I worked with one of Ildiko’s 10 grade art classes today and spoke about my background as an artist and art educator in the United States and what it’s like teaching at an American Jewish Day School. I shared the wonderful work of my own students and pictures of my art classroom, talking about what it’s like being inside an art class at CESJDS and the diversity of the art curriculum.
I had a double block of class time with Ildiko’s students which was very refreshing, nearly 1 hour and 45 minutes. I taught students how to create an artwork responding to a theme and invited them to participate in an interactive critique discussion and collaborative activity at the end of the lesson.
Students worked on the theme of “network and place.” I had a dialogue discussion about David Moss’s work, The Bike Path and how Moss recorded and mapped out his path to work each day through a thoughtful visual representation composed of shapes, patterns, and colors. We also discussed a artwork by Harry Alan entitled, “Map” which is a detail of a map of Slazburg, Austria inspired by oriental themes inherent within his grandmother’s carpets from his childhood.
Students were asked to reflect on and create a piece of art about a place, inside or outside their community, that had a great deal of importance to them and how they might see it as a network. This could be anything from a space inside of a train or a quiet place within a park. I wanted them to tell me one visual story about a specific space they love to be in that provides them with a sense of unity and enjoyment, reflecting deeper on the inner workings of that experience and how they might visually interpret that.
Students came up with some interesting artworks as we looked at the project as making small 5” x 7” postcards with their visual representation on the front of it.
During the critique, we examined the artworks as a collective group and discussed students’ various artistic processes. I encouraged them to continue working on their project. Not individually, but collectively, thinking about how they can exhibit the piece in their school community by rearranging the artworks on a larger piece of foam board.
I was most impressed with the enthusiasm each student shared and their willingness to express their thoughts about their artworks and also take suggestions and feedback in a positive manner.
Overall, I felt like I made a lot of progress with the students today and made an impact only being in the classroom for a short while. I’m looking forward to working with Ildiko’s 9th and 10th grade art classes tomorrow and learning more about the school and its teachers.
