The visual arts provide more than an outlet for students to be creative. Any individual can throw paint, brushes, and a canvas to a student and any student can throw paint onto a canvas with brushes. Visual art is just as much about creation as it is about cultural appreciation. Art is as much about metacognitive thinking as it is about self-exploration. Learning about color-theory and how a value-scale gives objects dimension is important because it helps us perceive the world around us- but what is more important is what is done with this new information.
It is my desire to teach students about Michelangelo, Picasso, and about the working contemporary artists. I want students to recognize unity and emphasis in a painting. I desire for students to truly understand the depth of emotion and thought behind each work of art. It is my goal to stretch students’ minds by asking them to make connections to Renaissance art. When a student is able to look at, appreciate, and connect personally to a work of art- they are able to see cultures and ideas for more than textbook information. For example, Picasso's Guernica seizes to be just a cubist painting in blue monochrome- it comes alive with shapes, colors, objects, and stories. I have my students look at Guernica and write down a list of ten things they see (anything). Most of the time students see objects (a bull, a light, a person). Then I ask them to write down another ten things. These second lists are generally more specific and detailed. We do this once more and students begin to see the elements of art and principles of design. Of course- after students have been able to study the image for this long I ask them to digest the image and take a guess on the image's narrative. What's going on here? Can you relate? How do you feel when you look at this? I ask students to think about art from all time and culture because while culture and aesthetics change throughout time, art and ideas do not.
It is my desire to teach students about Michelangelo, Picasso, and about the working contemporary artists. I want students to recognize unity and emphasis in a painting. I desire for students to truly understand the depth of emotion and thought behind each work of art. It is my goal to stretch students’ minds by asking them to make connections to Renaissance art. When a student is able to look at, appreciate, and connect personally to a work of art- they are able to see cultures and ideas for more than textbook information. For example, Picasso's Guernica seizes to be just a cubist painting in blue monochrome- it comes alive with shapes, colors, objects, and stories. I have my students look at Guernica and write down a list of ten things they see (anything). Most of the time students see objects (a bull, a light, a person). Then I ask them to write down another ten things. These second lists are generally more specific and detailed. We do this once more and students begin to see the elements of art and principles of design. Of course- after students have been able to study the image for this long I ask them to digest the image and take a guess on the image's narrative. What's going on here? Can you relate? How do you feel when you look at this? I ask students to think about art from all time and culture because while culture and aesthetics change throughout time, art and ideas do not.
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Being a visual arts educator, I know how important it is to teach students about the world around them through a medium that has no right and wrong. I engage students with curiosity and then present them with a problem to solve. In a recent lesson I asked students to create a collage using many images but to create one coherent image. We discussed the different between a collage with many focal points and a collage with "One Image." The idea was to use many images to make a point- students were learning about how to use visuals to say what words could say. How can you say something without words? Students learn how to think critically and create imaginatively using specific art media.
The image to the left is a student example titled, "No Zero." The artist attempted to make a statement about models and body-issues in today's society. She used magazine images, paint, and colored-pencil (mixed media) to portray a woman falling apart and becoming the very ground she stands on. Her belt, she made to resemble a ruler. There are subtle plastic surgery lines on the woman's face. She was able to get her point across (the no girl should be a size zero) without words.
With technology today, I can bring centuries of art and stories into the hands of my students. We look at old masters and try their techniques while adding our own self into our art. For example I showed my students two artists (Egon Schiele and Gustav Klimt) and asked students to Think-Pair-Share with their neighbors about the difference, their own preferences, and the reasons why they liked or did not like one artist more than the other. The studio is a place of exploration and of collaboration. Artists have never worked alone and art history shows us that no artist is ever truly original. With this in mind, we invite the notion of sharing ideas, borrowing styles, and taking artistic risks. No great art has ever been created without a great risk and the fear of failing.
The image to the left is a student example titled, "No Zero." The artist attempted to make a statement about models and body-issues in today's society. She used magazine images, paint, and colored-pencil (mixed media) to portray a woman falling apart and becoming the very ground she stands on. Her belt, she made to resemble a ruler. There are subtle plastic surgery lines on the woman's face. She was able to get her point across (the no girl should be a size zero) without words.
With technology today, I can bring centuries of art and stories into the hands of my students. We look at old masters and try their techniques while adding our own self into our art. For example I showed my students two artists (Egon Schiele and Gustav Klimt) and asked students to Think-Pair-Share with their neighbors about the difference, their own preferences, and the reasons why they liked or did not like one artist more than the other. The studio is a place of exploration and of collaboration. Artists have never worked alone and art history shows us that no artist is ever truly original. With this in mind, we invite the notion of sharing ideas, borrowing styles, and taking artistic risks. No great art has ever been created without a great risk and the fear of failing.
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Each student can succeed in art. A student needs only to be curious and thoughtful- two attributes that can be worked on by all individuals. For example, when I introduce Contemporary Art, students look at and evaluate “art” that would otherwise be deemed trash, graffiti, science, and even business-minded. Damien Hirst, the richest living artist and the record holding artist who sold his art for more than any other work of art ever- puts dead animals in formaldehyde and puts them on display in museums. I have students look at art critiques written about Hirst and we hold class discussions about why or why not Hirst's art should be held in such high regard or deemed "art" at all.
Is this art? What is the idea/story behind this? How does an artist like this reflect the time and culture we live in today? Why is this considered art? Should this be considered art? How could I say a similar thing using paint? These are the kinds of higher-level thinking questions that we ask in an art class. These kinds of questions ask students to think critically about history, the society they live in, the stories being told today, and calls to question- personal belief and opinion. Through the aesthetic world, students on all levels of academic achievement are able to answer the same questions with remarkably different ideas. This is why I have structured my class around ten essential questions that we will touch on throughout the year and work on with depth and inquiry. The ten essential questions can be found here. These questions provide students with higher-order thinking opportunities and areas for engaging in rigorous ad relevant work.
We start slowly by learning color-theory and how to shade objects to look three-dimensional. We then look at art and ask questions. We try to replicate art ourselves. Each step is a supporting bar on a scaffold that helps to elevate student thinking and curiosity. I provide students with the steps they need to be not only begin to ask critical questions, but also desire to answer the critical questions. Art truly is more than charcoal still-lives and color-wheels.
“There is one art of which man should be master, the art of reflection.” –Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Below is a Unit Plan I created that dives into the questions of Contemporary Art today
We start slowly by learning color-theory and how to shade objects to look three-dimensional. We then look at art and ask questions. We try to replicate art ourselves. Each step is a supporting bar on a scaffold that helps to elevate student thinking and curiosity. I provide students with the steps they need to be not only begin to ask critical questions, but also desire to answer the critical questions. Art truly is more than charcoal still-lives and color-wheels.
“There is one art of which man should be master, the art of reflection.” –Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Below is a Unit Plan I created that dives into the questions of Contemporary Art today