art/vision/voice - Maryland Institute College of Art

102 art / vision / voice
The theme of legacy also appeared in other cases. The work of Columbia
College’s service learning course set in the practicum of the Association
House of Chicago community organization also reflected the model
of intergenerational conflict. Once again the tension between student
and mentor, between community models and between generations,
is apparent.
carmel In Columbia’s case, there are similarities in the notion of
mentorship. The faculty members are trying to challenge the notion
of how they teach. Not that traditional professor/student relationship,
but setting up an environment where there is learning happening
on both the faculty side and student side. The project was based on
an idea of mentorship—faculty mentoring Columbia students, and
those students taking what they learned and mentoring the young
people in the community. The faculty were trying to model and
create a similar dynamic through their training and the sharing of
their skills/expertise.
There were also power dynamics. The institution [has been]
perceived as an 800-pound gorilla doing what it wanted in the
community. With reciprocity, the institution and organization have
different needs, but each brings to the table something equally
important. We saw community knowledge as a resource that was
just as valuable as the resources an institution brings in.
Earlier in Urban Missions discussions, we were able to address
those issues enough so that it didn’t become such a negative issue
in the classroom. It became positive, so students and young people
saw community-based artistic director in collaboration with a
theater professor.
The fact that Ron is Luis’s mentor was crucial. Luis is modeling
a pedagogy he learned from Ron. Luis, Ron’s mentee, has been
working with these young people at Association House and built
trust to a level so that Columbia students could come in and
successfully work with them. In this situation, Ron’s not allowing
Luis to take what he’s learned and morph it into something [that
reflects] his own artistic philosophy could have been a big issue.
In both cases, the struggle was less about values, and more a struggle
within project leadership, between teacher and student. Former students
working side-by-side with their mentors experience the weight of
expectation, and the resolution of this conflict is essential to creating
a model of teaching and learning within the community site.