoughts and shape values, and
- The need to make money and drive more sales.
Influencing Thoughts, Shaping Values
What does culture have to say to my students, or, more specifically, what do they hear when it “speaks?” Both boys and girls equated interest or aptitude in the arts with sensitivity, femininity and, to some extent, gayness. I can’t say that I was surprised by their comments since each is pretty stereotypical and has been around for I don’t know how long. Consider:
- Many prominent artists in history have carried with them the badge of emotionally sensitive. Probably one of the most prominent historical examples would be Vincent van Gogh. You can probably recollect a few on your own. Dr. Eric Maisel, in his book Creativity for Life, has an entire chapter entitled The Challenges of the Artistic Personality. I highly recommend the book.
- Generalization or not, girls often exhibit an early aptitude for coloring and interest in drawing whereas boys don’t seem to catch up for two or three years. Sadly, I think parents don’t take this as a life-lesson opportunity and nurture their sons through the early frustrations of hand-eye coordination needed for color and drawing. Unfortunately, many parents fail to consider that semi-regular coloring and drawing opportunities may not reappear until school introduces them. Even then, most elementary school art programs aren’t particularly rigorous where drawing is concerned so a talent may go undiscovered.
- Lastly, it doesn’t require much thought to figure out where my students get the idea of gayness associated with artistic types. Television provides ample exposure in both fictional and nonfictional genre. Consider artsy reality shows like Project Runway, Shear Genius or Queer Eye for a Straight Guy. And, once you factor in the strong religious undercurrents in many urban communities, you have another reason why there is negativity associated with this particular image.
Culture’s images for sports are polar opposites to the above. Ruggedness, no gender confusion, always getting the girl, wealth, popularity and fame stand in stark contrast to the characterizations mentioned above. This is why I think the arts have a mainstream image problem.
Making Money. Driving Sales
Once you factor in the backdoor messages that my students have (unconsciously? consciously?) picked up on, the nail on the coffin comes from the sheer volume of cash associated with the sports industry. Sports franchises are about packaging youth and selling athletes for their unique talent. In our free-market economy where entertainment is a multi-billion dollar enterprise, I can’t fault marketers or business people who leverage every possible angle of the sports world to turn a profit. It’s like a legal drug that my students are raised on from a very early age. The sports industry taps into boys needing exercise, teens looking for acceptance, young adults seeking fame and fortune, and outliers seeking to relive the glory days.
I don’t know how else to end this series except by commenting that until the arts can find an avenue into the hearts of the mainstream population it will remain of peripheral concern for them; a periodic diversion for the masses and a more regular one for the wealthy and more educated. Perhaps I’m wrong in wanting to mainstream the arts, but I have a hard time not seeing that as part of my job as an effective art educator.
Family Affair (Sports vs. The Arts, Part 6b)
In this post, I’m going to discuss the important role parents (as well as family) often play—both intentionally and unintentionally—when it comes to the sports vs. the arts debate.
Family
Family poses a unique dilemma since they can:
- Undermine any burgeoning interest in art by giving the impression it is silly or unworthy of serious study,
- Never expose children to the value of the arts,
- Encourage the arts but in a diminished capacity as a “mere” hobby or
- Nurture the arts in their children as both a hobby and viable career opportunity.
In my district, many parents have limited exposure to the arts. So, for them, it is a classic case of ignorance—not knowing any differently. When they were children they were not educated about the value of the arts and/or never exposed to its career potential (often a key concern). Therefore, a lack of parent education perpetuates the cycle of ignorance.
On some level, the arts require an educated appreciation in meaning and value: in description, interpretation and analysis. as well as hands-on application. Of course, this doesn’t prevent people from liking what they like; however, it does keep them from a broader knowledge and deeper understanding. Certainly, the so-called “cultured” art world hasn’t helped the general population’s attitude concerning the importance of the arts when it celebrates bizarreness and incoherence as a right. Should it really surprise us when people look at a piece of art and say, “My three-year old could do that!”
Contrast this with sports… There is a low point of entry: you play with friends in context of casual, low-pressure spare time. The fear of looking silly is short-lived because the average skill level to do well is much more easily within reach. (Please don’t misunderstand…I’m not speaking of the skill level to play collegiate or professional sports just in the neighborhood.)
For many families (particularly those of urban youth), sports involvement finds a broad and welcome atmosphere. Many parents (not to mention coaches, guidance counselors and teachers) push students into sports early on because sports are a widely acknowledged and acceptable gateway to college scholarships and, of course, the coffers of the pro sports teams. And, while these may be reasonable goals (especially for a parent who has no means of funding a four-year college education), there are reasons to be concerned. I find the following commentary from an online article called Race and Sport to be a sobering point to end this post on:
While this may be true for black kids who devote extraordinary amounts of time, and expend prodigal amounts of energy honing skills and capacities that allow them to ultimately realize their dream of becoming professional athletes, one must ask why so many see this path as a realistic occupational goal given the odds against succeeding at it, and the odds for succeeding in other careers? Indeed, the large base of aspirants necessary to produce the disproportionate number of black athletes that we see today in our major sports is recognized as a social problem in that the development of other non-athletic skills, leading to more realistic career options, are being neglected (Ashe, 1977). Indeed, while blacks make up 77% of the NBA, 64% of the WNBA, and 65% of the NFL, they are only 4.2% of our physicians, 2.7% of our lawyers, and 2.2% of our civil engineers (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1997). The point is that striving to become a professional athlete is a risky proposition for any person since it often requires many years of total dedication that often is associated with a failure to develop knowledge and skill in other areas. The vast majority of aspirants never see a professional pay day, and are ill equipped to do other things. But for a variety of reasons, blacks have become more vulnerable to the carrot that is held out, and the great success of black athletes is accompanied by too many forgotten youth who not only have no contract, but no direction.
In my next post, I’ll touch upon what I had to say to my students about pop culture and its influences in our discussion of sports versus the arts.
Sports and the Power of Friendship (Sports vs. The Arts, Part 6a)
Sorry for being lax in posting. It’s been a crazy week with getting grades in for the end of the quarter. Needless to say, I’ve been recounting some of the points that have come up during my discussions with my students about the sports vs. the arts debate. Someone commented after my last post that they believed the core of the discussion was on one’s interests and likes; not that one is easy and the other difficult.
Certainly, interest plays a significant role as to why someone chooses to take part in an activity. But where does that interest come from? Is it purely innate? I don’t think so. I would posit that interest is also generated from (not in any particular order):
- Friends
- Family
- Pop Culture
Friends
I touched upon friendship in my last post. Specifically, I noted how art was a solitary activity. Therefore, those who push themselves to develop artistic skill in a specific medium (e.g., oil, acrylic, pastel) are going to miss out on many of the neighborhood activities of their friends. Especially in the formative middle and high school years, friendship is seemingly all-important to most young people. Issues of identity and belonging affect all of us throughout various stages of our life, but it is more keenly felt during those years. The fact that sporting activities—both playing and watching—reinforce that sense of self and camaraderie longed for makes it easy to see how friendship plays a powerful role in young people’s passion for sports. Plus, you have the release of endorphins through exercise and the general fun and excitement that comes from sports. Again, both powerful motivators.
The arts don’t offer such camaraderie since, even in a classroom setting, you are there to work and not socialize. By the time kids get older, they expect a certain level of verisimilitude from their artwork. Unfortunately, that takes time and effort. While sports certainly has its challenges, those with average skill can play and enjoy themselves. So, don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying one is essentially harder than the other. A professional athlete gets paid huge sums of money because their talent is unique and their is a huge market ready to pay to see that talent in action. (But, more on that in a later post.)
Thus, the pull of friendship and all that it entails can pull young people away from participating in the arts, both short- and long-term.
In my next post, I’ll address the powerful role of parents in this discussion. I’ll look to post tonight or tomorrow.
Art is Solitary (Sports vs. The Arts, Part 5)
In my last post—sorry for the length—I touched on a few observations I had for my students when they stated that art was hard and that was one of the reasons why they believed kids prefer sports to art. That may be a piece of it, but I think there is another component that plays a significant role: sports, especially in neighborhoods, build camaraderie and friendship—both of which are positive and powerful intrinsic motivators. I believe this motivation is a key component that drives sports involvement up while visual arts involvement down.
Drawing, painting and many other visual arts aren’t group activities. Rather, they are solitary endeavors that pull you away from friendships of the nature you see develop on neighborhood courts and ball fields. A monthly meeting or weekly painting group meets briefly. Suffice it to say, artists aren’t known for playing well together. Artistic temperament aside, developing a craft requires hours of practice that rarely involves others except when feedback is being sought.
Easy Access
Think about it: sports friendships are not only built around playing together but also joining in to watch a favorite team or complain about a favorite player’s recent slump. So, we find those friendships on the court being nurtured by weekly get-togethers to watch games that are on at all hours throughout the day and night thanks to the preponderance of cable sports channels.
Such venues simply don’t exist for visual artists. (If I’m wrong, please let me know!) If nothing else, I find that many visual artists, in an effort to practice their craft, turn the TV off not on.
A Final Note
Consider that there is little change in the individual sports enthusiasts’ friendships as aging occurs. Friends may move away but they still text or talk about “the game” or a favorite player. They may even participate in the same fantasy league together. Lifestyles change but, again, that doesn’t inhibit the core value of the friendship.
With art, there exists the fear of diminishing returns. As an artist moves through different stages of life (job, marriage, family), he may find it more difficult to pursue his art and so see his skills deteriorate. Because of the isolation, it can become easy to withdraw further instead of fight your way back to the level of proficiency you once had. And, as my students rightly say, art is hard.
My next post will touch upon contemporary culture’s influence on the minds of students.
Art is Hard (Sports vs. The Arts, Part 4)
Previously, my post focused on my students’ perception on why art is boring. Today I’ll tackle what I had to say to them when they told me that art was too frustrating and difficult (compared to sports).
Art is Hard
Clearly, the main reason many students believe art is hard comes from not having been taught how to see or how to use the strategies artists employ when creating art. In general, it has become clear to me—not only from teaching art but also from having art-related conversations through the years—that people forget (or don’t understand) that the visual arts require the synthesis of auditory, visual and kinesthetic skills.
Let’s consider a simple painting example. After I verbally talk through the assignment and check for understanding by asking students to repeat what I said, I model what I am looking for via a demonstration. Students then, on their own, observe the apple on the table, process the spatial information related to relative-size, shape, color, shadow, etc., mix up appropriate colors and then put brush to canvas to record what they see.
That’s quite a bit of information to assimilate when you are first starting out. I try to remind my students that the process gets easier and parts eventually become rote, but it will take time and practice. That doesn’t allay much of their frustration once they delve into the process for themselves.
The Importance of Struggle
Though few adults relish it, struggle is anathema to my students. Filled with fear of failure and/or the embarrassment of being bad at something as “silly” as art, my students habitually teach me new ways they find to avoid doing difficult things.
Generally, I find that there are three keys that make for a successful trip through a class in the visual arts: interest, practice and time. Because my school has few electives, I inevitably deal with students who don’t want to be in my classes. Therefore, interest level is something I contend with almost daily.
I tell my students—especially my seniors—that in college (and in life) they will be required to do things they don’t enjoy. If nothing else, I encourage them to take the challenge and find one new thing to learn every class whether it be about themselves (and how much they struggle with anger when they don’t get what they want) or about the class (and how meaningless to their future they find it). Such a challenge may not make their situation a comfortable one, but developing those kinds of life strategies will help them mature.
Right behind interest level are practice and time, the two inextricably linked. You can’t cut corners in the arts because of the coordination necessary to get better. Few will be fooled if you do. Clearly some move faster along the path towards proficiency because of gifting, but even if you are gifted in an area (e.g., sports, poetry, drawing), at some point, you will plateau and you will need to push yourself to get to that next level. That’s just a fact of life born out by experience.
It is practice or lack thereof that hampers the progress of many of my students. At the beginning of the year, I begin my spiel where I pick a subject—usually a higher math—and explain to them that unless they are going into an engineering or medical field they will forget the majority of it for lack of use. However, if they put in the time and effort, they could learn a life-long hobby that benefits them mentally, physically and emotionally.
Another day I try a “sneak attack” by switching the focus to the amount of practice it took for them to become good at their favorite sport. I ask my students if they remember friends laughing or ridiculing them when they first started playing. Every one of them had such a memory. I usually tag-team this discussion with some research concerning the 10,000 hour rule which piques their interest and sparks good conversation but has yet to translate into greater study of an artistic discipline.
Whether it be a misplaced focus on digital media, weak attention spans or the never-ending expectation for college “excitement,” it didn’t take me more than six months to realize that my student’s personal time is sacred to them—and that means it’s for entertainment and friends, not school.
Therein lies the rub as I bring this article to a close. How can the arts hope to flourish when the focus of my students’ time is on entertainment, things lacking difficulty? Of similar interest would be a discussion of friends and their influence in sports vs. the arts.
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