These are the links to the three videos of me developing my material research example.

MRE 1
MRE 2
MRE 3

Paul Cezanne - Landscapes, Setting

 

                                                                                           Mont Sainte-Victoire
                                                                                     by Paul Cezanne (1882-85)

                                                                                         Gardanne Landscape

Ideas for Visual Discussions

William Kentridge

This image appears to be in an urban setting.  Kentridge's works explore his culture in the Johannesburg community of his hometown.

Ai Weiwei's Sunflower Seeds

This instalation is all about community and the labor of thousands of people it took to produce this work.

George Seraut's La Grande Jatte

This painting is done in pointallism and depicts a scene in a particular community at the park.

Towell/Smilan and Hellman Articles Response

These two articles present an interesting approach to how picture books could be used by art educators.  At the beginning of both articles, the internet is mentioned as a growing resource where information can be exchanged between cultures.  I believe the internet in itself is a great tool for any teacher, especially art teachers, to use in her lessons involving students to research new topics and obtain new ideas or inspiration.  However, the articles focus on using picture books as an important way to educate students about different cultures and by studying the illustrations to learn more about art itself.  I believe an crucial aspect of the Towell/Smilan article is the fact that different people interpret symbols and meanings differently based on their individual experiences and cultures.  In the classroom, it is important to establish an aura of respect between the students themselves and the teacher, where everyone's opinion can be stated without judgment or ridicule.  Students are each going to have a differing interpretation about things, especially in an art classroom.  Art teachers should welcome these differences and encourage students to share their experiences with each other so everyone can benefit from what they know.  In this aspect, multicultural picture books can be an important tool for everyone to learn about a different culture other than their own, and to open up discussion about people's cultures to broaden others' perspectives.  I agree with a point the Hellman article made that "today's readers do not read postmodern picture books as much as they experience them" (p. 8).  The teacher should choose books that allow the students to"experience" these different ideas and cultures as a class by using both the written text and the visual aspects included in the illustrations.  The article also states that "no point of view is privileged" (p. 11).  I believe it is the teacher's responsibility to emphasize just because a culture is different than what one is used to, it does not make it better or worse.  The use of picture books should be used in a well-rounded art classroom to educate students in a positive manner while teaching them about respect and appreciation for culture.

Your Place or Mine? Article Response

I have been around children's books for my entire life.  My own childhood is filled of memories of my mother reading to me, and since then my three younger siblings have enjoyed story time as well.  The article Your Place or Mine? presents an interesting way of analyzing children's books through the eyes of an art educator.  The authors focus on multicultural picture books and discuss the way children are exposed to the themes of place, culture/critical pedagogy and art through the values the books portray.  The book discussed in the article is titled Where Fireflies Dance, and is used as an example of how these themes fit into Mexican culture and how the illustrations enhance the experience of the reader.  In my years of being read children's books and of reading them myself, I was always distantly aware of the particular cultures and themes I encountered, however I never analyzed a book in the descriptive way that the article presents. I agree with the thoughts of the article about the benefits of integrated pedagogy in connecting many ideas to enhance the learning experience instead of solely focusing on one subject.  This approach will also allow students as well as educators to "integrate the students' own experiences and sense of local and historical place" (p. 119).  The students' own community can be a great resource of experiences for those who are inspired by the reflection of other cultures and groups.

These five images represent five pieces of my own artwork that are significant to my process as an artist. The first iage is a painting I created from a photograph I took; if I appropriate images in my work I believe it is important to be from my own images so the work is completely my own.  The second painting is significant to me because I painted it in a much looser style with more prominent brush strokes than how I usually work.  The series of photograms was an experimental component of my film photography class.  For this project, I used a paintbrush to track and capture the movement of paint in a photogram, which was soemthign I had never done before.  The wooden box is an example of a 3D work, which I do not have much of but I really enjoy.  The last image of ceramic peppers can be considered less successful than the others as my orinigal idea did not work out the way I had planned, however I displayed the individual pieces together to make one whole piece.  I feel this group of work shows my range as an artist and represents what I can refer to for myself to plan ideas for my future pieces.  I do enjoy working with nature and I feel beauty can be found in the simplest of objects and ideas.

Readings for 8/25

The assigned group of articles discussed race and racism as seen in society as well as in art education. It is clear that if you are white, you are priveleged, whether you realize it or not.  Both the Desai and Hyland articles mentioned that the majority of teachers are white and female.  White teachers seem to consider themselves superior and consider their own race to be dominant in classrooms, even while believing that they are sucecssful teachers (Hyland, 2010).  I thought the Hylan article was particularly interesting as it described four different white teachers who thought of themselves as successful, however, upon analysis, were seen to be using methods that did not seem to be beneficial in teaching black students.  They all seemed to have low expectations of their students and therefore did not effectively challenge them or provide them with a stimulating learning enviornment.  All of the articles were geared toward discussing the way white teachers may ignore race or have a colorblind racism view without even directly meaning to.  Today's society is still racist because of social institutions, including education, politics and simple social norms.
The chapter in Teaching Meaning in Artmaking did not discuss race in the classroom, however the main idea could be related to the other articles.  The chapter discussed personalizing big ideas in artwork in the classroom and different areas of inspiration and examples of artists and their own meaning in their art (p. 20).  When describing Fred Wilson, the chapter mentions making a connection between one's personal life and their artwork.  This could be an effective way to deal with race in an art classroom; self expression could be encouraged as a way to allow students to move in their own direction.  After reading these articles and the chapter, I realize some things I would like to not do in my future art classroom.  I would hope I would never be blind to the social norms of race and to never expect less of my potential students because of it.  I would not want to have low expectations of my future students and I would especially not want to see myself as the superior, dominant being in the classroom.  I would not want anything, including race, to hinder me from relating to any potential students.

Contemporary Artist: Tara Donavan

I admire Tara Donavan because she is able to create a totally new environment for her viewers to experience out of everyday objects.  I have seen one of her pieces in the Chelsea Galleries in NYC and the way she utilizes the space is very interesting.