To the untrained ear

"Kids' views are often just as valid as the teachers'.  The best teachers are the ones that know that"

Morley Safer

Sue and I were at a party last Saturday night hosted by one of the artist participants in the White Rock Lake Artists Studio Tour.  The folks invited were, like ourselves, other artists on the tour.  It gave us a chance to get to know other folks on the tour a little better.  At the end of the evening, with just a few of us "hangers on" still talking, I happen to bring up my newly founded art curriculum.  One of the artists, who is an art teacher at a Community College and teaches Art Appreciation, first asked if these students were "special", meaning advanced in age and ability.  I assured her that my students were just your average, mostly 9th graders, high school students in an inner city school district.  No matter what I said, or how I said it, there was the distinct feeling that what I was describing just couldn't work..."they all just do 'hearts'?...surely there are a bunch that you really have to 'sit on'?  The reason I bring this up today is that each time I find myself describing this program, I feel a little more convinced that it is the right thing to do, because the arguments against it just don't hold water.  In the end I gave them the name of Dan Pink's book DRIVE and told them they needed to read it in order to fully understand the validity of my program.  We left it at that.  I will be interested to see the next time I see them whether they took my advice.  Hope so.

I'm uploading a video I did today of a couple of students working on their art projects.  One  was in the throes of finishing his and the other is about in the middle.  He had spent an inordinate amount of time in the planning stages of his design.  Wonderful!  Also, here is a picture of Juan's finished work.

Today during first period, a student brought his painting up to me and exclaimed "this is art"..."do YOU think THIS is ART?" I looked at the work and back at him.  I said, you know, to the untrained ear all random sounds are considered music.  A baby will coo and smile at the strangest combinations of sounds...and colors.  Does that make them music?  I told him that his painting would become art to him REALLY when he was at a point where he could see it and describe it in artistic language.  When he could explain how he felt about the painting at an emotional level as well as discuss its merits on a design level; describing it, for instance, in terms of Shape and Rhythm and Movement.  Until then, to him, it probably would be just a piece of paper with some shapes and splashed on watercolor paint that somehow filled up space on a surface.  I'm not sure how long I have thought about art in this way and if anyone out there reading this blog would like to enter into a conversation about the way I discussed this with this student, feel free to comment on this post.  I will definitely enter into a conversation with you and hopefully come to a richer understanding of this so personal a perspective on what art is.