A Final Word

To my future students:

If there's something I'm more passionate about than making art, it would have to be talking about it. I absolutely love the prospect of sharing my knowledge and excitement about art, in all its many different forms. I very well know I could talk about it until I'm blue in the face, but none of that is going to reach you unless I teach you how to speak about art as well. The art world has its own language, where different styles and periods have their own names. We describe works based on different criteria. We evaluate visual messages and discern meaning from depictions. It's really not that much different than talking about the rhyme or meter in a piece of poetry, or explaining a math problem, disciplines that also have their own vocabulary. The only way to learn how to appreciate art is to become artistically literate. More importantly, I want to give you the language to be able to speak about your own creative endeavors. I want to give you the ability to articulate your inspirations, describe your processes, and visually convey your messages. Art is not about a pretty picture. It is about communication.

Sincerely,
Erica, a future art educator.

Top Ten Toolkit: Word Wall

I think this concept has been thrown around a bit. Can't remember where I read it or who mentioned it, but I thought of a neat little five minute activity that can be done once or twice a week.

So a particular piece of art is showcased on a bulletin board, complete with a caption of the title, artist, date. Students are responsible for coming up with words to describe the work, based on what they see.

• Line: bold, skinny, sprawling, quick, hurried, thick, meandering, sketchy?
• Color: saturated, muted, vibrant, dull, somber, shimmering, hazy, atmospheric, primary, acidic, fluorescent, naturalistic?
• Shape: geometric, organic, ephemeral, irregular, angular, rough, jagged, soft?
• Composition: linear, busy, minimal, ordered, vertical, horizontal, chaotic, illogical, symmetric, asymmetric, balanced?
• Movement: fast, sluggish, busy, complacent, rushed, impulsive, implied? 
• Subject: figurative, landscape, still-life, city-scape, abstraction, imaginative, realistic? 
• Mood: lively, awe-inspiring, transient, epic, calm, dismal, introspective? 

Those are just a few descriptor words I came up with off the top of my head, a few possibilities. Kids can throw post-it notes up on the board, around the artwork in question, and so it would be really easy to add to the list. It looks really good too, to have someone walk into the classroom, and see that kids are actively engaged with a work. This sort of instruction would take a little bit of modeling, to get students to really think about how to articulate what they're seeing. This would be a good strategy to use to introduce a new history lesson, or a new project, depending on the artwork involved. 

Top Ten Toolkit: Point of View Guide

This is a neat little technique to use to get students to think outside of their own perspectives when thinking critically about a subject. In this case, it's another way for students to look at art, by putting themselves in the role of the artist.

1. Eyes
• What am I seeing? 
• What am I envisioning? 
• What do I want others to see?
2. Head
• What am I thinking?
• What is my purpose in making this art?
• What inspires me?
• What were my initial ideas for this piece?
3. Hands
• How did I make this artwork?
• What could I have done differently?
4. Ears
• What are people saying about my artwork?
• How are they reacting to it?
• Do people understand its message?

I think this would be a real thought-provoking activity for works of art that many would look at and say, "okay... why is this art?" Because there's a lot of art out there that gets that precise reaction. I'll admit, I used to look at some works of modern art like that.

Actually, I still do that. Takes a little bit of critical inquiry for me to come to appreciate it.

And sometimes, I come to the conclusion that it's bad art. XD

Top Ten Toolkit: More books.

Hobbs, J., Salome, R., and Vieth, K., (2010). The Visual Experience. Worchester: Davis Publication.

I was introduced to Davis Publications last year when I had to buy text books for a particular art ed class. I love this publisher because they offer materials exclusively for art education, and it's good material too. I've seen The Visual Experience used as a major instructional tool in the high school art classroom. And it's really great. Very explicit about formal properties of art, gives step-by-step instruction on traditional techniques, shows student artwork.

My one beef: you can't learn how to make art exclusively from reading a book. I would hate to create that misconception. You learn how to make art by making it. But we've all benefited from reading about our subject. And to be honest, sometimes I'm awful at giving an explanation. =P

Top Ten Tool Kit: Another Textbook

Visona, M. B., Poyner, R., et. al. (2007). A History of Art in Africa. Prentice Hall.

I realized that the majority of written resources I have provided have been largely Western/European oriented. And I'm just not all about that. Yeah, that comprises a large component of what we teach in an art class, but let's diversify a bit, yes?

I picked up this text book for an African Art class, and I loved this class soooo much. It was fun, interactive, and learning about culture, context, ritual and religion was just as much a part of the class as learning about art.

One of the course objectives for secondary art education is to teach about a variety of art from different cultures, and foster an appreciation for those artistic expressions. This was a major reason for taking an African Art course. 

Top Ten Tool Kit: A Textbook.

Kleiner, F. S. (2008). Gardner's Art Through the Ages: The Western Perspective. Ohio: Wadsworth.

Okay, I'll admit, Gardner's Art Through the Ages is really a college-level textbook. I probably wouldn't assign reading from it. I wouldn't expect a high school to order a whole bunch of these for art students. But to have a current edition in a school library, or to have my copy in an art library in my class? Most definitely. This is my go-to book for just 9/10ths of my art knowledge because it has so much. It runs the gamut, from ancient to contemporary, Greek, Scandinavian, Middle East, to Etruscan and Egyptian. It is the penultimate survey of Western Art. I <3 this book to pieces. Sure, it's typically on the market somewhere between $150-$180, and more current editions are more expensive. But it's the only art history book to print all of its images in full color, and give a scale of the artwork. I base my opinion of all other art texts to this one, because Gardner's sets the standard.

I talk to other art majors, and they regret they sold this book back. Yeah, they should regret it, because it's a very easy source. Why go to Wikipedia when you have this book? This is the best book to begin research for an art history report, develop a basic understanding for art periods, movements, and styles, and the pictures are just wonderful. You can't have a good art resource without good pictures. And when I'm having trouble coming up with a lesson plan? I go to this book for inspiration. What culture do I want kids to focus on? What pieces are we going to learn about? How can I inject an art project into these lessons? What processes and techniques are we going to learn?

I bought this book for my Art 101 class. We probably only used a third of it. So there are still parts I haven't read, chapters I know nothing about. I should probably read up on the chapters related to the Middle East and Muslim art, incorporate works we have in the Freer gallery in DC, develop discussion about tensions pertaining to Islamic groups, why that is, use an art lesson to foster an appreciation for religious diversity...
makes for a good two-week unit, where we can incorporate things like geometric designs, calligraphy, a history lesson on the Hagia Sophia... can you tell I love this book?

Top Ten Tool Kit: Student-Teacher Coorespondence

Okay, I totally wrote out this nice blog post, and for whatever reason (I blame Internet Explorer)..... I lost it. I've about had it with this bad Internet connection and our damn service provider dicking around and not actually fixing it.

So instead of rewriting the whole sappy... whatever... here's some bullet points.

• getting feedback from my students on their experience in the classroom is going to help me be a better teacher.
• I'm probably going to need the feedback.
• it's going to make them feel valued as individuals.
• it provides an avenue for at-risk teens to speak out if they're facing some serious life issues.
• I want to know my students.