REFLECTION

The importance of organization and consistency is one of the many lessons I learned in this course. Students, especially in the art room, need to be able to have an understanding of where to find materials and the expectations of how those materials are to be used, cleaned, and stored. In an unconventional setting, such as the classroom we visited, I can understand how it would be hard to obtain this type of organization, but I still feel it to be just as important.

If this order is achieved, then I believe consistency not only in classroom routine but also in expectation of achievement will soon follow. Students in our field experience did not seem to be able to rely on their teacher in the sense on following through with requests or being knowledgeable of finding what they needed. Even searching for an everyday item such as a sharpened pencil or pen seemed like a continuous struggle. Consistency in order will allow students to feel the classroom to be a reliable environment for their creativity, without this stability the greater the chance of unproductively among the students. Honestly I feel that a more structured classroom, with guided discussions and planned lessons, would benefit the artists of the high school we visited. The school does has certain circumstances that happen more frequently than others, but I still feel that the organization and consistency will lead to and environment that as just as caring, and emotionally connected as it is now, but with a new sense of reliability in which students walk in the door knowing that they will be learning something new and exciting that will result in a finished product.

What surprised me the most about this experience was the amount of maturity these students demonstrated when I learned about the circumstances they were living under. They have been dealt cards that I know as a seventeen-year-old I would not have been able to handle. Once I am an educator in my own classroom, I hope to communicate an understanding that students can come to me for help. I plan to create an atmosphere in which students can feel that I am a reliable, trustworthy, and caring source for knowledge and that I will help them in any way possible. Teachers need to be ready for whatever may come their way because students will look to us for guidance even when they will not show us a shred of respect in the classroom. Educators may not be counselors, but they are the adults that students see every day, encouraging and supporting them, making the effort to build bonds in the classroom that will hopefully give students a feeling of consistency in knowing that their teachers are there to help.

This experience has made me want to continue to explore self destructive tendencies in teenagers as well as cultural differences that may clash in a classroom setting. I would also like to explore the strategies used in art rooms from a multitude of alternative high schools in order to compare techniques and find which benefit students taking into consideration elements of nurture and productivity.

REFLECTION ON TEACHING EXPERIENCES

At our field site I taught a few students the process of creating a stain glass piece. We began by sketching a geometric design that would be simple enough for a first piece. I explained how important it was for the pieces to all fit together and be big enough to grind out and solder. After the designs were complete we made a few copies so that they would always have an image to refer back to. Next the students picked out their glass and glued the design shapes so that they would be ready to cut out the shapes. Students were given a lesson in how to cut the glass and then grind it down to size. This was a long and frustrating process for the students when they realized I was not joking about how precise the pieces had to be in order to fit together. “Like a puzzle,” I explained and from there on out the students did not cut corners in trying to grind down each shape. The soldering process seemed easy for them compared to the length grinding period. Wrapping the copper tape around the shapes and taping the puzzle together to be soldered were the quick steps. But remembering to use the flux and solder neatly seemed to pose a bit of a challenge. It took almost the entire trimester for students to complete their pieces, but the patience and determination that was demonstrated was astounding.
When the students were finished I felt successful in the sense that I knew that they understood the process and would be able to repeat it to create more pieces as well as teach it to peers so they could do the same. But what I felt was unsuccessful, was the amount of time I had to spend with them each week, as well as the organization of the classroom I taught them in. I felt so bad when materials that were crucial to the next step of the process went missing. Even when I tried to label and even hide the supplies they would still go missing. A lot of time was wasted searching for the necessary materials and that took away from the time I could have spent demonstrating so the students would be more prepared for the days I was not at the school.

ITM EX 19: COOPER & OPPENHEIM

Thomas Joshua Cooper, Moonlight - West, Southwest - The Mid Atlantic Oce, 2004 -

The photograph has a mystical feel to it. The composition is balanced by the rock formation and the white line. If the glow behind the white line did not light up the background, then all of the attention would have been focused on the formation in the foreground. This glow also explores the depth conveyed by the composition, showing that there is space beyond the rock formation. Clarity of each surface of the rock formation is created by Cooper’s choice in exposing the photo for a longer period of time so that the light source could be utilize to highlight each uneven edge. Cooper took his time to capture this mystical setting which allows me to imagine him in a trance as he set up the composition for this photograph. The formal elements infer his encapsulation by each detail of the formation and the light that surrounded it. He fell in love, as I would like to say, and it is evident in the time he must have spent to set up the aperture, shutter speed, and focus to capture the state of mind he was in while viewing such a site.

From the description provided about Oppenheim’s process of creating Wolf It Down I can infer that the artist was using similar machinery and tools of those who are stripping the Earth of its resources. In his statement I envision Oppenheim reenacting the process of tearing up the Earth’s surface for selfish desires, but in the end using the same materials to fill the holes in order to make a statement about those who actually do this sort of act on a daily basis. The process described led me to believe Oppenheim to be in state of disbelief as he reenacts the same process that he is trying to speak out against, while still proud as others get the message he is trying to convey in an extremely large dimension.

BUILDING COMMUNITY IN YOUR CLASSROOM

I plan to build a community in my classroom through a variety of projects which encourage students to present their identities to one another as well as work together to create a variety of collaborative projects. My unit for our Advanced Methods class actually was designed around building a community. The first lesson is centered around creating identity boxes and then working as a class to build a super structure of the boxes to represent our class as a community of different identities coming together to form one large representation. The second lesson focuses on working in groups, now that they should have learned more about one another, for a common goal. Students will be designing logos for their Homecoming Week and will be competing to create the best logo to be chosen to represent the school. The third lesson involves a similar campaign element, but students will use the strength of their own community to inform the world about certain issues that they feel inclined to advocate for.

The personal exploration as well as group work that is involved in this unit was planned in order for students to better understand one another and learn to work together, putting aside their differences, for a common goal. My desire was to have them learn about one another so that gang activity, social isolation, cliques, language, discrimination, disability, and socio economic status would no longer separate students from one another as they focus on a project they can all relate to.

Now I know this goal may be a far fetched utopia, but I believe that if students are given a chance to work with one another and are encouraged to explore their identities and share their discoveries, then students will be supported in the steps to understanding one another. We need to foster lessons that support students in a journey to meet people different from their own backgrounds and learn to connect with them on a multitude of levels. It is my goal to achieve this understanding through conducting lessons that are valid to students’ lives with purposeful meanings that are clear to both teacher and class.

CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT

At our field site there are issues in classroom management related to structure. Since the environment is rather unorganized and type of free for all, the students encounter frustrations in looking for specific materials they wish to use as well as projects they have began and are missing when they return the next day.

The organization of materials is also accompanied by a lack of structure in terms of learning lessons. Students have total freedom to explore a variety of mediums and to work on most projects that their imaginations can think up, which is successful in the sense that they are supported and encouraged to follow the flow of personal creativity. But even with the small class size it is hard to answer every student's questions when they are all working on different projects. This freedom also makes it hard to monitor the progress of every student since they can start and stop projects without warning or explanation. Sometimes it is a struggle just to get students to work; often there is at least one artist who will sit unproductively during a class period.

I think it would be great to encourage the class to think of one art form, as a group, that they would really like to learn about and simultaneously create projects in similar mediums so they can get feed back from each other in the process. I would hope this resulted in the class building a stronger creative community through the process of learning a new art form as a group.

Tate Gallery

MOTIVATION

Lack of motivation seemed to occur the most when I was in Spanish IV my senior year of high school. I lacked motivation on nearly every assignment because it felt like no matter how hard I tried or how often I came in for help my answers would still be wrong. The point at which I lost almost all motivation was when I would have the exact answer as the student next to me and he would get it right and I got it wrong. When I brought this to the attention of my teacher she said that he just got lucky. When this kept occurring I did not even bother talking to her about it and basically did not even want to open my mouth in class. This experience turned me into the type of student I had never been before, a student who had shut down. I was only like that in this particular class and the only thing that motivated me to try at all was that fact that I could fail, something I had never come close to doing.
I believe I can help students overcome a lack of motivation by staying consistent in my practices and showing that I care by investing time in their success. At our field site there is one student in particular who seems to lack motivation and does not even consider herself an artist. Once I confronted her claim of not being an artist by pointing out her series of successful portraits as well as her on going practice outside of school she began to see that she was not only an artist, but an artist with a body of work to be proud of. I asked her to bring in some of her photographs from home and the day she did, a group of students came over and started going through her work and lavishing her with the compliments she deserved. Her work was good, plain and simple. It took telling her that she has talent and the confirmation from her peers to get the student to see that she is a skilled artist, particularly in photography, that should continue her practice in the classroom.

RESPONSE TO Ch11 ADOLESCENTS AT SCHOOLBEYOND CATEGORIES

My expectation for the field experience that we encountered this fall was to work with and get to know students from more challenging backgrounds than the one I came from. I was not sure of the range of differences, but I expected the experience to open my eyes to a different spectrum of students than I have worked with before. One student that I have spent a lot of my time with comes from a situation that I could not even imagine handling at her age. From first glance I felt a connection with her because I noticed that she drew on herself, something I did a lot in high school. I inquired about the drawings and it led to a conversation about movies. The three dots were a symbol from one of her favorite movies and we discussed a few more I had never heard of. I had her make a list for me because I wanted to understand the symbolism. That weekend I went and rented the movies and watched them to become closer to this student. I related to this student through the fact that my interests were often drawn on my body and that I would tend to redraw symbols while bored in class. But what separated us was the meaning of the symbols. The movies the student had me watch were all related to her Chicano heritage, something I knew little about. I enjoyed watching each movie and made sure to come back with questions about the different terms and phrases I did not understand.
This student’s identity has a lot to do with her race and it is something she is proud of. The pieces that she worked on while I was in the classroom reflected one of her favorite places in San Diego, the Chicano Park. She explained to me all of the different aspects of the park that made it so special, as well as the experiences she had there. We worked together to represent this feeling of pride while recreating each segment of the park. I loved listening to her stories and watching her eyes light up as she explained the car shows that went on there. Part of this student’s identity is her race and the traditions she found through her connection to the Chicano Park, as woman with European heritage whose family came over from Sicily three generations before her, I do not feel the same connection to my heritage. Even though I am Sicilian, one would not be able to tell by looking at my face or by the traditions that I practice. From this student I have learned to investigate a part of my identity that I do not want to lose, even though my family has become more and more ‘Americanized’ through out the years.

STAYING AN ARTS ADVOCATE

I believe it is extremely important to remain an advocate for the arts, especially in one’s district. My plan to do this will be cool, calm, and steady. I want to remain an advocate by publicizing my on going work, the work of others, as well as of the students around the school and the community. By handing out flyers, pamphlets, and even creating informational handouts myself I want to advocate for the local artists both inside and outside of the school through pleasant action. I want to be a proactive advocate through reputation, experience, and knowledge. Students will be involved by helping to advertise for local galleries, programs, and events by creating flyers themselves as well as attending what they are advocating for. A group will be formed of students who would like to work specifically on involving students and teachers outside of the art program to become active in participating in community art events of all types. Together we will work to plan transportation to the events as well as sign up sheets for those who would like to receive more information. Together we will advocate for the arts, but in a peaceful informative manner. Simply stated, we will just be putting the information out there for others to join and act upon if desired.
I believe that the only risk involved in advocacy is if you do it in a forceful manner, pushing topics that may be frowned upon in the community. Art is a necessary part of society that can do a great deal of good if prioritized correctly and by simply shedding light on this fact, “going with the flow” of the community, then there should be no risk to advocacy. One needs to simply highlight the positives in the community that are the direct result of the work of artists.

GROSZ & KENTRIDGE

The particular piece I examined by Grosz is entitled Republican Automatons. In reviewing the specified questions I would agree to the piece being propagandistic, subversive, therapeutic, rebellious, and somewhat traitorous. Since Grosz had had gone into WWI expecting it to end all wars and was let down in his beliefs, eventually leading him to commit acts that would be said to insult the German army, the image can evoke feelings of each adjective listed above. Even though Grosz eventually decided to steer his focus in a different direction, his past in Germany is clearly portrayed in this painting, capturing a personal portrayal of German society.
After watching William Kentridge’s History of the Main Complaint and reading about it in our text, I believe it to be propagandistic and therapeutic in nature. The piece portrays the effects of apartheid on an entire country and how the mere existence of the government implemented act lingers on in its people. Kentridge relates to his audience something that can only be felt by those who experienced it and in his therapeutic and emotional filled images Kentridge makes the effects clear. As a viewer my heart sunk, I felt pain, suffering, as well as a feeling of distress even though I was not a physical witness to all that occurred.

THE BENEFITS OF COLLABORATIVE ARTMAKING

There are many benefits to collaborative artmaking: joint ideas, making connections through art, communicating to a community of people with a community of people, expanding your world to reach a variety of people, and last but not least opening your mind to others resulting in growth as an artist. Service-learning projects will fit right into my curriculum by having students participate in community events and tailoring lessons to the society in which the school exists in. Artists can benefit greatly by participating in community outreach programs and becoming a part of their town by brightening it up through sponsored art work.
I am glad this topic came up because when I organically make art, it is usually alone and I have wanted to branch out in my techniques of creation. In the past I have been asked to collaborate with friends, but after the discussion we just never got around to it. Recently I made a point of creating a collaborative piece with a dear friend who happens to be a brilliant writer. I pulled out a slat of wood and shaped a pipe cleaner to look like an ambiguous body of the string family of instruments. The shape could have depicted a guitar, violin, viola, cello, or bass. After gluing the shape down I asked my friend to take a break from his journal and move his writing to the tree his paper came from. A bit confused, my friend took a liking to writing on wood and put his thoughts of the ambiguous shape down on the slat. From that point I went in a new direction with the pipe cleaner form and put my two-cents down as well. What came of it is a beautiful piece that I hope will inspire my students to take advantage of the collaborative process as often as possible. I want them to understand that everyone is an artist in their own way, and when we uniquely combine strengths, our technical skills and ability to nurture the transformation of ideas will become enhanced.

STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES

When reminiscing over my past experiences with people with disabilities, I have come to realize I have had a wide range of experiences. The one that seemed to change my perspective on teaching was the memory of an older girl on my swim team that continued her love for the sport despite the limitations placed on her by cerebral palsy. She was probably five years older than me, a girl that had been on the team way before I joined and someone I came to admire. Even though she was not the strongest swimmer and could not compete with the same strength as her peers, she was someone I looked up to because of her determination and desire to swim even without the use of her legs. She is someone who is defined by her crutches, but in the water they no longer set her a part from the rest of the world. Most would view her and immediately remove the idea of swimmer from their mind, but she proved them wrong. This girl swam all throughout high school and showed me not to judge someone on their disability or to cast any of the possibilities aside. No longer will I see a student as disabled, but as a person who has to go about their lives in a different manner in order to accomplish the same tasks. As teachers we are there to guide and support them to be successful in these differences and I believe that is a lesson we all need to consistently remember.

Posted below is a link to a website promoting artists with disabilities
http://www.vsarts.org/x203.xml

EXPLORING CULTURE

I really enjoyed the way From Ordinary to Extraordinary contained a lesson in which encouraged students to explore their heritage and take three weeks before the project even began to collect stories, pictures, and icons that represent the information they gathered. This emphasis allows students to understand that their family, no matter how different from their peers’, has a history that is important to symbolically portray to others. Students should be inspired by cultural icons to make their own representations and versions tailored to the stories they obtained about their particular family. These images are extremely important paths leading to an informative and interpretive representation about our students’ backgrounds. If a student wants to include an image that is culturally significant but deemed inappropriate, then I would encourage them to use an aspect of that symbol to be portrayed in that work. For example, in one of our past experiences in class a student wanted to make a stain glass window of the confederate flag. We had to encourage her to recognize that the recreation would be offensive therefore she could make a star from the flag, but not the flag itself.

THE CRAFTING OF AN ARTISTIC SELF

I would say I have developed an artistic self in the manner that I allow my person to be surrounded by the exact environment and emotional state I am in at that very moment. For example I believe oil painting is a process of falling in love. Entering the room, I slowly put my belongings down and set up my easel station. Lately the room has been all askew, easels, chairs, drawers all around, but in no particular order. Before I begin my search I like to have my easel adjusted, my chair securely behind it, table top to my right, and my handy stool in the northeast corner of the compass of items to elevate my still life. After that is entirely set up, I excuse myself to unlock my materials. I head toward locker number 44, fumbling with my keys to find the right one, all the while pondering which item will strike my fancy today. Nike box and new board in hand, I head back towards the classroom, usually in a careful manner seeing as the maintenance men are hard at work mopping the tile floors. Escaping the death trap that lurks in the halls of the cubical maze, I enter the room to set up my supplies; small DRF board (no bigger than 8 by 8 inches), small tear of freezer paper held down by masking tape, two jars (one of medium, one of terpenoid), and my bouquet of paint brushes rolled up in an old towel.
With my station set up I begin my journey across the room to the shelves of inspiration, to meet my mate. Gazing at each shelf in a daze, I stand there waiting to feel a connection with a particular object. It is a process of finding an object that encapsulates me to the point at which I am in a love spell for the next two hours. Usually I am inspired by just one object, one lonely piece. Sometimes the piece chosen will have a flaw I am attracted to that makes me inquire what it may represent in me or to me. The actual painting process is time for me to explore the questions that the still life inspired.
Once the object is selected, I head back to my station to start the positioning process. Artist in chair, I meticulously begin to move the object around on the stool in the northeast corner. This is an important process for me because falling in love with an object, also means falling in love with the scenario I put it in. Examples of this include a violin lying on its back, a severely broken tea pot wrapped in a cloth, and a ladder facing the corner of a room.
Finally I begin to paint. I choose my brush, one color of paint, and start to manipulate its pigment with medium. Choosing one color challenges me to use different brush strokes and hues to get the desired effect. I paint deliberately, and then observe, repeating the process over and over again until the image is finished. One class period, that is all the time I will allow myself to ferment over the painting. I feel that it would only be detrimental to spend too much time trying to perfect the raw image that came from my inspiration. One is only in love once, and I am only in that exact frame of mind once.

LGBT ISSUES

If a student came out to me, I would discuss with them their options for support as well as whom else they had made aware. If they did not feel their family or friends would be comfortable with his/her sexuality then I would suggest to them a support group that could prepare them with the skills to handle such a situation.
Before I even accept a job placement at a school I will ask in the interview their views on LGBT students and the efforts they put forth to make them feel more comfortable in the school environment. My ideal school would have a well established GSA that students were accepting and well aware of.
In order to make my art room a safe space for all students I would make sure to have a safe zone sticker up, enforce the rules about derogatory comments including ‘that’s gay’, as well as include LGBT artist’s work of all ethnicity so that students can see that not all artists are straight painters from France. I want all my students, gay, straight, bi, mixed, white, Hispanic, Black, and Asian to feel that their interests are represented in my lessons.

TWO IMAGES BY LGBT ARTISTS TO INCLUDE IN FUTURE LESSON PLANS

A Conversation with Oscar Wilde (1998)
Green Granite and Bronze
Maggi Hambling


An Image of Celia
Size (''): 39.37 x 26.38
David Hockney

THE ROLE OF ART AS A REPOSITORY FOR COLLECTIVE MEMORY

Prior to the invention of photography, art was a way of recording important events and people usually in a painterly manner. Even before the use of modern written language, cave art depicted hunts in Lascaux France. The French Revolution inspired many paintings of battles, heroes, important leaders, and icons that symbolized the historic event. But after the invention of the photograph in 1839 the need for depicting such historical events did not have to be fulfilled in a long drawn out manner. Photographs could capture soldiers, royalty, and events the way they were at that very moment. Painting pictures meant seeing the event how the artist chose to depict it according to composition and color scheme, but a photograph had the ability to capture the moment in a more literal sense. Even though both pieces are seen through the artist’s eyes, photography gives the audience a sense of realism that cannot be distorted.

DESCRIMINATION

When pondering over a time I was discriminated against, height came to mind. In my adolescent years volleyball was extremely important to me and earning a spot on a highly competitive club team had caught my eye. As one of the stars of my junior high team I felt completely confident in my abilities and fairly sure that I had what it would take to earn my place. Well aware of my height deficiency, I knew that I had to be on top of my game. My friend who was well over six inches taller than me was also trying out. She did not have as much experience, nor did she prove to be consistent on our school team. The day of the try outs came and we had to fill out a sheet asking us for our age, height, position desired, and experience on other teams. Immediately I knew once they had my height in writing that it would be very difficult for me to get noticed. Try outs began and the coaches with clip boards began to circulate and gather stats as we ran through drills. During one of the best passing drills of my career I noticed that none of the coaches with clip boards were coming my way. That was one of the first times I remember feeling discriminated against.
A time where I discriminated against someone else stemmed from junior high. There was a boy who had an odor that did not make it easy for him to make friends. Our last names were close together in the alphabet and put us close together in locker order starting in junior high and lasting all through out high school. His smell deterred me from conversing with him and actually led me to believe he must be a grotesque boy that came from a family that did not care about cleanliness. Finally during my senior year we began to chat during passing periods because of a class we had together, despite his odor, and I got to know him better. His friends also gave off a similar vibe and I would group them together as an awkward group with questionable hygiene skills. By the end of senior year that group of boys became some of my favorites around school. This experienced taught me not to judge people based on their appearance and even their smell.
During one of our Human Relations activities we had to judge students from their pictures and there was a student who looked just like one of the boys I discriminated against. Looking at that picture I smiled and knew what other kids may be writing about his goofy hair and dark make up. To me he was the exact opposite of what others may have thought of him because of the lesson I learned in high school. I will carry this lesson with me through out life and especially in the classroom.

RESPONSE TO TINGUELY & MORALES, EXAMPLES OF…

Artists that exemplify the audience’s relationships with:
A STATIC, HARMLESS ART OBJECT
Méta-mécanique sonore II
1955 exhibition at Galerie Samlaren in Stockholm
Jean Tinguely

AN ACTIVE, HARMLESS ART OBJECT
The Crown Fountain
Millennium Park Chicago, Illinois
Designed by Spanish artist Jaume Plensa

AN ACTIVE, DANGEROUS ART OBJECT
Dreamspace
July 2006 Chester-le-Street, England
Maurice Agis
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/wear/7964916.stm

AN ART OBJECT THAT INVITES PARTICIPATION
BP Bridge
Millennium Park Chicago, Illinois
Frank Gehry

AN ART OBJECT THAT IMPOSES PARTICIPATION
Cloud Gate
Millennium Park Chicago, Illinois
Anish Kapoor

ACCEPTING IMPERMANENCE

In our reading Skip Schuckmann discusses his acceptance of impermanence and in my search I found the artist Andy Goldsworthy to feel the same. He too is inspired by the natural environment that surrounds him.

He states, "I enjoy the freedom of just using my hands and "found" tools--a sharp stone, the quill of a feather, thorns. I take the opportunities each day offers: if it is snowing, I work with snow, at leaf-fall it will be with leaves; a blown-over tree becomes a source of twigs and branches. I stop at a place or pick up a material because I feel that there is something to be discovered. Here is where I can learn."

Andy relies on pictures to capture his work. To view some of his photographs click on this link
http://www.morning-earth.org/ARTISTNATURALISTS/AN_Goldsworthy.html

When looking over his pieces I felt alive in remembering the beauty of ordinary objects that most people tend to look over in their busy lives. This reflection reminds me of Skip's definition of bulldozer consistency. We really do need to take a second and reflect on the gift that nature creates around us, to appreciate the gladness or satisfaction that may result from this purposeful pause.

DRAWING

This is one of my drawings that was a product of the key components that I believe to be necessary to teaching the art of drawing. It is one my favorites because it depicts still life as well as motion through line, shade, scale, and stroke. When I look at it I feel the model in motion, the weight of her limbs shifting before the class and the emotion the body portrayed as it created the traditional poses. This drawing depicts my passion for capturing the human form and the art of using line and shape to build what we see as life.

KEY COMPONENTS TO TEACHING DRAWING

I think the key components to teaching drawing include observation, investment, composition, and scale. Students need to be able to first create an appealing composition that will not only hold their attention but also the attention of their audience. Once they have mastered this technique of personal investment in object and composition they will have to become skilled in observation. Each object hold a place in the composition that will need to be represented effectively. Finally students will need to learn the skills that go hand in hand with depicting still life realistically as well as abstractly which includes measuring object relations with a pencil, observing negative space, color, and line.
Adolescents have the desire to achieve naturalistic renderings but also need to understand the importance of abstraction. In Vieth's third chapter of 'From Ordinary to Extraordinary' he discusses a technique in which students enlarge the scale of an ordinary object until the image is no longer recognizable; all that one will see are the shapes and colors the artist chooses to depict the object in. I believe this to be a technique strong enough to balance the need for naturalism while achieving abstraction simultaneously.

IDENTITY

I'd say my identity from a high school to college student has changed in the sense that I am more aware of the world around me. High school was a world in itself with each day presenting a new challenge. But once I found my place there I was reluctant to look elsewhere for confirmation. As a college student I am constantly looking to resources both within and outside of the University to confirm my ambitions, my goals, and essentially my identity.
In high school my artwork was more of a release for me. Whether it was through poetry, hand-sewing, sketching on notes, or my bedroom wall (started behind the door so my parents would not see)making art was my alone time to express what was going on in my life, how certain events made me feel even though my pieces do not come out and say just that. Constantly busy with sports and friends I rarely had time to evaluate my emotions and really think about what was going on and I liked it that way. But when I began to notice that something just did not feel right inside of me I would look to some form of art to get back to that balanced state.
Becoming an art student in college allowed me the time to tap into my emotions and portray them through even the dullest of objects, a rat/cat/squirrel plastic form is coming to mind. My artwork now reflects not only the time I have to reflect, but also the technique and skill I have learned from many talented influences. I'd definitely say that my artwork in college has led me to more breakthroughs in my identity than it ever did in high school.

ARTIST AS TEACHER

I believe my practices as an artist will help me to relate to my students on both an academic and personal level. Being an artist means investing time in the process of trial and error as well as finding a unique way to express oneself. Students will look to me for encouragement as they struggle to achieve the desired effect and when they feel they have lost their way on the road to creation. We will be able to share stories and help one another to grow from any problem that may be standing in the way of the creative process. I hope my advice and experience will teach them to expect the unexpected and to keep their mind open to the transformation of ideas.

Artists learn how to express themselves and in achieving that skill they also pick up the essential skill of successful communication. Not only do artists have to be able verbally explain their work, they also need to be able to be articulate writers in the sense that they must explain the all inspiration, techniques used, and the step-by-step process that led to the finished product. If one masters the art of explaining to others the way in which they passionately achieved a fine piece and is able to understand the importance of the developmental process then they have been granted the teaching seed.

As an older artist who has been in practice for years I hope to serve as a strong tree for my students to lean on; roots firm in classic technique, strong trunk sturdy with experience, and long extending branches reaching to seek the latest trends. My work is a part of that tree and will be shared with my students so that they can see that I am in constant practice and current in my advice. Pieces will also serve as examples in lessons to validate my stories of creation as well as prove that I practice what I preach.

I love to sketch and carry around a journal to write or draw in, or to plan new projects. My drive to keep producing will only be encouraged by teaching since it will be a new chapter in life to express. Art has always been an outlet for me, a way to communicate what is going through my mind with out saying it, and that is why I believe teaching art will just be a new jumping off point for my pieces.

I believe Vieth characterizes the relationship between teaching and art making as a constant cycle: make art, learn from process, research and learn the latest of what you just made, experience other pieces in that media, and make a purposeful lesson from that experience for your students.
In order to balance the need to teach technical skills with the need to help students make art that is personally meaningful and creative I plan to help students to see the skills as essential tools so that they will be able to easily express themselves in the art realm. One has to learn to walk before they can run.

HIGH SCHOOL

High school was a blast for me, but I have surprisingly come to find that the experience for many of my peers was not as positive. I was an extremely involved student who felt the school to be a second home. Class began around 7 am and I would not get home until 6 or 7 pm depending on the day. Whether it was volleyball, soccer, and choir concerts or dance team commitments, NHS meetings, and Mentor obligations, I consistently seemed to be roaming the halls for some reason or another. Being involved helped me to think of my school community as a family, making close ties with my peers as well as teachers.
Since I had such a wonderful experience, I am afraid I have acquired rose-colored glasses to the idea of high school. Have I forgotten what it was like to be a freshman trying to learn the ways of a new school? Even though this reflection helps me to reminisce it will still be difficult to understand where every student is coming from. Naturally I will expect my students to want to get as involved as possible, but I have learned that not all students will have the time or finances to do so.
What gets me most excited about teaching high school students is the potential for making great connections with my students and sharing my passion for art. Sure some of my students may not enjoy art in the same manner, but I am ready for the challenge of inspiring them to see the beauty in learning how to express oneself through aesthetics. I expect that not all students will have the same amount of drive and they their motivation will vary from day to day. High school can be tough and I expect students to have their ups and downs in both their work and emotions.
From the upcoming experiences I think I will learn how to face my fear of not knowing where every student is coming from through personal experience as well as realizing that not every student will be as easy to reach as others. As a nurturing being I want everyone to feel safe and comfortable in expressing themselves no matter their opinion or background and in time I plan to learn the best approach to attain this goal.

I am the Weebia Tree, representing the growth of one who has chosen the path to become an art teacher. I started as a seedling growing from a large family raised in the city of Chicago. Being so close to a metropolitan area I got to experience the privilege of being surrounded by galleries, museums, and many traveling exhibitions. My love for the visual arts began at the Art Institute of Chicago and has grown, stemming from this root, throughout my life. Even though I enjoy exploring other institutions for inspiration I still go back to the Institute to reflect and meditate; it has become my sanctuary.