art/vision/voice - Maryland Institute College of Art

114 art / vision / voice
Getting Started
In a “getting acquainted” activity designed for
the first session, each participant created a
“coat of arms,” and it was attached to his or
her art club sketchbook. The case narrative
does not tell how the coat of arms was used
intrapersonally. Was each participant given
time to talk about what it represented? Did
sharing appear to break the ice or help kids
make connections with one another? Also not
clear is what students where asked to
represent on the coat of arms other than the
notion that the project appears to have dealt
with “self-identity.” One wonders if interests
such as sports or other favorite activities or
places might have surfaced, which would have
helped staff gain more personal insight into
club members and help them to know what
kinds of projects would interest the
community youth.
The dilemma of where to go from this
promising start surfaced immediately after
this initial session. While team leaders
considered projects that involved tactile
media, freedom, and directed instruction in
drawing skills, there is no mention of any
consideration of themes or subject matter that
might have been of interest to the
participants. One wonders if the kids were
asked to talk about art media they had used
and liked or wanted to try, things they liked to
make, and what their feelings were about
being given some instruction in how to draw.
A questionnaire and/or a group discussion
might have provided more information to use
in planning the initial sequence of activities.
Conflicting ideas about the purposes of the
art club arose among the three leaders. Should
the club be a “craft hour” or use a “fine arts
approach” to build drawing skills? In reality,
both notions have merit. It may be that some
artful combination of craft and art is
necessary to reach a broad range of interests.
Projects that ensure early participant success
may be essential to building confidence and
helping participants discover the joy of
engaging with art-making processes. Once
trust is developed, one can then look for
“teachable moments” to introduce new
representational strategies, such as drawing
from observation. Finding those teachable
moments where students want to know how
to represent an idea requires close attention
to what students are trying to do. Adolescents
may benefit from any number of
representational strategies, including copying,
working from visual references, learning
narrative techniques, and working from
observation.
The case narrative notes that participants
found drawing from life to be intimidating.
However, this should not necessarily be taken
as a sign that kids do not want to know how
to draw from observation. Again, more
information about participants’ interests
might have been useful. For some visual and
spatial learners, drawing creates more
problems than for others. How young people
are introduced to and instructed in the use of
different representational strategies makes a
big difference. Participants learn best when
their need to express their own ideas,
thoughts, and feelings is addressed.
In reflecting on the experience of doing
blind contour drawings, the cap leaders
suggest that the kids did indeed “get it.” Yet,
this observation is qualified by the
observation that the kids did not understand
the success they had achieved. In the narrative,
this omission is explained by a lack of time to
discuss the drawings at the end of class. While
blind contour drawing is developmentally
appropriate for this age level—as a step
forward in learning to see edges and contours
more accurately—this kind of drawing does
not always fulfill preadolescent needs to make