Art Education Philosophy

It is my deep conviction that the exercise and development of right-brain functions through visual art training is valuable and even essential for all children regardless of natural ability level. This is the area of our brains that specializes not only in spatial relationships but in creative problem solving of all kinds. This is an innate human ability that is useful to all persons and applicable not only in whatever line of work we eventually pursue but within our relationships as well. Failure to exercise and develop these more holistic and intuitive aspects of brain function diminishes access to the natural, inborn creativity that exists in all of us. This is an aspect of human nature that provides some of the greatest joy in life and connects us to the richness of infinite possibility in all areas of life.

My goal as an art educator is to engage the interest and enthusiasm of children of all ability levels, both those to whom making art does not come easily as well as those who have a natural gift in this area. In the public school classroom, it has been my experience that when taught to observe the world around us in the way that artists do, those who struggle in this area come to experience a higher degree of satisfaction with their artwork and this is a great builder of self esteem. Just as it is possible to teach all children basic math skills, it is possible to teach all children “seeing skills” and certain techniques which will improve their ability to recreate what they see. I emphasize that we all have different natural abilities and that art is an area that some struggle with more than others. For this reason, it is stressed that students not compare their own artwork to that of other students but only to their own earlier work.

In my classroom, there is no “right” or “wrong” way to make art. There is acceptance of and appreciation for all manner of interpretation of and departure from any given assignment. Individual creativity is never discouraged, even within the most structured assignment. Once children realize that they have this freedom, I find myself continually delighted and personally rejuvenated by their natural inventiveness. To this end, I strive
to provide lessons that not only introduce basic art elements, design principles and skills, but also allow room for individual creative expression to emerge. I stress enjoyment in the process of making art and emphasize that even seasoned artists are rarely 100% satisfied with their finished product. I have found that children of all ability levels flourish when they realize that greater satisfaction with the end result comes slowly and only through a willingness to struggle through the difficult places as well as through patience with oneself during the learning process. Children readily agree that they would not expect to be able to pick up a violin and play it like a virtuoso without many hours of practice and it is liberating for them to understand that the same is true for the visual arts.

Beginning around the age of eight, even highly talented children become dissatisfied with their limited ability to draw as realistically as they would like and become overly critical of their work. As a means of gaining acceptance and appreciation of their current ability level as the children that they are, I like to introduce masterworks that have a childlike quality and freshness to them and often build a lesson around one of these. Concurrently I introduce skills, techniques and new ways of observation so as to provide students with tools that assist in gaining the greater degree of realism so important to children in the upper grade levels.