art/vision/voice - Maryland Institute College of Art

120 art / vision / voice
tackle. What a nice activity to determine how
students could make the space more
appropriate for their needs. A big mural
painted on paper or canvas and nailed to a
frame that could act as a divider might have
been one solution. Having children engage in
the decoration of the space would have been
fun for a group of 11–14 year olds who love
lots of activity and hands-on fun. It would
have immediately engaged them and integrated
several artistic methodologies in the process.
Naming the program “Art Club” created an
immediate atmosphere of defeat. Many
children this age view art as a skill or talent
they do not have and as such become
immediately turned off or frustrated because
they feel they will be called upon to do what
they think they can’t do. Low self-esteem
plagues so many of our youth. Perhaps the
students could have been given the
opportunity to name their own “art”
gathering—selecting a name based on their
own experiences, their understanding of what
they would be doing. Participants in a
program like this need some ownership of the
process, particularly if it is a stand-alone
program not linked to a youth-serving
organization or a program where the youth do
other things, and “art” is just one item on a
menu of activities.
Selecting an Age-Appropriate Curriculum
The first project (coat of arms) captured the
attention of the youth participants. It was a
successful project that all students could
participate in regardless of their artistic skill
level, and they seemed to feel comfortable with
the project choice. The disagreement between
the three cap leaders after the initial
project’s success was problematic. The two
female leaders wanted to select a project that
was tactile and “free.” The male cap leader
wanted a two-dimensional drawing skill
activity, thinking that kids needed to learn
traditional art-making techniques or the entire
class would not have much value.
Although there was no real consensus among
the leaders, they went with the latter idea, and it
was a disaster! Given the difficulty of recruitment
when participants thought “Art Club” equaled
“art skill,” and their initial apprehension about
getting involved, teaching two-dimensional
drawing as a second lesson was a bad idea and
reinforced the students’ initial fears. It had to be
very frustrating for most of them.
In such a setting, it’s important to select
projects that have a high probability of a
successful outcome, and preferably those in
which youth can immediately see results.
Mural projects and mosaics, although they are
completed over a longer timeframe, also fall
into this category, because as they work
towards a final product, the kids can visualize
the end in the design they create.
cap students may have to concede between
what constitutes a craft project verses an art
project, and listen to the voices of kids who
are trying to guide them to what they want and
like in a class. Oftentimes the expression of
the participants’ “voice” can take the form of a
disciplinary problem—worse, it could take the
form of non-attendance.
It’s helpful to keep in mind, when it comes to
discipline and curriculum selection, that you
can’t discipline a child whom you do not love
or at least have a respectful relationship with.
Many African American students do not feel
loved, respected, or understood by their
teachers. Lack of respect is contagious, and
teachers cannot expect children to respect
them if they don’t respect the children. Also,
different children need to learn in different
ways, so if teachers provide an interesting
and diverse art curriculum that meets the
interests of a wide variety of students,
disciplinary problems will often fade.