Last weekend I took a flight out to New Mexico where I had the opportunity to present at the NMAEA Conference. The topic was Everything My Students Taught Me About Art Education. As teachers, we teach students every day but at the same time, our students teach us as well. A few examples, art brings people together, don't underestimate students, and never have a hot pepper challenge.

 It was a fun trip, beautiful country side (see photo above of view from the hotel) but a lot of travel for such a short period of time. I also had the chance to meet with some people i don't get to see every day. Like Nancy Walkup the editor of SchoolArts Magazine.

While I was gone, the students at South B kept making art... Here's a look at some of the happenings this week.

Happy November! Above, a work done by Audrey. She is exploring inserting her own characters into photographs that she takes.

Last week we did a unit on Photography. One of the daily challenges was based on the work of Shamekh Bluwi. The challenge was to cut out parts of an image and photograph the image with different background. For this work, we printed out the image of Ariel from the Little Mermaid.

Ellea has been exploring oil paint. This week she ran a few tutorials to improve her skills.

Brooke just got a iPad and an Apple Pen. This piece is still a work in progress so ignore the feet ;)

Noah purchased his own spray paint to create this multi part stencil. Also  a  WIP.

Ilaina doesn't think she can paint but I think it's coming along swimmingly. 

Jeana was interested in painting a landscape. So, we sat down and went over some basic tippy tappy tree techniques. She created her first one below in acrylic. Then we were like, "You should try oil paints." And she was like, "What's that?" And so we gave her some oil paints and she did the one above. Growth in the forest.

I'm not much into decorating the bulletin board. I posted a fresh sheet of white paper, put orange border around it and walked away. I figured I do something soon, just didn't know what.

One of the students decided, without asking, to hot glue a pack of sticky notes to the board. Other students starting drawing on the sticky notes and putting them in random spots on the previously empty board. Soon, we had a fair amount of sticky notes. 

Later, in the afternoon, when most students had left, the original student started grading the sticky note art. She would also leave little comments. We teachers call that assessment. 

Now the board is getting filled. People keep making art and then checking back the next day to receive their assessment. Nobody knows who the assessor is.  

We talked about how artists incorporate scale into their art. these students decided to recreate their favorite lollipop, large scale. WIP.

These students wanted to try light painting. They found that it was trickier than they expected. This is one of their earlier pieces. We'll keep an eye on their work and see were how it progresses.

Zonkeys are easy to draw but very hard to create in 3D. This student designed this Zonkey on the 3D printer.

Click here to Watch the video, What If... TAB?

One day last week Aidan brought in a tshirt, white pants, and sneakers. He asked everyone to write or draw on these clothing items so everyone did. Later in the week, Aidan wore the outfit to school. So, that's what's happening with that. 

Speaking of Aidan... he's been working on a series of small drawings and then combining the images into one large image. each squre is 7" x 7" so the finished work is rather large. The images used represent things from his life he deems important or not important. Its sort of like a self portrait.

Meanwhile, Gavin brought in a canvas and has been experimenting with paint pouring. He's been interested in the cells that one might find in a more traditional paint pour but is also interested in the drip style produced by having the canvas on the easel as opposed to having it flat on the table.

Kimber finished her sword that she had been working on. It was constructed out of cardboard and foam, then wrapped in plaster gauze to give it support. Painting added the finishing touches.

This set of photos is from a rare occurrence that only happens on special occasions. Everyone in the room was working! Lol! OK I'm half kidding but sometimes teaching art is more like herding cats. Having those rare days when all the cats are focused deserves its own post ;) 

Then this happened.

Though many artists begin the art making process with a subject, some begin by gathering materials. They may find these materials on the side of the street, at a local market, or while taking a walk in the woods. 

For this unit, Artists Collect & Synthesize, we asked students to collect objects and then synthesize them into something new. First, we looked at artists who collect things to make art. Artists included Lenka Clayton. One example of her work is titled 43 Wishes which is a collection of 43 coins retrieved from a fountain. Another example is a piece titled 63 Objects Taken from my Son's Mouth which, as the title infers, is a collection of items Lenka Clayton removed from her son’s mouth when he was between the ages of 8 and 15 months old.  

We also looked at artists who synthesize their collections such as Angela Haseltine Pozzi. She is the founder of Washed Ashore, an organization that creates giant sculptures of sea creatures using only the plastic found on the beach. The mission of Washed Ashore is to bring awareness to the world's growing plastic pollution problem through their art. 

After the one day challenge, students were given the week's concept objective. Create a work of art by collecting and synthesizing stuff. Here are some of the results.

We just closed out week three here at the Art of South B and there is lots of stuff going on.  Most AP art students have finished their first sustained investigation project, setting the stage for the rest of the year. Beginner Art finished up their first unit, The Object , and will start their next unit on Monday. Intermediate Art worked on Blind Portraits and everyone else... well, they are making art! Here's a look at the Happenings the week of September 20th.

What if you were asked to create a portrait of someone? How would you start? What medium would you use? What if you didn't know what the person looked like? What if you didn't know the person at all?

This week, the Intermediate class was given the opportunity to participate in the Blind Portrait project. Each student completed a short questionnaire about themselves. Question suggestions included, If you didn't have to sleep, what would you do with the extra time? What TV channel doesn't exist but really should? What are some small things that make your day better?

After the questionnaires were completed, they were given to another student anonymously.  Then, the students had the week to come up with designs and create a final work. Today, the artists were told who they had. They then gave the portrait they created to their person. 

There are two swords currently in the works. If you saw the shield on the previous post that Max created, then you can understand his sword. it's all part of an outfit he has been working on. It's created out of foam sheets Max purchased at Lowe's Hardware. He uses a dremel to cut and carve it out, then connects the pieces with rubber cement.  Next step, paint and stain the sword.

The second sword, below, is created using cardboard that is wrapped in plaster gauze. Styrofoam was also used to create some of the detail. this sword, like the one above, is also in a work in progress. We'll post more photos when they are each done.

Over in Beginner Art, the class just finished up their first Nine unit titled, the Object. For their final work, they were asked to create a work of art where the subject was an object. They were them encouraged to place emphasis on either a type of balance or repetition.. or both. 

The work above started with the flower as the object. Then them used emphasize repetition to repeat the pattern. Below, are other works showing asymmetrical and symmetrical balance. The last one on the right is a series (repetition) demonstrating the life of an avocado.

What started as a paper airplane soon advanced into a project to design many different types of paper airplanes. of course, they needed to determine which flew the best. This project has since advanced as the students are creating an aircraft carrier out of cardboard to carry their fleet of planes.

Laverne and Shirley here are creating a photo booth for the upcoming homecoming dance. This year's theme for the homecoming dance is TV shows. So Spongebob was a must. There will also be a Friends booth and possibly a Walking Dead booth as well.

I guess Keely just wanted to make sure everyone washed their hands...

Despite hurricane Dorian's best efforts to put a damper, literally, on the start of our year, we were back at school this week and our TAB class is up and running. There is a lot going on.

Our Beginner Art students have completed the media fair and have started their first Nine Unit, the Object. Our other classes, went through the week using the Modular Method. This includes starting with an Artistic Behavior Unit. This week's units introduced proportion and repetition. We also opened the first Table of the year with marbling. 

Above, Max is working on a suit of armor. The piece shown is part of the helmet he's working on. The images below show the process he's been working through.

AP Art is back for the third year at South Brunswick and it's our biggest class ever. 16 students are enrolled with 13 taking 2D and three students in 3D. However, its all new this year. the AP class no longer has a Breadth section and to be honest, we're glad. TAB lends itself perfectly to working a sustained investigation.

Our motto for this year: It's the Journey: Question - Experiment - Grow 

Brooke is starting the year by asking how she can use her art to open a dialog about anxiety. This first piece, which is digital, is a work in progress and not finished yet. Below, you can see her process as she moves from sketch to finished product.

Natalie's investigation consists of her starting with a drawing from nature. The flower pictured here is one example, though she plans to incorporate other types of plants and trees as she works through the process. She starts with a drawing that she creates in traditional media. The drawing of the flower below on the left was created in charcoal. She then imports her traditional work into Photoshop were she creates many new designs and compositions.

Meanwhile, in the other art classes, we are introducing new concepts each week. Some of these are in the form of Artistic Behavior Units such as Artists Steal and Artists Solve Problems. Other units ask the student to consider more traditional topics such as elements and principles of art.  One of the units we are currently exploring is Proportion. We looked at proportion and the figure, as well as foreshortening, exaggeration and distortion. The students then have the option to create a work of art that incorporates proportion in some way. 

Meanwhile, over in Beginning Art, we have started our first of the Nine with The Object. To kick off the unit, the students were given the Tantamounter challenge.  Groups of students try to recreate an object using art supplies available in the room. The replicas are created tantamount to the original though often in clever and whimsical ways. 

Our Intermediate class follows a Modular system. Each day, they are introduced to a new module of a unit. These modules cover a Concept, an Artist and a Technique. There is also an optional module called the Table that is offered to students each Tuesday. The Table projects are usually hands on, craft type work that gets students out of their seats. 

This week we offered our first table, marbling. We used shaving cream and watered down tempera paint to create the marble effect. After students marbled sheets of paper, they were encouraged to take the marbling to the next level. Some made cards, others found images in the marbling. One student turned his marbled paper into a walking, flying paper airplane. 

As an art teacher I long embraced the mantra, “Make Art.” I had these words emblazoned on T-shirts, a coffee mug, my classroom blog banner, even the license plate on my car. I had good reason for accepting this catchy slogan. After all, my job was to teach my students to make art.

​One day while looking over my students’ art, I noticed that their work all looked the same. In fact, their art looked more than similar, their work was unrecognizable as individual pieces. When I laid it out on a table, I couldn’t tell which work belonged to which student. Though I had been teaching my students to make art, I hadn’t been teaching them how to be artists. It was at this point I realized a paradigm shift in my thinking was required. I would no longer be interested in “making art” but, rather, “making artists.”

This difference in my thinking can best be understood by comparing the product vs. the process. As an art teacher who was interested in making art, I incorporated a product-based mentality. My old way of thinking leaned heavily on a desired and predetermined outcome. In other words, I was interested in what students’ project would look like when they were completed.

​As I switched to being a more choice-based teacher, I became interested in making artists. My focus now turns to a set of artistic behaviors my students will acquire while creating art. I want to make sure they understand steps artists take and decisions artists make when creating art. In other words, I became interested in the process.

In order to implement my newfound desire to teach students to work like artists, I enlisted the help of fellow Apex High School art teacher, Melissa Purtee. Together we sat down and developed a list of ideas, not based on making art, but on being an artist. We considered what artist do, how they think and how they work to create art. From our very long inventory of topics, we scrubbed our list of artistic behaviors down to our top seven. This set of units would become our semester roadmap.

Here is our list of artistic-behavior units including short descriptions.

Artists Observe:
​This unit covers observational drawing and possibly painting. It incorporates still-life drawings and nature drawings, as well as architectural drawings, urban sketching or even plein air painting.

Resources for this Unit
Art of South B Artists Observe Presentation
Art by Barnett Artists Observe Blog Post
Artechtivity.com Artists Observe Blog Post
WHS Art Department Artists Observe Presentation

Artists Steal:
Discussions revolve around artists such as Lichtenstein, Shepard Fairey and Damien Hirst. Themes are based on concepts such as appropriation and intertextuality.

​Resources for this Unit
Art of South B Artists Steal Presentation
The Salisbury  School Artists Steal Resources
WHS Artists Steal Presentation
Art by Barnett Artists Steal Blog Post

Artists Solve Problems:
​This unit examines how artists work with limitations and constraints. Students research the limitations artists overcome such as; Henri Matisse working with compromised vision, Chuck Close painting from his wheelchair, or Phil Hansen’s TED talk, “Embrace the Shake.” Students explore self-inflicted limitations from materials to working in difficult situations.
​
Resources for this Unit
Art of South B Artists Solve Problems Presentation
Thoughts On Arting Artists Solve Problems Blog Post
Pierz HS Art Artists Solve Problems Blog Post
Art by Barnett Artists Solve Problems Blog Post

Artists Communicate:
This unit covers the many ways art is used to communicate ideas and thoughts. It covers a range of art works from contemporary artists to commercial fields such as advertising and illustration to video and animation. This unit culminates with a theme-based project.

Artists Collaborate:
This unit introduces the concept of working together to build something bigger than the sum of its parts. Consider discussing and contrasting different ways artists collaborate, from Jeff Koons, who hires people to create his art, to teams like Christo and Jeanne-Claude, who worked together.

Artists Curate:
​This unit covers how museum and gallery exhibits are conceived and works are assembled in groups. It covers everything from artist styles and collections to how museum curators pick topics for shows. This unit also explores how artists create individual style.

Artists are Self-Learners:
​This unit provides students an opportunity to experiment with new materials, styles, skills and techniques. It encourages them to utilize tutorials, and to create tutorials themselves. They are also encouraged to share what they learn with others.

​Making the shift from product-based to process-based thinking opened avenues of creativity, originality and personal voice in my students’ work that I had not previously seen. Where before I couldn’t tell two works apart, I now see projects that are created in a style unique to each student. Their works no longer resemble exercises in the elements and principles of design, but rather, art that is personal and meaningful to each individual artist.

Artists Seek Inspiration
Artists Engage
Artists Synthesize
Artist have a Style
Artists Tell Stories
Artists Impact their Communities
Artists Collect
Artists Research
Artists Experiment
Artists Repurpose
Artists Make a Difference
Artists Educate
Artists Explore a Theme
Artists are Self Promoters
Artists Play with Materials
Developed Art Making Skills
Artists Question
Artists Transform
Artist Create Temporary Art
Artists Pay Tribute
​

​Did you ever see an art project and immediately fall in love with it? Perhaps you found the application of color fascinating or you were intrigued by the technique. Maybe the particular use of media struck your fancy or the subject matter just happened to be your favorite. Your reaction was immediate and your response was the same as would be expected from most any art teacher: “I have got to do this lesson with my class!”

We see projects on Pinterest, works by artists, or even every day real life objects that make us want to create art. Our desire is to share our enthusiasm by having our students emulate what has inspired us. We recreate lesson plans, or write entirely new ones, in order for our students to create an artwork based on the work that we found so intriguing. From the position of an art teacher, this makes absolute sense. However, it often does not generate the results we anticipate.

While we are interested in our selected subject, this does not always equate to our students sharing our enthusiasm. After we eagerly present the project, our students often plod along at a level that might be described as only one step higher than total apathy.

​Once the project is completed, we are quick to express our disappointment when a student wants to trash a project. While we may be discouraged that our students didn't share our zeal for our selected project, the stakes are even higher for the students. Their disinterest and lack of commitment to the project often results in not only poor work, but  low grades  as well.

If we consider how artists think and work, then we will come to the realization that using the teacher’s inspiration to kick off a project is inherently backwards.

When beginning a work of art, an artist will make three decisions: They will decide the subject, the technique and the media. Many artists—from old masters such as Rubens to today’s contemporaries such as Jeff Koons—first made these decisions, but then had other people execute their directives. These artists selected the subject, the technique and media, and then incorporated assistants to execute their vision.

​Their assistants, however, were not the artists. They were assistants. When we as art teachers make the decisions about the subject, the techniques, or the medium, we run the risk of becoming the artist. Our students in turn become the assistants. Our students should never be the assistants. They should always be the artists.

As teachers, we do not need to provide students with a subject, technique or required medium. Instead, we should allow them to become the artists and to make those decisions. Many students already have something in their life they are passionate about. These interests make excellent starting subjects for making art. For other students who do not have an immediate passion to draw from, it may be more challenging to think of a subject. Nonetheless, everyone has something that they find interesting. It is the work of the artist to seek out the subject matter that they will use as inspiration. Our students need to take on this role and become the artists.

​Once the student becomes the artist, the teacher is free to take on the role of facilitator. Our responsibility changes from that of one who imposes a technique or medium, to one who demonstrates technique and use of media as needed throughout the development of the project. As teacher-facilitator, teachers allow students the freedom to seek out and discover their own inspiration. We can still encourage our students to explore artists that match their interests. We can also support their learning when it comes to new techniques. We can help them discover ways to turn their newly found inspiration into project ideas.

When the student finds the inspiration, ​engagement will increase and learning and growth will result. Students will then share their enthusiasm with us. They will express excitement for the subject, the technique, or chosen medium through the art making process. After all, this is the job of the artist; to visually explore and express inspiration. The teacher’s job is not to be concerned with students making art, but rather with making artists.

Links of interest mentioned in this post:

The Teaching for Artistic Behavior Website
When Art Goes in the Trash
I Don’t Like Grading, And, Uh, I Don’t Think I’m Gonna Grade Anymore
​The Essential Framework for Teaching Creativity