Carly Sheehan

Tomorrow is our final presentations! Dani and I have been finalizing everything and we’re excited to present.

We made our VIDEO (password:seminar) incorporating voices from interviews with our supervisor Kathleen at the ICA as well as people from Artists for Humanity. We overlaid the voices with clips from the kids working in the Art Lab at the ICA and the works of young artist at artists for humanity. The video mostly describes the power of art, especially the powers of being an educator in art.

We are focusing on the importance of art resources inside and outside of the school system. Dani and I will be touching on subjects such as the development of people, divergent thinking, and perspective to discuss how Art positively affects all these aspects in a person. We believe that in order to be a well rounded person one must be able to think divergently and see situations from all perspectives. Aside from art and development we will discuss contemporary art and education. The ICA coordinates the Art Labs based around the special exhibits in the museum and that gives kids a whole new perspective about the materials and the art works. There is something about being outside of a classroom that makes the kids more themselves in the art lab. We think it was the family aspect of the art making that had the real impact on people.

During our presentation Dani and I will discuss these subjects more in depth and relate them all back to our field work, class time, and what we’ve learned over the past semester. I can’t believe this class is already over. I’m looking forward to seeing everyone’s presentations in the morning!

I’ve never done much reading on ArtScience before today, but it’s definitely a subject I’m going to revisit. Recently on my own time I have been reading a lot on science vs spirituality or religions and it is something I find facinating. I believe that everything in this world is extremely connected to the point where it is impossible to discuss one subject without bringing up another. I find the most stimulating conversations are the ones that include perspective from different points of view. When we were discussing ArtScience in class our conversation seemed to go around in circles depending on each person’s point of view. It was impossible to come to a conclusion if art could be separated from science and if ArtScience is the only art that using science because it all depends on one’s point of view–similar to beliefs.

During my research today I had a hard time understanding what ArtScience was and how it could be categorized differently than other works of art. My initial thought was that all art is science. No matter how you break it down Art is a form of experimentation. The art process could even be broken down into the scientific process with hypothesis, experimenting, analyzing, conclusion. Working with any material familiar or not artists make decisions that will alter the art in some way and usually there is this mind set, but maybe not so formal. I thought the definition in the “ArtScience: Integrative Collaboration to Create a Sustainable Future” editorial was a nice explanation, it reads: “ArtScience, in sum, connects. The future of human- ity and civil society depends on these connections. ArtScience is a new way to explore culture, society and human experience that integrates synesthetic experience with analytical exploration. It is knowing, analyzing, expe- riencing and feeling simultaneously.” What I get from this is that ArtScience is categorized as this new way of exploring art, science and the world together. This doesn’t say that science and art have never been used before. I thought that was interesting because I personally think that this new genre of art is simply bringing more attention to the science aspect in art rather than being a revolutionary idea that was never used before.

Art is similar to religion and spirituality as it is more about feeling and the soul within each person where science is more about “facts”. I think that the more we’re learning about science, the more we can relate it back to our art, religions, beliefs, etc and grow from there. I myself find it hard to separate the subjects completely. I believe that in order to learn more about this world and ourselves through our art there needs to be information with science included.

If anyone else is interested in these subjects of spirituality and science, I suggest reading anything by Deepak Chopra, Specifically, “War of the World views”.

For my final project for Seminar I and II Dani Farràs and I decided that it would be to our benefit to work together. We both share the same interest in working with high school students and the same concern for students getting art resoucres in and outside of school. Working at the ICA this semester has been a great opporunity to get an idea of how outside resouces work. We want to have a central focus on art sources for students outside the school setting.

We are going to focus on the ICA and Artists for Humanity while incorporating resources such as museums. Sometimes art teachers have a hard time getting funding for art programs in schools and/or getting arts in the cirriculum. I think it’s extremely important to have art exposed to students at a young age in order for them to grow into well rounded people. Art helps kids learn perspective, concepts, and expression. I saw an interesting TED talk recently that described briefly the importance of children learning perspective, not just visually, but conceptually. If children learn from a young age that this world isn’t black and white, it will bring them further in life. It’s important to understand the gray areas, or as I like to refer to them, the colored areas of the world. There are so many different ways to solve every problem, and who’s to say which one is the correct way. It’s like Ken Robinson explains in his TED talk about public school education, by taking art out of schools we are killing creativity. We shouldn’t teach our students that there is only one answer to every problem in grade school, because that isn’t the case in life. I believe that to be a successfully well rounded person one needs to be educated in all forms of education: math, english, science, and arts; equally. This is why if students aren’t getting art resources inside of school it is so essential that these outside school programs exist.

Dani and I plan on making out video from clips of interviews, different family day labs, and other days in the field from class. We plan on emphasizing the importance of art as well as the opportunities these associations give to students.

Over the past semester I  learned so much about what it takes to be an art teacher in addition to where I could see myself  in this career path. Every class this semester blew my mind with all the amazing people we met who genuinely cared about students having art resources inside and outside of school. It was refreshing to see just how many people dedicate their lives to teaching kids about art. This class was so much more than I could have imagined in the beginning. I vividly remember everyday we were out in the field, from the first day at Burke and Dorchester Academy to the last day at the ICA and Artists for Humanity–much more influential than sitting in a classroom. When I first decided to be an art teacher I didn’t realize how many ways one could teach art. I was always hesitant to choose this major because I could not see myself working in a traditional school setting forever. But, now I see that I could work in after school settings, museums, corporations, or schools. These vast options made me feel more comfortable with my decisions in wanting to be an educator.

It’s hard to say which days inspired me the most because I left every class feeling inspired in some way. Thinking back I think that there were a few people that definitely stuck out more than others and Chandra Ortez was probably the brightest out of every person we met. She was not only well spoken, but just an awesome person to speak with. You could feel her passion take over the room. There was something about the way that Chandra told us how she created this whole program in a school that needed art–I knew that this was exactly what I wanted to do. In that brief time with Chandra she helped me realize that anything is possible if you are passionate enough.

In addition to all the field work in class we were required to volunteer 25 of our hours to an institution outside of the class room. Doing my field work at the Institution of Contemporary Art has been a great experience. I had no idea prior to going to the ICA that they offered classes for teenagers as well as family day activities for the younger children. If a student from Boston public schools wants to take any class at the ICA he or she will get a full scholarship. On the last Saturday of every month there is a visiting artist who teaches one hour block classes to groups of children and their families for free. Even the admission is free for kids as well as two adults per kid. The ICA is one of the most remarkable institutions in Boston, I think, because of their love for kids. They have a teen counsel that meets to think of activities they would like to do, and plan them. There are no limits for these kids that come to the ICA and that is what is so inspiring. The Directors and other staff members don’t need to be convinced that kids are capable of anything. These people are convinced that teenagers are the next generation in the art world and have the power to do anything they set their mind to. They want these kids to come in with enthusiasm and eagerness to learn about art so they’re constantly trying to keep kids interested. Being able to see this environment from a behind the scenes view is amazing. There are jobs at the ICA strictly for designing and organizing the different programs and activity that the kids are going to do, for free, every month. People are dedicating their lives to teaching students, kids, and even adults about the art world.

It’s safe to say that without these classes I wouldn’t have learned about all these great people and resources in the Boston area. I have witnessed more passion this semester than I have seen in my entire life. Now I have connections at a number of different facilities as well as significant Artists who also share the same passion to teach and I couldn’t be more thankful.

The art world is so diverse that every time I learn about a new technique or artist I can’t help but feel overwhelmed. To be able to see another’s thoughts and ideas visually is incredible, but difficult. I think of learning about art as learning a new language. There are always specific rules in language dealing with sentence structure, grammar, and vocabulary. Similarly, There are so many details to understand in every piece of art and always a new concept to learn. When viewing art one needs to understand the fundamentals, basic composition rules as well as have the ability to read the content within the work. Besides the artwork itself, there’s a whole language to describe what happens within. It’s only fitting to describe art as an art world because it truly is a world of it’s own. I find in my own studies I am constantly getting my mind blown–it’s exhausting! Going to Aspect Magazine was one of those exhausting, mind blowing, experiences for me.

After reading up on what Aspect Magazine is about I knew this would be an experiance that would stretch my mind further. Mike Mittelman was great, he spoke very well about his work as well as the work of other artists. He articulated different ideas to the class that left me dumbfounded. Intellectual property was something I had never put much thought into, but it’s important when an artist starts making. Who owns an idea? Can one own an idea? I feel like our society is like a melting pot in terms of ideas. People come up with an original idea but once it’s out there it gets replicated in different ways and forms–inspiring others to come up with different ideas. Everyday people inspire each other with new ideas. Something that I’ve always wondered was during a critique if someone is to give the artist an idea that makes them create something incredible, does that person get any credit? Even though the artist made the work, he or she would have never gotten to that conclusion without the help of that other person. I think that people inspire each other every day. If it weren’t for intimate discussions and critiques we as humans wouldn’t be anywhere near how advanced we are today. We all need each other’s feed back to evolve. But then the question comes up again: who owns the idea in the end? The same issues come up with artwork. If an artist makes a piece and sells it who owns the work, the artist or the possessor? If the piece gets sold again, who gets the compensation? As artists I’m sure anyone would agree that it is important to have some sort of legislation to protect art work for selling for $84,100 more than the original price–like Rauschenberg. Money and art is a completely different topic than just creating art. Showing art in museums and Galleries and how much they own the work is again, a completely different topic. There are so many dimensions when discussing art: how its made physically (materials/medium), how it’s made conceptually (inspiration/ideas), how it’s displayed (Museum, Gallery etc.), who owns what– it’s all so overwhelming. As an artist we need to create our own works, understand other art, know the history of art, know what’s going on now in the art world, know how to protect ourselves and our ideas, all while trying to get a comfortable income to survive in the world. Being an artist is so challenging that it’s invigorating and almost addictive.

In addition to all those thoughts and feelings that Mike Mittelman brought to my attention–he was a real inspiration himself. I think that anyone in the Art Education field, feels the same way when it comes to exposing people to art, especially students. Mike thought that students weren’t getting the resources they should when it came to experimental contemporary art. He said other resources required as much as a million dollars to buy a collection of videos in order to show to students, therefore, students weren’t seeing any experimental works. Aspect Magazine is a great resource that features 5-10 Artists in every issue for a $25 DVD. This affordable magazine not only allows art students to be informed with what’s going on in the art world, but gives the artist an opportunity to be learned about in art schools essentially becoming well known for generations. Mike isn’t a traditional teacher that goes to school everyday and works with students, but he is a teacher in the way that he exposes students resources that were impossible for the average person prior to Aspect.

After leaving Aspect museum we had lunch and then met at the Mills Gallery– part of Boston Center for the Arts. I had never heard of this gallery before so I was eager to see what it was all about. The Gallery it self was a decent size, it had 3 rooms of works and a showcase in the window. As soon as we arrived we spoke with a staff member and intern that helped with the Residue exhibition. Having the opportunity to work at the ICA for my field work hours has given me much insight into what it takes to make a show. Sometimes all the behind the scene moves aren’t thought of by the public when entering a gallery or museum, but essentially those are the most important when creating a show. The workers need to think about how to protect the art from the public, while the curator needs to think about the space and flow of the room, how to keep the viewers interested, and which pieces to incorporate. I’ve always been interested in how a curator desides what pieces go with the theme of each exhibition. Curating a show must have many steps to it from the elimination process to designing which works go better next to each other and how the space should flow. I’d love to talk to a curator to have a better idea as to how a gallery show like this one is put up.

After a breif introduction of the staff and the gallery we were sent off to view the Residue show before talking about the pieces. Initially when I was viewing the show I wasn’t connecting all the works to residue. I actually didn’t think about it to much at all until we spoke as a class. I was thinking in literal terms when it came to Residue as in the remainder of whats left behind physically. However, after speaking to the class, the reasoning behind why the curator chose these works made more and more sense. Residue was used in a number of different ways. Literally such as, the dust of the chalk left on the floor and conceptually like the foot prints left behind in the 24 hour video. Every piece that I was confused about could be justifyed as residue after having a disscussion. What I mostly got from this gallery visit was that everything has multiple meanings. Nothing is in black and white, yes or wrong, especially when it comes to art. Every work in that gallery could be interpreted in a different way from the viewer. I thought it was interesing that the curator did not post the discriptions on the art work witht he pieces– he wanted the viewer to come up with their own reasoning as to way the works represented residue. When viewing art it’s important to keep your mind open and let the piece do the talking. As viewers our interpretations could vary differeently from those of the curator, but thats okay.

The Mills Gallery trip was one of my favorites this semester. I thought the works were great and the discussions were even better. I liked that the show was small because with just those 16-20 pieces of work I felt that I didnt give a sufficient amount of time to each piece. Having any more would have been too overwhelming and taken away from the meanings behind each artwork. I now have a better understanding for what happens behind the scenes in a gallery and appreciation for all the work these people do to showcase art to the public.

So much happened on Tuesday, it was hard to slow down and take it all in. The first school group that we met with, Swampscott High School, was at the Museum of Fine Arts around 10:30 AM. It was a little overwhelming to see how many students were sitting on the stairs at first. Because our third partner was absent, Jeremy and I jumped on the opportunity to have a chaperon in our group, expecting to have eight or nine students. However, we were surprised when only four came over our way; one senior and three sophomores. I don’t know how that happened, but it was nice to have a more intimate group. It allowed Jeremy and myself to talk to each student one on one and have group discussions throughout the trip.

 While waiting to be let into the museum we tried to get to know the students. We asked them about their art experience: how many art classes they have taken, they’re favorite medium to work with, if they have ever been to the MFA before, if they had a favorite artist. These questions not only helped break the ice, but it helped Jeremy and I think of specific art pieces that would appeal to each individual in the museum. I was pleasantly surprised when three said they have already been to the MFA before and all have taken a number of art classes. In the beginning the students were really shy and hesitant to talk, but after the first exhibit they all seemed to open up.

 Jeremy and I decided to stick with our original lesson plan we posted last week. For their art class the students were required to sketch a something that was enticing to them in each exhibit, which worked our well because we planned on having them sketch as well. While standing outside I gave a brief overview on the exhibits we were going to visit and how we were going to move through in chronological order from when the pieces were created–starting out with the classical 18^th century, representational paintings. All four girls seemed curious and open to learn about the different time periods from the beginning, which made my job a lot more pleasant.

I was really disappointed when we got to the first exhibit and it was already 11:30 PM. That only left us an hour to go through both the American wing and the Contemporary wing. However, when working in situations, like field trips, it is important to adjust if it doesn’t go as planned and improvise to make it work. We could only let the students go off for about 13 minutes on their own to look through the entire exhibit and sketch their favorite piece before gathering quickly at the end to talk. There wasn’t nearly enough time for the students to fully experience the work; they couldn’t only grasp a gist of what every room was about. I felt that I was rushing them through every room and then we only had approximately three minutes to discuss in the end. Despite the time issue, I felt the trip was really successful. I had fun and it seemed like the students really enjoyed themselves. As a group, the students responded really well to the impressionist landscape paintings on the second floor of the American wing. The salon style room seemed to draw most of their attention. One student who was more shy in the beginning really opened up and talked about the works in the salon style room–it’s amazing to witness how art can affect a person. In addition to the second floor works, the students were receptive to the other exhibits throughout the museum. I understand it’s hard to go in a contemporary art exhibit without any background, but they all reacted well to the art. I was impressed with their maturity and openness to learning about centuries of art in less than an hour. I just hope the students had as much fun as I did.

 Working with the Boston Arts Academy was a complete 180 from the Swampscott High School. When I was talking to the girls from Swampscott they weren’t able to articulate how they felt about the art as well as the students from the Boston Arts Academy. This experience was much more intimate and allowed me to really get to know one student–Carlos. He was able to talk so well about his and Shahzia’s work that I didn’t have to sensor my vocabulary for him to understand. I was so impressed with the passion all those students possessed. Not only were they speaking intelligently about Shahzia and her process, but you could feel the love they had for the art and each other. They all possessed so much compassion it was awe-inspiring. Each student had great points to make about the piece they presented in the gallery. Some pointed out details I have never seen or thought of, and I’ve visited that gallery three times before. I know that the students are working on artist statements right now, but if they write as well as they talk, they will not have any trouble. All of them seemed to understand the appropriate vocabulary to describe art: line, form, shape, value, unity, etc. I know the energy and intelligence these students radiate will bring them far in the art field and it was such a pleasure to have had a chance to work with them.

As a class the first site we visited on October 11 was the Mobius gallery in Cambridge. It was funny because I looked right past the gallery when I first walked by because it seemed to be nonchalant. Even when we walked in I thought I was in the wrong place. This building was no larger than my bedroom and the inside was just pure white with nothing on the walls. When I hear the name gallery I normally envision a space with an exhibiting some sort of work, but this small area was bare. We had the opportunity to meet with El Putnam, a performance artist, who helps run the gallery. Putnam talked to us about Mobius and how it works. Mobius is a non profit, artist run gallery. El Putnam described that being a teacher and an artist she found it more inspiring to  be around other working artists in order to get feedback.

The main medium in all of Putnam’s work is her body. She uses her body in every performance she does whether it’s painting with her feet, outlining her body in chalk, or just rolling around on the ground. Essentially, Putnam almost becomes the piece herself while doing the performance. What is interesting to me is her use of color. There was a consistency of red used throughout many of her pieces. After realizing how often she used the color red in her work, Putnam decided to use other colors to see how they could affect the overall piece. So much so, she came up with a series of videos where she would wear a different color everyday. For example, one day she wore blue from head to toe and her piece was blowing bubbles everywhere. It seemed like Putnam had some sort of a system but these performances eventually had a mind of their own once she started she would just go with what felt right. The spontaneity of this work is what makes it so interesting. There is obviously a real sense of movement throughout all this work and the end product can be either a 2D drawing, 3D sculpture, or 4D video. There are so many options with performance art, it has the ability to appeal to anyone.

After Mobius, we went to the Harvard Art Museums. I’ve never been there either, so I was looking forward to the kind of work we’d be visiting. I really enjoyed the exhibit; there was a wide range of mediums, as well as meanings. A couple works that really stuck out to me were Robert Gober’s Untitled piece made in 2010-11 and Tim Rollins’ Animal Farm piece. Both these pieces were compositionally and articulately intriguing.

Gober’s Untitled piece is a scuplture made of Plaster, beeswax, human hair, cotton, leather, aluminum pull tabs, and enamel paint. The piece is humorous when one first sees it because it’s a huge sink with legs coming out of it, but up close the feeling completely changes. The legs are actually children’s legs which makes the piece have an eerie atmosphere. The legs are so distorted that its hard to relate them to one’s body, but the thought of contorting legs that way almost makes the viewer feel pain. As the viewer continues to look at the piece it becomes apparent that there is no way out of this trap and one has to wonder what brought these figures into this situation. This piece is so simple with the colors and materials used: everything is hand-made by the artist, besides the socks, giving the sculpture this quirky character. Nevertheless, the composition is so inextricable that it morphs the piece entirely to a puzzle. The use of figure is so compelling in this work because it forces the viewer to try and relate to the conditions the legs are in.

The second piece I was drawn to was the “Animal Farm” portrait done by Tim Rollins and K.O.S., a group of student artists. Rollins worked with these children to make the painting, done on a surface of linen and pages from the book “Animal Farm”, written by George Orwell. The painting draws the viewer in because of the background. From afar its hard to tell what exactly the background is, so it forces the viewer to come up close and take a better look. I always enjoyed art works that engages the viewer to stop and observe in order to really understand the meaning. The actual painting is so fascinating because it portrays the head of P.W. Brotha on a dogs body. This work is obviously controversial because it takes the prime minister of South Africa and turns him into an animal. I think that using the pages of “Animal Farm” was appropriate for the background because the figure in the painting corresponds so well with the story line. When I see figures such as this one—half man-half animal—I usually associate it with mythical creatures or mythology. However, I never got a mythological feeling from this particular work. Instead I thought that the neutral colors made this piece feel realistic, even though it is so fantastical. By realistic I mean that even though we normally don’t see man-dog creatures walking around in the world, somehow I didn’t question this figure but rather accepted it for what it was. Clearly, Rollins was making a comment on the type of person he thought Botha was, but this piece feels like it has more than just that commentary behind it.

On the subject on the use of figure in works of art, the ICA recently had an opening to a new exhibition called Dance/Draw. While volunteering, I spent some time looking through the gallery and it is amazing. The range of mediums includes paper making, drawing, painting, sculpture, photography, fibers and film. I was overwhelmed with the different ways people were art-making with their bodies. One of my favorites was a David Hammons’ self portrait where he greased his own body, made a print, and covered it with colored pigment. I think with the mindset I acquired by writing this blog while walking through this exhibit helped me understand and appreciate how much the body is a part of any type of art. There’s always a connection between the artist and their work however by using their body as a medium rather than a tool, the artist’s presence will forever remain in the piece.

I volunteered to be a leader of one of the school groups being guided through the Museum of Fine Arts. My partners are Jeremy Carrion and Kristy Chamberland.  We’re going to start chronologically, from oldest to newest: the first floor of the American wing, up to the third, and then over to the new contemporary wing. Because it is the first time these kids have been to the MFA, and most have never been to a museum before, I think it would be best to keep the assignments simple. We will only have about 20 minutes in each exhibit, therefore, we want the students to be able to take away as much as possible in that short time. When Jeremy, Christy and I were talking about it we decided that before each exhibit were going to tell the students about the time period in which these works were made and give them a little assignment.

In the first floor of the American wing that work is strictly representational. So the assignment will be to find a piece that sticks out to them and have them sit and try to recreate it. after about 15 minutes were going to get together as a group and discuss what aspects of the work the students were drawn to and what parts they didnt like. We will continue this system all the way through the tour but as the work becomes more conceptual we’ll have the students focus more on the meaning behind the work. They will need to pick a piece they are drawn to and write down or draw the parts they like the most. They can brain storm different qualities about the work that makes it succussfull and other parts they dont understand.

What I want the students to grasp by the end of this tour is the evolution on art. Without an art background it’s hard to understand exactly what art is and the difference between representational and conceptual. I don’t know how the students are going to react when they see the contemporary and modern wings, but I hope they are excited. I think this tour could open up a new world for these kids, and help them feel more comfortable with art and going to different museums.

Shahzia Sikander was born in Lahore, Pakistan in 1969. She currently resides and works in New York and Texas. As an undergrad Sikander studied at the Nation College of Arts in Lahore keeping her focus in miniature paintings. In an interview with Art21 Sikander spoke about growing up in Pakistan and said that she was very thankful for her background and family because they taught her everything. She mentioned that her Grandfather was very encouraging, disregarding a society that normally suppresses women, towards her and all her cousins to get educations and careers. Many of Sikander’s work focuses around Muslim and Hindu religions. She usually juxtaposes the two within one painting, taking a piece from each religion and combining them. After getting her degree in Lahore, Sikander then moved to the states to receive her MFA at Rhode Island School of Design. After studying in the states Sikander’s work evolved within her style. She uses an Eastern focus with precision and a Western focus with the creativity, subject and expression.

Before going to the gallery to see Shahzia Sikander’s work I had never heard of her. I was really intrigued by the detail of her graphite and ink pieces, but I had a hard time trying to figure out the meaning. Most of her work is at a smaller scale, poster size, about 10″ x 14″. I like that size because as a viewer it made me walk right up to each piece and really look at the detail. The black and white pieces had a really intricate boarder which sometimes interested me more than the subject because of the detail. Her background in miniature painting gives her work this sense of sacredness. Everything is so carefully placed it makes the work precious. Craftsmanship is a huge part in being an artist and as a viewer when you see the time that was put into the work it becomes so much more bountiful of essence. She had some significantly bigger pieces up such as the one to the right. The Confrontation piece incorporated elements of her smaller paintings such as the figures and symbols used. I never had the chance to watch the videos in the gallery the first time but I went back to view them after going to her lecture. I thought the animations were compelling, they basically brought her miniature paintings to life by layering and putting her drawings in motion. Overall, I’d have to say that her smaller pieces were definitely my favorite.

I find it really interesting to see Artists after I’ve viewed their work, especially if I’m drawn to a number of their pieces. Shahzia Sikander was really appealing to me, probably because she is a woman artist. I’ve always been drawn to women artists, not only because I’m a female, but because I always find it to be a great accomplishment when women artists get well known and can talk intelligently about their work. Even though she was sick, Sikander did a fine job bringing the audience through a number of her series. Sikander’s style went from miniature paintings with small attention to detail to huge installations about 70′ X 30′. She has done everything from curating a show to having her own solo shows. The mediums Sikander normally works with are graphite, ink, and gouache on paper, but she has also worked with film and animation. With her early works it seemed that Sikander worked from inspiration of different artists and recreated pieces to be entirely her own with just a taste of the original. From there Sikander was trying to branch out from her attention to detail and miniature paintings so she started on an ink process. She would create hundreds of ink drawings, each one done fairly quick. This practice helped her loosen up and create pieces with a lot of movement and layers. These drawings also helped influence bigger pieces and animations. I thought the fact that Sikander never declared any piece “finished” was really interesting. She said that she carries all her work with her all the time and will go back to a piece after a couple years to work on.

The series that stuck out to me the most during her lecture was the portraiture of the monk boys- 24 faces and the 25th frame. I thought the photographs were really interesting because of the layering of different faces and exposures. The white background with the natural skin tones and orange colored robe was simply elegant. The graphite drawings had so much detail and personality in each one. Being a women it was difficult for her to get into the monk sanctuary but she did. I think the reason this particular portraiture series stuck out to me because she not only did a beautiful job portraying these boys, but she raised funding to build a place for them to learn about art.

Sikander has been working for well over 15 years and therefore has created a number of series. All of her works have a lot of meaning behind them which, I think, makes them so powerful. Even without knowing the meaning behind her work I was still taken back by the way her drawings made me feel. Sikander is such a strong woman artist and throughout my research she has continued to amaze and inspire me. What I love most about her work is not only is it aesthetically beautiful, but it allows the viewer to create their own interpretation. After artwork is out of the artist’s hands, it’s up to the viewer to create the meaning for his or herself. I would not want to look at art that isn’t dynamic and could withhold many meanings. The dimension and spirit of Sikander’s work is what makes it so pleasing.

Going to the Burke High School was such a great opportunity. I really didn’t know what to expect. I knew was the school was a turn around school, which means it was shut down for a couple months while administration re-hired more than 50 percent the staff in hopes to turn the school into a better place for learning to encourage the students to graduate. This was the first high school I’ve ever been where in order to enter you needed to pass through a metal detector and security. This was a little intimidating and showed what kinds of issues this school had in the past. However, I heard some really great stories from the students about how the turn around impacted change within the school, making it a better a environment for learning and comfortable for the students to talk to the teachers. Almost every student that I spoke with said they never had an art class before, and these were Seniors in high school, some as old as 19. Art gave these kids the opportunity to bring their creativity into school. A lot of them said they liked to draw outside of class. Art class allowed them to express themselves and take a break from everything outside that room. It was clear that all those kids needed was a little guidance and they would take this chance to create great pieces.

Its really sad to read aricles about how schools are cutting down on their art programs. I’ve always felt that art classes are so important to teach well rounded children. Not just drawing art, but music and gym as well. These classes are just as vital to teaching children skills as well as general courses. However, standardize testing forced the cirriculim to put its center focus on reading, writing, math, and science-leaving little room for art, music and gym classes in the schedule. Usually if these classes are incorporated in the curriculum they only run for about 40 minutes which isn’t enough time to impact the students. Personally, my school system was fantiastic and I definately did not realize it until reading about these other schools. Growing up these classes were always incorporated in my schedule. Elementary school I would have five days of art, then a day of gym, and then five days of music. In highschool all my art classes were as long as all the others- 82 minutes and that still felt short. I was given so many opportunities that brought me to where I am today. Looking back I dont know what I would have done without them. I’ve experienced first hand why these classes are so important in school systems. They make a huge impact on who the students become and the result is instantaneous.

When we had the opporunity to go talk to Chandra Ortiz her passion was so strong for her students it was obvious she would make a differece in their lives. She developed a fabulous Art program in a school that never had art classes. She now teaches four classes on top of after school programs and organizing studio and gallery space within the school for the kids to use. Art can be used as a healing process which could be benefical to communities inflicted with issues such as poverty. When students are comfortable in their envirment they open up to the people around them, making communities stronger. I believe the most important lesson to teach children is how much life there is in the world. This is something I’m just learning on my own and I want to share it with everyone. It’s so easy to get stuck in difficult situations and never really live life to its full potential. Every child out there has potential to be great and they don’t even see it. By incorporating all kinds of subject matter into classes while kids are young they’ll be able to see what talent they have and grow immensely from that. Creativity is the key to life and there are so many ways to express ideas and passions. Sharing creativity with others is what makes this world so inventive and inspiring.