Monday, April 25, 2016

NOTES 4/25

Students were very articulate 
Students comfortable with speaking 
Constantly talking about art and encouraged to talk and communicate
Teachers encourage students to speak 
They live in New York, closeness 

Lesson on what they heard on the subway or bus 
What might you do with that sentence? 
As a work of art? 
Students thoughts were validated by the teachers

Very important to listen to them 
It's not just listening its understanding what you are hearing. 
How are you hearing. What they are telling you. 

Challenge them and where they're at. 
Give them moment of silence. 

Help them think a little bit beyond of where they're at at the moment
Think about how it is they now know that they didn't know before and reinforce that. 

You want to be present with the students and demonstrate what it means to be an adult in the room. 

They need your help to guide through the constructing of an idea. 

They play with their idea of an identity. 

CENSORSHIP 

They knew the politics of the school and the administrative pressure. 

We underestimate students all the time. 

Growing up in world of internet. Vicariously. Urban kids traditionally challenged. 

You'e going to take on the school. 

This isn't just learning drawing and painting. Its much more than that. Its the way we construct thinking. 

Art as a way of thinking as a way of finding an expressive form through the use of the imagination and materials. 

PARENTS ARE YOUR BEST ALLY 

KEEPING AVENUES OF INFORMATION OPEN 

DO WHAT IS NECESSARY 
MUST EXPLAIN TO PEOPLE SO PEOPLE CAN SEE WHAT THIS IMAGE IS ABOUT AND WHAT IT MEANS TO THE YOUNG PERSON THAT MADE IT. 

PEOPLE ARENT BORN KNOWING THESE THINGS 

KIDS CREATING DIFFICULT IMAGES, They are learning about the world. 

THE PENIS STORY 
CERAMICS students giggling
Penises everyhwere
Well they're not very good are they. 

Helping someone. 

Women's drawing more aggressive. Mens drawings more nurtured.

Young people who go to college have a very different developmental upbringing. 

Environment is very powerful. 

SENSE OF SELF ON POINT 

Questions about reality. 

Thinking about themselves. Often looks at self. High-powered awareness. The middle slice of adolescents. 

Self aware but not always reciprocally aware. 



Wednesday, April 20, 2016

dialogue matters and Olga tips

PRE DETERMINED VERSUS OPEN DIALOGUE 

Don't use dichotomous questions. Don't you yes or no questions. They don't promote a lot of thinking. 

What do you notice. 

Questions that can be answered by looking or answers that don't allow students to make connections. 

Have elements through observation. 

GREAT WAYS TO START EXPLORATORY QUESTIONS

WHAT DO YOU NOTICE
HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE
LETS TALK ABOUT 
ABOUT DIFFERENT ASPECTS WORTH THE FIGURE 
WHAT'S GOING ON WITH 

COLORS MOOD ETC

HOW DO YOU DESCRIBE THIS SPACE 
LETS TALK MORE ABOUT ..... 

FOLLOW UP PROBING AND CONNECTING 

WHO SEES IT DIFFERENTLY
WHO HAS A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE
WHO HASN'T ADDED 

DESCRIPTIONS AND INTERPRETATIONS 

WHAT GIVES YOU THAT IDEA 

Monday, April 18, 2016

ART EDUCATORS 4/18

HANNAH K-5 6-8 

HANNAH MS 114 MIDDLE SCHOOL UPPER EAST SIDE PLACEMENT PS 140 GRAMMERCY PARK 

ALDEN FRANK SINATRA SCHOOL OF THE ARTS, HESCHEL PREK-5

KATHERINE LA GUARDIA SCHOOL OF COLUMBIA K-8 

How did you ground some of the lessons plans until you really got to know who they were? 

It was directly related to these artistic development classes until I got to know my students so I could make little tweaks. 

Did you find yourself looking at them and identifying aspects of development? 

Working with the middle-school kids, lots of sarcasm and jokes. With elementary I had to speak with them differently and approach them in a different way. Going from the most basic thing and having them explore materials lets you understand and gauge their development. Exploratory lessons are really great. You can totally tell when students have a really good background and repertoire. Each child is different. Communication is key. Seeing how they work with their peers and communicate is important. How they talk about work and crit each others work is helpful in understanding their place and understanding of their own work. Even if they are at the same age and development level you have to talk to them differently. 

Risk taking. I listened to adolescents more attentively. Shoes and fashion. Shoe design. 

You're always thinking about what they're learning in other classes, etc. 

I definitely think that going through your own lesson is crucial. 

I also appreciate so much more, the feeling that I get when I'm making. This is like euphoria. 

I think that that's one of the only few moments of art making time that I have, making demos. But it's important to go through the demo yourself first. Sometimes if I didn't go through lesson, there's a plethora of problems. 

How do you balance the attention you give to the group versus the individuals? 

What I've started a lot with kids that need help (you can't slow the lesson down) you can do peer to peer learning and teaching. There's only one of you. You can remind students. You can tell students to ask a peer. Gives students an opportunity to be teachers by teaching their friends. A bit didactic. 

Can you talk about the relationship between you and your teacher? Leverage? 

It goes by so quickly, there's always so many good things happening. You don't even have time to be concerned about moving through and reflecting. A little out of your control, work with the person and get the good out of it and let the other stuff go. It's just different styles and you take what you need. You learn more from the negative then from the positive. Knowing what you don't like also shape how you operate as a teacher. 

Was there a way that your teacher worked different but you acknowledged good art teaching? 

There's still a motivation in the beginning and there's so much room for discussion and ways for student to have a voice. They really consider their students as artist. Having a dialogue with your artwork, etc. There's no way the artwork would look the same. Good teachers do good dialogue. 

What was the most exciting way you used the art classroom? Outside classroom? 

We also go to museums too. Walking trips can be good time. Classroom management applies to outside the classroom too. Managing the students in the bodies and their space. SAFETY IS IMPORTANT. It is real safety just like inside the classroom. It depends on the kids too. 


  • Don't make activities too open ended  
  • Give little prompts
  • Rules and Guidelines 
  • Room for Flexibility 
  • ASK QUESTIONS 
  • HAVE DISCUSSIONS
  • HAVE THEM COMEUP WITH THE ANSWER
Being able to understand and articulate why teaching art to kids is important. 

Finding something that enabled you to commit to yourself wholly. 

Confidence, fell into an education program. Is this what I really want to be doing for the rest of my life? Yes. I think being in a place with non-adults at all hours of the day helps me stay in the zone of playfulness. 

Teaching is so hard. Really high-highs and low-lows. 

Being in the position of teacher is really humbling. You believe it's about the students. The more invisible I can be in their work and in their process, the better. 

Recognizing new cool ideas and methods of making. Constant give and take of student and teaching. Where students have ah-ha moments. 

LEARNING SHOULDN'T STAGNATE. 

Monday, April 11, 2016

NOTES ADOLESCENTS 4/11

Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music, Art and the Performing Arts 
100 Amsterdam Avenue NYC, NY 
Visual Art
Technical Theater 
Music 
Dance 
Drama 

Specialized Art High School, requires an audition and portfolio review. Roughly 1000 students compete for 350 seats. Students commute about an hour for school. 

Always begin with an exploration of a material. Advanced classes --> students get options. 

Non-traditional crit. STUDENTS SELF ASSESS. 
Developing students own artistic voice and sense of self, verbally and in writing. 

Told to teach in a conservatory style. In the 4 years at LaGuardia, to teach in a student centered way that's material based. Framed the ways in a language that makes sense to administrative people. 

You get to see your students everyday. You get to plan for them well

VA Dept. 14 art teachers (did have 20). 

AJANI 
I put my foot in my mouth. "Why do we put our feet in our mouth" Vessel breaking down. Same type of idea, but working on different compositions. Trying different mediums: Ceramic, Stone, different media. 

I don't like real feet, they gross me out. I have struggle drawing them. I wanted to continue that series. Maybe 3-d would help me drawing. Has it? Yes. 

Made 8 or 9. Various sizes. Eventually the foot will come out of the mouth. 

I do alot of experimental work, this is the most developed series I have. 

Do you think art is a good way to respond to issues? 
Art is a universal language that has multiple interpretations and can stem new ideas from it. 

Do you go to museums at all? 
Yes. 

Have you always been interested in art? 
Yes. I like to do art instead of performing arts. 

Did you enter as a visual artist? 
Yes. 

MATTHEW 
Im inspired be deconstruction and reconstruction. Take discarded pieces from fellow students. Bottom four horsemen. Influenced by mythology. A soft edge and a really dark macabre feel. The forms came onto themselves. I had these broken vessels and created a new piece. Was it's own life, but it actually became death. The white one was death and the black one was life. 

In pestilence the curved shaped represent the rotting bones of a carcass. Death looks sort of like a full moon in a way. 

There's a lot of weird symbolism in the images. 

Totally was before. Have an ambition to create a tarot card deck. 4 was a good number for me. I'm currently making one revolved around planetary designs. 

Definitely working in ceramics. 

Why these myths? 
I've always been interested in the blurred line between reality and fantasy. 

When did you start working with these kinds of ideas? 
It was definitely brought about in high school art was a viable form of expressions. There's a fantasy realm of what I could experience and explore. 

This idea can be more meaningful with the exertion of motion. 

What artists correspond with your ideas? 
Klimt, Modern day artists.

What fed this idea? 
The poster museum. Art neuvau. Drove me towards fantasy. Heavy discussion on the dada movement. What quantifies fine art, what quantifies garbage. 

I think art is anything you believe in. 

Do you see your identity in your work? 
I know I'm a middle class white boy in the city. I take garbage and make out of art. I use what was left over and make something beautiful. 

HENRY 
I have 20 pieces made out of scrapwood. This booth is like a big project I started in highschool. It changed alot. it used to be very colorful and intense and is now more minimalist. It's not exactly the complete setup. 

Where did the idea come from? 
Alot of my art comes mostly from feeling out what I am doing. Original concept was I wanted to make a piece that you could walk into. I wanted to regulate the senses of the person walking into the booth. 

Can anyone go inside and close the curtain? 
As long as they like. I haven't tested it out as much. The items aren't there in fear of someone taking them. I'll show this in the semi-annual. 

Can you talk about the meaning of the objects? 
How to regulate the senses. Flowers for smell. Taste for candy. Sound I have a radio. I also wanted to do things that wouldn't become the focus. The radio shows something non-specific. 

I'm gonna put lingerie on the wall. They're like a waiting room. Neutral. The lingerie pushes in a particular direction. Urging people in a certain direction. Adds a little more inherent emotion. Also for touch? 

I believe that art is a very cooperative thing. You have to let yourself experience it. 

Can you talk about the mirror? It's about their moment and flesh out outside influences. 

It wasn't about anything specific. I guess I believe I put a little bit of identity in my art. The mirror is important. I have my sense of self consciousness.  


GEORGIA
I'm from a Cypric family. My entire family, is pretty sexist. Back on ideals of what women can do. I thought I didn't fit in as a feminine women. When I got to high school and got to experiment with feminist ideas. My work developed into embracing femininity. I shouldn't be ashamed of my womanhood. The piece on the bottom is 7ft long. I'm also big on environmentalism and the black lives matter movement. Top left is a self portrait. Always frustrated of middle eastern women represented. The top right is more technical, WOMEN FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD FACING OPPRESSION BECAUSE OF CULTURE. Breast Binding, Genital mutilation, etc. 

The two pieces of the snakes. Kundilini, metendi. Not everything that's feminist is a omen. Alot of my work comes from frustration and I tried to stray away from it. Metendi is a goddess that is a creative essence, they honor her by giving her food scraps and trash, she's not worthy of all the praise Gods get. 

Did you make art when you were younger? How did you move from 8 years old to political art? 

When I look back at my old work it was always political but no one understood. I would draw ugly women in my old sketchbook. I was tired of seeing beauty, I wanted to see ugly. 


JIAYI
I mainly paint things I'm most scared of losing. I think use images I've composed I paint about how much opportunit there is and all thing things I should be grateful for. I do a lot of portraitsure I'm happy with people I am happy to know and have in my life. 

When I was younger my parent's got divorced and I was worried that I would have to choose. I wanted to commemorate people that I see fit. My culture is important to me although my culture tells me art is not a viable carreer. Culture and my family has impacted a lot of what I'm doing now. Chinatown is very important to my past.

INGYIN
I don't worry about the final form I'm more absorbed with the making of the object. I really love throwing on the wheel. I was really inspired by a lesson of coral bleaching and how the climate change is really stressing out our environment and in coral the environment would get stressed out and leave the structure, so I wanted to capture the bland coral. 

The piece with the flowers was a big peice for you. That sensibility. How did you transition styles? 

These newer pieces were more in the moment. 

Where are you going next? 
I want to combine the two techniques and work larger. I definitely want to work larger. 

How do you know they're done? 
I just have a feeling. I dig it, I love it, I'm satisfied. 

RILEY
My artwork revolves around change. 

Coyote skull, show where it came from, and I like bringing things back to life. The deer is my most famous work because of how big it was. I had a lot of help with it. Getting the paper on. The skull is made from plastic, but I worked from an actual deer skull. I grew up in the mountains in colorado. Nature and the environment is important and themes show up in my work. Life, death, re-birth shows up. The body is alive, head is dead, antlers of blooming. 

I study alot of animal anatomy. Sketched out deer a bunch of times. Masking tape of diagram. I wanted to capture my background as someone who grew up in nature. I've had a lot of change in my life. 

How come skulls? 
My mom thinks I have a weird fascination with death. I always liked in children's books and they'd cut away what's inside. Bones are the template, they're what's inside of us. 

COLLECTIVE QUESTIONS: 

We are driven to more us collectively. The environment is great. It's really about it. How many of you are going to go to art school? 

Pay attention to who you call on in class. Try to make democratic voice possible. 

Let them be who they say they are. 

WHAT MAKES A GOOD TEACHER
Jaiyi: EVERY STUDENT MOVES AT THEIR OWN PACE. OPEN UP WITH THEM AS YOU WANT THEM TO OPEN UP WITH YOU 
AJANI: YOU CAN'T HAVE JUST ONE PLAN FOR EVERY STUDENT. LISTEN TO YOUR STUDENTS. 
HENRY: UNDERSTAND YOU ARE A MAJOR FIGURE AT THAT MOMENT IN YOUR STUDENTS LIFE, YOU ARE A PERSON BUT ALSO A TEACHER. NO MATTER WHATS GOING ON WITH YOU, MAKE SURE YOU ARE A TEACHER/LEADER. 
GEORGIA: YES TEACHERS ARE AN AUTHORITY FIGURE, BUT DON'T TALK TO THEM LIKE CHILDREN. WE RESPECT TEACHER ALTHOUGH WE MAY SEEM DISRUPTIVE. 
RILEY: IT'S REALLY REALLY IMPORTANT THAT TEACHERS LISTEN TO THE KIDS. ITS ABOUT THE CHILD'S PREFERENCE AND THE WORK IN THEIR CLASS. IT'S IMPORTANT THAT YOU LISTEN, REGARDLESS OF THE SUBJECT. HEAR THEM OUT 
MATT: WE TALKED ABOUT THE DIFFERENCE OF SAFE SPACE AND BRAVE SPACE. SAUNDER. 
INGYIN: YOU CAN TELL BY HOW MUCH A TEACHER LOVES WHAT THEY DO, YOU WILL LEARN TO CARE TOO. 

Monday, April 4, 2016

NOTES 4/4 MORE KIDDOS

NEW GUESTS!FRANK SINATRA HIGH SCHOOL MAGNET ART SCHOOL

DR.CONN

Walked into dream job, kids want to be there. Kids want what you're selling. Not as broad of course curriculum. Small school, not as many different teachers and different courses. Don't need specialized courses if you have a good understanding of art, you can apply it to anything. 

Curriculum Period. 
80m studio classes. 
Just Studio in Art; Material exploration, open ended assignments. 

A lot of room for interpretation. 
Personal work, ideas voice. 

Art history, 1 period e/o day. Sophomore Year
2B DESIGN --> ENHANCING VOCABULARY 

Exploring media. 

Sophomore year, begin sculpture. Painting in the studio, 3 sophomore in painting Acrylic, Oil, and Watercolor. 

Photoshop, Adobe, Illustrator.

Fairy tale--> picture books. 

Drawing, every other day class, 1 period. 

Senior Year, portfolio, apply to college. 45-55% go on to college in typical year. 
Digitally publish the yearbook. Photo or double studio. 

70% GIRLS 30% BOYS 

JASMINE SOP
NICOLE SOP
VICKI JR
SUI JR
AGNES SOP 
JOELLE SENIOR 

JOELLE GOING TO COOPER UNION IN THE FALL! 
Changed a lot through the years. MIXING PAINTING AND SCULPTURE. 
MORE CONEPTUAL 

Most work is building off others. 
PLAYING WITH FABRIC --> MORE SUBTLE COLORS 

WHERE DO YOU IDEAS COME? 
It's a mess. Don't have a guide. 
More sculptural. 

Cooper Home test. Answer prompts as conceptually as possible.

PROCESS AND WHATS IN MIND. BUILDING UP ON NEXT PIECE. 

Keep sketchbook, drawing and writing. 

AGNES 
Inspiration of figure. Small things from each one. Played with value and color
DID YOU BEGIN WITH AN IDEA? 
A little bit of both. What I would do, what Figure I'd choose. Cool weekend. 
HOW DID THE REST OF PICTURE GO? 
I made it all around and played with different ideas. 
HOW DID YOU KNOW IF IT WAS FINISH? 
I didn't want to make it messy.
HOW DO YOU KNOW? 
I like to keep it unfinished.
DID PAINTING CHANGE YOU?
It makes me stay home and do work? 
BOX? 
This box was a memory box. I didn't know what to do. The pendant isn't for anyone
WHAT MAKES ART REAL? 
If you can look back on it or if others can look back on it? 
DO YOU DRAW ON MEMORIES? 
Sometimes yes. 
16 DIFFERENT FROM 12? 
It's a beautiful day. 12 year Agnes may not be proud of 16 year old. But old 16 year old might think 12 is boring. I hope 18 year old agnes is okay. 
HOW OPEN ARE YOU WITH INTERPRETATIONS?
If you don't go alone the same path, you go along the same path. 

SUI 
Reflective object. Brought in pan and drew self. Hard time for me to figure out. Finish in one to two classes. 30 minutes working on it. Quickly made it. 
First work using line work. Worked on it better. Really liked line work. Holding Grades. 
Made during illustration. Put word in drawing. Beleaguer. Make self difficult. Vulnerability. 
Fairy tale that disney hasn't gotten a hold of. 
Comic strip. Individual thought and idea. Rivalry of two sisters. 
Make satisfied HOW? LOTS OF RESEARCH. Looked at a lot of anime. 
WHY DRAWING?
Since 3rd Grade, I've always been satisfied with it
HAVE YOU LOOKED AT A LOT OF SURREALIST ART? HOW DID YOU LEARN TO DO THAT?
My own imagination. Watching tv and anime. Do you keep a sketchbooK? CONCEPT CHARACTER ARTS. Recent memories. 
HOW DID YOU CHOOSE THE ANIMAL? 
Asked people to choose three and then I chose what I wanted. 
Unintentional dark humor
WHEN YOU WORK FROM IMAGINATION HOW DO YOU WORK? 
I use thumbnails. Google and my memory. 

VICKI 
Junior In Drawing Class. 
In a pickle, did a drawing in a field of pickles, in a boxing ring. IN A PICKLE. 
Award show run by doe. At the met. 
SELF PORTRAIT. 
silver point. 
TRY TO GET THEM TO THINK ABOUT THE WHOLE PAPER. GIVING PAPER NOT SQUARE OR RECTANGULAR FRACTURED PIECE. ARTIST PLACE SELF IN HISTORY AND TAKE AND BORROW. TRADITIONAL AND CONTEMPORARY. 
Friend out with tongue and sushi lined up. Not very good at time. 
Starting drawing in elementary and wanted to be better.
HOW DO YOU MAKE DECISIONS? 
If it's good. I am hard on myself. 
How do you know if its better?
I put it on my wall. If it looks better. I feel like it's very obvious when I rush it, and when I spend time and enjoy doing it. If you enjoyed it it was more successful. 
DO YOU LEARN SOMETHING WHEN YOU STRUGGLE? 
I usually struggle with I need to redo it. 
IS EACH PIECE A NEW IDEA? 
I like telling stories. In my mind I bullet point a lot of things. In corporate ideas. 
RENDERING. LESSON PLANS BUILT IN CONCEPT. 
EVERY STUDENT YOU HAVE IS A RELATIONSHIP

NICOLE 
Inspired by sea! Wasn't comfortable painting self 
DID YOU LEARN ABOUT SELF PAINTING SELF? 
Not used to seeing myself so often. 
I've always like flowers 
TELL US ABOUT 3-D PIECE
BOX PROJECT! Wanted to focus on coming into new school. Friends. Nature and pictures of people that are important to me. Drawing is easy. I paint at home. 
How FAR HAVE YOU GOTTEN INTO IT? 
I have head and looking into it and her glasses show the scene in it. 
ARE YOU COMFORTABLE WITH SURREALIST APPROACH? 
I like having the freedom to make things up to create. 
NATURE INFLUENCES, DID YOU VISIT PLACE? 
It's not about intriguing, I walk alot and stop to take picture to draw. Part of my everyday life. i live near socrates park

JASMINE
Self portraits, just lips. liked that aspect of myself. Reputation for kissing a lot of people. Scar from when a dog bit me, now im comfortable with it. I don't want to make it look real. 
Portrait of dad. Dad supported 100% PROUD OF DAUGHTER. 
HAVE YOU DONE SURREALIST WORK YET? 
Not yet.
WHERE DO YOU SEE YOUR WORK GOING? 
I like the style im working in now. Try to do more abstract work
HOW DO YOU DEFINE ABSTRACT? 
Doesn't follow any convention. 

QUESTIONS FOR ALL. 
DO YOU GIVE EACH OTHER FEEDBACK? CRITS?

Does this look okay? 
Y/N BUT I THINK YOU SHOULD ADD...ETC. SIT NEXT TO EACH OTHER. SOMETIMES ASK THE OTHER TO FIX IT. 
FORMIMG A RELATIONSHIP IS IMPORTANT. 

WHAT DO YOU THINK A GOOD TEACHER IS ? 
Assignments shouldn't be too restrictive. Broad but to the point. 
Prompts or guidelines. 
In order for a teacher to be good --> ENTHUSIASTIC ABOUT STUDENTS WORK. 
It's the teacher that makes the class. 
Don't criticize, BRING EM UP THEY CAN BE EMOTIONAL. 
Establish a comfort. Hold student up to high standard. Can't be empty lies. 
Be optimistic. 
HOW DOES A TEACHER DEAL WITH CENSORSHIP ?
Art work can be personal. 
IF YOU'RE NOT ASKING QUESTION'S YOU'RE NOT INTERESTED.