Sound familiar? These statements are incredibly frequent during my conversations at parent/teacher conferences, and even among my peers. Why, among adults, is a talent in visual arts so black and white?  To answer this you have to start at the very beginning.

When we had our first art classes, the vast majority of students (myself included) enjoyed the free-experimentation of basic “kid-friendly” art materials like tempera paint, safety scissors, crayons, Elmer’s glue and construction paper. Depending on the art teacher leading the class, the students were either encouraged to create and use their imagination, strictly observe, or create seasonal crafts.  Many of these activities lasted right on through from kindergarten to sixth grade.

In middle school, everything changes, and a more formal art curriculum is taught, focused on pencils, ceramics, acrylic or even oil paint.  Observational techniques and tips such as modeling with shading, atmospheric, one and two-point perspective, portraiture and figure drawing are introduced. The problem is that at this point, only students who make room in their schedule will receive this seemingly secret wisdom of the ages. Art is now merely elective in the student’s education.

In high school, the divide is even more vast, where in my experience, the students taking art classes are most likely planning to major in art or art education in college, taking courses like AP Art, and studio credits.  Students now imbue their work with meaning, go on trips to local museums, talk about the cultural context of masterpieces, delve into defining what art is, and debate the legitimacy of groundbreaking new pieces.

Why are these essential activities reserved for only for those students who have chosen art as their career? Why are these skills introduced only after ten years of “experimenting”?  It is after this period of time that the majority of students plateau in their artistic skills when they choose not to continue in middle or high school.

How can an adult understand how to draw a self-portrait, if they have never learned the basic proportions of the face, and how to draw the facial features using simple geometric forms? How can they hope to create a non-objective sculpture that expresses joy if they have never previously stretched that muscle?

Students as early as five years old can understand the importance of an art critique.  They can judge whether a thing may or may not be “art.”  They can understand the concepts of the horizon line and cast shadows.  They can study anatomy and translate the workings of the human form into detailed drawings.  They can speak extensively about the meaning they gather from their own work and the work of their peers.

At this critical time of development we need to teach elementary students what art can be in all of its confusing, inspiring, and complicated glory.  Any concept that might be taught in high school or university can be presented in such a way that a first grader might gain basic understanding, and that a fifth or sixth grade student can devour completely.

Our curriculum this year will begin with Art Criticism and Aesthetics, which is to say that we will ask the question “What is Art?” and attempt to answer it. Art Criticism is really just a fancy way to say that we have discussions about artwork. Every student from Kindergarten through Sixth grade will practice the skills necessary to view artwork and have an informed conversation using advanced art vocubulary. We will also discuss context for the artwork we view, placing artists and art pieces in their time period and culture to understand and extract meaning and purpose.

Our studio work will span most techniques of professional artists, beginning in observational drawing, then tackling sculptural forms through clay, wire, and even cardboard. We will then incorporate color theory before jumping into a painting unit to synthesize the skills of observation, shading, placement, color mixing, and creating the illusion of space. In the spring, our lessons take on a more conceptual feel, as we focus on meaning more heavily than the actual appearance of things in the world around us. We will experiment with media such as film, photography, animation, puppetry, and bookmaking.

One very exciting change is that we have a student teacher joining us until December. Marissa Poole is a student at MassArt, and she is very familiar with the Kingsley community through babysitting work for the Soderlund and Wheelan families in the Early Childhood program. From her frequent visits at dismissal, Marissa grew to know and befriend the faculty at the Fairfield building and decided to explore the Elementary program. Below, Marissa explains the philosophy behind her studio work.

I have always thought about how sixty seconds equals a minute, and sixty minutes equals an hour and that turns into a day, which turns into weeks, months, years. My work is based around this idea of little moments that add up to make a life. I normally see something or find something that adds to my day and take a photograph of it. From there, the photograph itself either gets incorporated into a painting/collage, or I just use it to fuel whatever it is that I need to make. This is an example of a photo I took that turned into a transfer collage.

Color theory and optics are vital parts of every art student’s education up through the collegiate level! There are many wonderful resources on the web that can help enrich your understanding of color, and here’s a quick sampling of my favorites:

Causes of Color is a fabulous site that explores color from many different angles, including the science of Optics, and explanations for color in nature.

Color in Motion is a wonderful interactive media site that includes animation, games, and activities, that focus on the feelings and symbolism evoked by primary and secondary colors.

Color Theory by Worqx is slightly more text heavy, but also incredibly full of straightforward information with helpful diagrams.

This Color Mixing Game invites the player to match the hue of the bouncing ball by clicking on different colors to add. This is a great way to practice color mixing skills for painting!

It is important to note that many students do not experience color in a way that the majority of the world does, and these people are often categorized as “color-blind.” These students can participate in color theory lessons in a modified way, and have much to share with the class regarding their different visual take on the world

Color-blindness is the inability to distinguish the differences between certain colors. This condition results from an absence of color-sensitive pigment in the cone cells of the retina, the nerve layer at the back of the eye. Approximately 1 out of 12 males and 1 out of 200 women are color blind.

(includes what not to do- my hands make too many cameos! must practice more!)

I am inspired by the work done through the fabulous edublogs familiar to me, especially NeverEnding Search, which happens to belong to my very talented mom.
I will endeavor to make this blog a place to find inspiration, controversy and general musings on the art world, the education world and where those two worlds meet.