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Art is an expression of the immortal soul of mankind. It is very fragile and needs a nurturing environment to make it "self-expression" a living reality. Too often, self-expression takes second place to a set of prescribed lessons generated to provide information about techniques and styles in use by practicing artists. It is the opinion of this art educator, that critical thinking or self-expression is more important to develop in students than an agenda of artistic skills. It is also my observation that students when given the responsibility for teaching learned skills to others, or provided a practical application of knowledge, strive harder to master skills. Consequently, to achieve a nurturing environment to stimulate critical thinking, decision making, and self-expression, I have created for my art students a studio environment or "open lab" equipped with many different types of media to experiment with. The "creative media" art room forces all students to become teachers. Since the art teacher can only provide help for one medium or skill at a time, each student is expected to "pitch in" and share their present skill level with a beginning student when necessary. Everyone can learn from someone else, because everyone has intelligence and is of value. Many students have told me that they don't like art because they cannot draw. I tell them that they don't need to draw, that there are many other media to choose from. However, I also tell them if they can still move their arm and wrist and hold something in their hand, that they can draw. The student's style does not need to be realistic, impressionistic, abstract expressionism, etc., in order to be good. It only needs to be a product of one's intelligence. The visualization of a student's idea is however limited by the knowledge or skills they possess. The success or failure of an art project is seen in it's completion. Repeated attempts to learn new skills (unfinished projects) may end up in the waste basket. I tell my students not to worry about failure, for it doesn't exist, except for those students who are afraid to try something new and continue to remain in their comfort zone. I also tell my students not to be too critical of themselves, but to make the most of their supposed "failures", by not throwing them away. Often times one "failure" combined with a second "failure" makes for a very interesting art project. In short, I try to inspire creativity in my students, by forcing them to make their own decisions on what materials, equipment and artistic style to use in the expression of the ideas and feelings within them. My job is to create the nurturing environment which will motivate students to want to express themselves in new ways. |
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