Artistic Vision
Art Education. Straight Up.Sports vs. The Arts (Part 1)
Has anyone wondered where the arts went wrong?
I sit in my classroom listening to my high school students talk passionately about sports: favorite players, beloved teams and the most recent game. I listen to their big dreams of getting scholarships to play in college and (because of their street-born skills, of course) moving on to play professionally. In light of the harsh statistics associated with the actual percentage of students who really go on to play professionally, I remain sorrowfully (and silently) skeptical of such dreams. But, you never know what the Lord has in store for anyone.
While listening in recently, I found myself questioning why sports and not art. If I merely go off what my students tell me, it’s sheer boredom. Art can’t compare to the excitement received from playing football, basketball or baseball. Nor does it compare to watching sports. But is that all there is to it?
Before I posit my thoughts, I’m wondering if this post sparks any thoughts for you?
The Importance of Attention and Practice in Creating Art
I’ve started reading Creativity for Life by Eric Maisel. During the book’s Introduction, the author touches upon the importance of attention and practice since they play are such integral pieces of living the creative life. I tell my high school students all the time that without practice they will always be frustrated in their attempts to get better at drawing what they see, mixing the colors that they want, molding the clay into the correct shape and manipulating the pen tool in Adobe Illustrator. Working hand-in-glove with skills practice, the art student must learn how to be mindful of the World around him/her.
Presently, I am teaching my Intro to Painting students some simple drawing skills before we launch into still life. So, we discuss simplifying images into basic shapes before rounding out corners and adding the details. We also address relationships: how does one object relate to another? Is it taller or shorter? Is it fatter or thinner? How can we use negative space to help us record what we see? The questions go on. It is initially overwhelming for them but I want to demonstrate to them the necessary self-talk to help them achieve their goals.
Truth be told, though, I didn’t start reading the book for my students. Rather, I am reading it for myself. When Dr. Maisel talks about attention, he’s not meaning a classroom setting per se. I’ve extrapolated his meaning because I do believe it speaks equally powerfully to students in a high school setting.
In the final analysis, Dr. Maisel wants to remind ME of the many ways I’ve allowed my art to be put off because of the many facets of my so-called busy life.
If your truth is that your life is out of control and creativity is just one of the many things that you aren’t attending to, stand up and admit that to yourself, even if it means that you must change everything. Nor can you do this truth telling just once or twice: you need to do it today, tomorrow, and forever. (pg. xviii)
What I’ve read so far is just what the doctor ordered (no pun intended).
Rethinking my art curriculum (part 2)
As I stated in my previous post, I am rethinking my curriculum once again. I originally changed the curriculum to be more focused because the kids in my school come to me with little prior knowledge outside of elementary art ed. Further, there is little continuity from elementary to high school for art ed. Students can go up to the twelfth grade without having taken an art class leaving them to take two classes in their senior year.
So, I’m considering a switch up to the more “traditional” Art I, II, III and IV (AP) structure.
What will changing my curriculum get me?
First, I would be setting things up as units. For me, that would probably mean drawing, painting and ceramics. I will be able to focus on fewer projects or introductory projects that reinforce skill development and then a final project to allow them to showcase what they learned.
Second, the introduction of units would afford me the opportunity to spotlight art historical periods and/or artists versus feeling like I should cover it all.
Third, using the more traditional nomenclature and structure could allow me to control the progress students make.
How might switching to Art I, II, III and IV (AP) hurt me?
Well, first off, I am greatly concerned about those students being able to move through the sequence. I tried this year to implement an Academy with students who believe themselves more dedicated to art as a course, but the restructuring of the schedule at the beginning of the year forced the class to be canceled because of “core” classes which have priority. Would I end up with students who never progress beyond Art II?
Second, would (or should) I keep my other classes: Drawing from Observation, Introduction to Painting and Ceramics classes as separate classes? The unit skills taught in Art I and II would be identical to those taught in those classes, though the level of detail wouldn’t be there, and I would change the projects. But, then again, I could check for interest from the students and then work behind the scenes to provide more advanced students with independent studies.
Lastly, how would I deal with seniors who need two art classes to graduate on time? How would I refine a student’s growing skills in Art II when they are taking Art I concurrently? How could I hold a student accountable for a class they don’t have the knowledge or skill to handle?
Lots of questions. No sure direction for me, yet. Any thoughts from those who presently teach the Art I, II, III and IV (AP) class lineup?
Rethinking my art curriculum
I redid my curriculum last year and find myself already back at the drawing board (no pun intended) as I project myself into next year. When I first took the job the default class was Studio Art I and II. Unfortunately, no one ever seemed to progress to Studio Art II.
Now, I teach four classes: Ceramics, Intro to Painting, Drawing from Observation and Art & Design Technology. However, as it stands now, I’m really considering collapsing the first three into the traditional Art I, Art II, Art III and Art IV (AP?) structure.
I broke the skills out after believing I’d get students with a more clear perspective on what they would be learning and that would help focus them on learning-specific skills towards a more specific goal (vs. the generalized goals in a survey course). Well, I’m not so sure that was a wise move after having interacted with my urban student population (who exhibit little to no prior knowledge with art) during these past few years.
I’ll lay out a few ideas in the coming posts; however, in the interim, I would love to hear how some other art teachers implement their programs. What do you cover in Art I, II and III? What do you call those types of classes at your school?
So, until next time.
Pleasing the boss or, the pain of overcommitment
Last year, I did a “quilt” project with Trish Maunder, who works with the Faith Ringgold Foundation. Trish does her own story quilt idea in school classrooms. During that time she also educates students about Faith and her story quilts.
Students pick a theme and then each student translates that theme into a personalized image. They also need to pick a famous quote or write a poem to accompany their image. The pieces are glued onto a larger piece of canvas with fabric strips covering the seams and then a fabric border is set around the whole thing. They turn out really well.
Well, the founder of my school saw the quilt my class did and wanted another one to auction off at an annual fund-raising event. Long story short, I exploded the original idea into a series of smaller quilts based on the founding principles of the school’s charter IN ADDITION TO the large quilt that would document the school’s growth from conception to fruition. It’s moments like that where I think to myself, “I know, let me put this bag over my head so you can all beat me with a stick.”
Well, the students let me down at the end of last year and I didn’t get much done. So, I ended up having to hijack my two painting classes to complete the work. It’s going to take the entire quarter to get all of the quilts done. I’m just hopeful that when they are all put together that they are strong pieces. Of course, they better sell too! LOL!
Friends tell me they get roped into doing things like this too. Why do we, as art teachers, fall for this stuff? I know on some level I liked the original idea and wanted to see it come to pass. In the end, though, I need to remember my ADD tendency to over-commit. It’s during those moments that I need to remind myself to be practical and realistic. In the end, I know my students better than any administrator because I work with them every day.
So, lesson learned. In the end, though, I’m thankful to 1) have a job and 2) have a job teaching art.
Subscribe to My Blog
