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We began class last Tuesday with our final projects. I was glad to have some time to put the finishing touches on my final project. I am working with my classmate Corinne on this so any time we can find with our busy schedules helps. After working on the project for a few hours we had a break and were asked to meet outside the MFA graduate exhibit.

I really enjoyed seeing the diverse works inside this exhibit. There were some photography pieces, some installations, and some interactive pieces. One of the pieces that I noticed getting the most attention was the piece by Shan Gao. This piece was a projector on the ground surrounded by a border of rocks. On the projector were little “wishing coins” floating around. This created to the image of a wishing well, which brought me back to my childhood. I think we have all made a wish with a coin and tossed it in a wishing well. This is exactly what it reminded me of. There was a place for people to draw an image on a circle piece of paper and press a button to immediately insert that coin into the wishing well. The observer could draw what ever they desired. I could tell this was a popular piece because there was a line of people waiting to draw their very own coin. I almost did not have enough time to draw up a coin myself.

I think that Gao is definitely onto something with this interactive piece. It reminded me of my childhood, which I’m sure is common for a lot of the people who got to participate as well. Gao has figured out how to make a very popular piece and it is inspiring to me for my future artwork.

Unfortunately, I had my last visit to the Burke on Friday, April 27. I was very excited to be able to help with the big art show the students and Ms. Rodney had been planning. By the time I arrived at the school a lot of the artwork was already set up. The works were amazing and the students were very respectful of it. It was great to see all of the work that I had witnessed in progress turn into finished pieces. I found myself standing at the top of a very tall latter trying to hang up a “welcome to the art show” sign. It made me think of the crazy things that teachers do besides teach that people do not give them credit for.

Even after the bell rang the art room was filled with eager students. Some students even set up full tables of their work. It was refreshing to see how excited the students were about their work. This brought me back to my own experiences in high school. Although I had gone to school in a very suburban area, there seemed to be just as many and maybe even more kids really into the art show at the Burke than what I remembered from my high school.

When parents and other people began to show up the students were eager to talk about and show off their artwork. One student, Brandon stood by his table the whole time and explained all his amazing pieces of artwork. His art was very impressive. It consisted of mostly 3D sculptures or installations made out of paper mache. He had made everything from a life sized puppet, to models of bus stops, to even a bagel. Out of the 25 hours I had spent at the Burke, I had no idea he had all this work ready to display. The art show was definitely the best way to end my observation hours at the Burke.

I had so much fun doing the art project with the students from TAG and the Urban Scholars. The hour and a half flew by and I was surprised to see how much all of the students were participating. I love seeing the different personalities throughout the class. It definitely reminded me of the students at the Burke. When they first got settled in I was a bit nervous because I have observed, but have never really directed so many students at once. Also considering it was spring break, I was not sure how enthusiastic these students would be about doing this project. I was pleasantly surprised to find that most of the students began working right away. I noticed there were a lot of adults at the free wall rather than students so I decided to walk around and encourage some of the students to go up and draw what they wanted. Many of them seemed skeptical at first, but in the end a lot of them got up their and did their own thing. I think that we did a really good job of encouraging them to make art with all the materials we brought in and with our encouraging attitudes as well.

Many of the students had high hopes for going to college and getting a higher education. Many of these kids have been through a lot which is inspiring to me how optimistic and dedicated they are. I feel that they might even be more successful than people from the suburbs who have had many things handed to them because they understand the meaning of working hard to get what they want. I am not sure how dedicated I would be to college, especially Art College, if I did not have my parents to back me up. These kids are very smart and I can tell that they will do great in school.

I think that we all have things in common even if we don’t see it at first. Many of the kids were making art about where they would like to be in the future, which is something I can totally relate to. When I was a senior in high school the thought of college opens your eyes to so many possibilities and it really gets you thinking about your future. I have high hopes for my future and from what I saw the students from TAG and Urban Scholars did too. The language difference between me and these students was a bit of an obstacle for me. I had to have people help translate to some of the students I wished to speak to. However, that is definitely something I will be able to get used to. Although they spoke a different language they still had the same thoughts and concepts. One kid I talked to had a picture of a broken bridge because he liked to fix things and wanted to become an engineer. I found that I can be inspired by someone who does not even speak my language.

We went to see a gallery by William Cordova at the Boston Center for Arts. I found Cordova’s art to be interesting and certainly unique. I did enjoy the concepts we discussed in this gallery, but I found it hard to grasp the whole concept without an explanation. It was interesting to see the architectural structure that was basically placed in the center of the gallery. What was so interesting about this to me was the structure did not quite fit the other pieces visually although it did conceptually. It was just so perfect and appeared to be a tedious task; whereas the other pieces were more messy and free. It made for a very interesting combination. When they told me the story behind the work I began to enjoy it a bit more because it seemed very personal and deep. The structure was an exact replica, downscaled, of the house that two members of the Black Panther group were shot it. The story is a very tragic one which matches the images on the wall next to the structural form.

 After we left the BCA Liz led us to a small street that was filled with mini galleries. This was probably my favorite part of the day because I got to explore all the different galleries on my own time, which is always more enjoyable when you’re not being rushed or going to slow. The only down side was that there was no discussion about each individual gallery so I may have missed some important concepts. Either way, the galleries were very tasteful and fun to explore.

 We met back up again to view Linda Price’s studio. We were lucky to have the actual artist there to answer any questions we might have and to explain what we were seeing in depth. I really admired Linda’s work because it was something I could definitely see myself doing. The work was very colorful and my favorite part was that it was 3D and made out of something as simple as pipe cleaners. She also added video to her work which was very pleasing to the eye.  Her work was very inspiring to me because it reminded me of something I would draw; only it was in 3D. It made me think about expanded my 2D artwork into 3D. Overall, her studio was very eye-catching and I would definitely like to see more of her work.

I had a very busy day at the Burke on Thursday, April 12. Ms. Rodney was so busy preparing for the art show so I thought I should dedicate most of my day to helping her out. I started out my morning covering the walls of the hallway outside of the art room with white paper. I had to remove all the art made by the students from the bulletin board carefully replace it with more white paper. I will say that it was hard work, but by the time I was done the hallway looked very clean and nice. While I was at the Burke I saw the teacher from Art Ward bound. She was working on a piece of artwork in the hallway that she planned on making into a giant head. I thought it was funny to see her in a different setting than in the Art Ward bound room. I finally understood why she was intertwining vines into circles and linking them into a chain. This large chain was going to be a part of her artwork. This reminded me of Jamel because the Bittersweet Oriental Vine was what Jamel did his art project on and he even made a clay version of the chain for his art project. We talked a bit about Jamel and about her work.

 When I was done helping out in the hallway I made my way back to do some artwork with the students. There was one student from Africa who was very outgoing and eager to talk with me. She asked me about my race and background, which made me feel like a belonged there a bit more. I liked how she was not so quick to generalize me as just “white” and actually understood that I came had a background and certain race as well. She went on to tell me that her brother and her mother live in Africa and that she was saving up her money to go see them. I really admired her optimistic personality and her dedication to get the things that she desired.

 I ended making a bracelet and my fellow classmate, Corinne, made me a bracelet as well, which I am still wearing right now. I think the best way to observe is to interact with the students as well. I felt as though I blended in with them and was able to experience more than if I was to just sit in the corner and take notes. I feel as though I helped inspire some of them and got to know them as well. They definitely inspire me a little more every time.

I took an especially interesting trip to the Jeremiah Burke on Friday, April 13th. Not only did I spend a whole day with the kids, but I got to watch a school play, presented by the drama students as well. I spent most of the day talking and drawing with the students. The day was a little bit hectic because it was the day before their April vacation and they were getting ready for their art show, which will take place on the 27th of April. It was fun to see how excited the students and, especially, Ms. Rodney were about the show. My favorite piece of work in progress was, a student, Brendan’s life sized puppet. He brought a shirt and a pair of jeans from home for the puppet to wear and made hands that could actually move when u pulled certain strings.

 After spending some time with the students at the Burke, I really got to know some of the students and I was pleased to find that each student has a different personality. Some are very outgoing and talkative, some are very creative and extraordinarily intelligent, others keep to themselves, and some of them are wonderers. There is not one student who can truly have a negative personality even if they give off a negative vibe at first. For example, shy students might be mistaken for rude and wonderers might be mistaken for undisciplined, but it just goes to show that people have to get to know them better in order to communicate with them on a personal level. This is very important to realize for me as a budding teacher because I need to be able to help these students learn and help them embrace the benefits of their specific personality.

 Towards the end of the day the students were all excited about a play that was going to take place in the auditorium. Ms. Rodney and some of the other students said I should go down and see a bit of the play. The play was very humorous and in good taste. The students in it were very talented actors and the script was brilliant. This was a perfect way to end the school day at the Burke!

We were lucky to see Dawn Lane and Gateway Arts and Crafts perform yesterday morning. We did not only get to see the final performance but we got to see it in progress. It was interesting to observe Dawn Lane’s teaching techniques. She was able to pull an interesting performance together very quickly. A couple of Lane’s teaching techniques stuck out to me. I really admired the way she described to the performers how she wanted the movements to look without setting very specific roles. When the performers went through the steps she gave no criticisms, only suggestions. I could tell that she was very particular about not complimenting or singling out any of the performers, which is a technique I never really thought about using. When you give compliments as a teacher to students you are singling them out, causing others to feel less important even if they felt they were doing a good job as well. I can say this from experience of being a student in a classroom. Most of us have observed this happening, which makes me realize compliments are not always good. This is a good thing to realize at an early stage because it is something that could easily become a habit. I also liked the way she gave the performers so much leeway to do what they want. She only gave a general outline of what she wanted to happen and left the rest up to them. I feel this is something I have already used with my Art Ward Bound mentee and with the students I helped during fieldwork. I favor this technique because it helps the student to come up with something more original and something they truly enjoy.

 After we saw the performance we got right to work perfecting our lesson plans for the school tours on April 17th. I think it was really helpful to do an official run through to see what we had to fix before the real deal. I was in the art project group. Our plan is to have the kids make collages that represent themselves. We also decided to make a free wall for the students who get stuck or even just bored. Our run through did not go as smoothly as planned by what are run-throughs for anyway. Our official plan is to have one person explain what they are going to do. I am in charge of going into further detail about what they are supposed to create. Then we have someone at the materials table explaining what we have available for them; and lastly, there will be someone by the free wall to explain exactly what that is all about. I think the students will definitely enjoy this art project because there is a material or medium for everyone. I am excited to see the outcome of this lesson plan and I’m sure it will be a pleasant surprise.

I feel that our last session with Jamel was a huge success. Jamel had mentioned to us before that he enjoys working with his hands, which is why we thought it would be a good idea to use clay for the creative art assignment. We gave him guidelines of what to make and I was really pleased with what he came up with. He began making the Bittersweet Oriental Vine by rolling out the clay and then twirling it. When he was finished with that he made another vine with leaves coming off of it, perfect down to the bamboo looking vine. Then he made a new piece that was very smart and creative. He began making the clay into circles and connected them together. This design was clever because it was something we had seen his teacher doing last week with the real vine itself. It was something I totally would not have thought about making.

The illustration assignment was much different than the creative art project in terms of the results and the enthusiasm I saw in Jamel. It was difficult to keep Jamel’s focus during the illustration project because he’s not big into the drawing aspect of art. This made me think about a discussion we had in class about whether or not it should be required for students to learn how to make an observation drawing. During class I had argued that it was important for them to learn how to do it but after getting to know Jamel I have developed a different opinion. Jamel is very bright and knows exactly what he likes. For him an observation drawing submitted in a portfolio does not do him justice. I don’t mean that as a bad thing, but I guess what I’m trying to say is that we all have our strengths and our weaknesses. Why should art be such a general topic if there are so many aspects of it. Someone could be a very talented photographer, but that does not mean they can draw a perfect picture. I could easily see in the two pieces of work we created that Jamel was gifted, but it was the clay that specifically caught my eye.

I saw a huge difference in learning between the illustration project and the creative art project. The first project felt almost like pulling teeth. Jamel was uninterested, which offset his attention and therefore stunted the learning process. We pretty much had to walk him every step of the way through the drawing project, which is not like Jamel at all. He was not coming up with his own ideas and we basically had to force him to finish his drawing. The creative art project had a very different effect on Jamel. We did not once have to say keep working or ask if he was stuck. Instead of making one piece he made three! Instead of pushing him to learn, he was learning pretty much on his own and it made the lesson plan go very smoothly. He finished early which gave us time to have some fun with the clay and we ended up making a bouquet all together. So I definitely have observed that the learning process gets stunted when the student is being forced to do something they do not want to do. The only thing we can do as a mentor is try to make it a little bit better for them. This is something I will have to further look into for future teaching.

I was able to visit the 100 Years gallery at Boston University during some free time. The visit was very enjoyable for me and seemed like more of a day to enjoy rather than a mandatory day in class. This gallery was all about the history of performance art. It was amazing to see just how far back and even how worldwide performance art really is. This is another subject that I feel as though I have overlooked for many years as an artist. Although it is something I do not particularly enjoy it is important to learn about other areas of art. This gallery definitely opened my eyes to the meaning of performance art. I feel as though this category of art is interesting because many people you would not necessarily consider to be artists become artists under this category. To me it seemed as though some of the artists performed things that seemed closer to what I see as art where as others performed things that were just very confusing to me. I would say that some of these artists strike me as very creative dancers rather than performance artists which, makes me wonder where I would draw the line. I guess this gallery show made me realize that many forms of dance and entertainment can also fall under the category of art, which makes sense because it take the mind of an artist to come up with such creative material and choreography.

In all, I really enjoyed getting a chance to see a gallery that I would not have otherwise taken a look at. It is nice to see the history of performance art because it is encouraging to see that it is getting more popular and that more people are becoming interested in it. I feel as though when people think of art, they think of a painting of a fruit bowl on the wall. Galleries like the 100 Years gallery and like many others we have seen this semester are a good reminder to people that there is much more to art than what meets the eye. I feel as though there is art for every personality and it is up to artists to point that out. It is also interesting to see artwork in schools that are not necessarily known for their art. It is especially refreshing to see that it is not just artwork that you hang on a wall; it provides a whole different meaning for the word art.

Visiting the Burke High School was definitely a different experience compared to the other schools I have visited. I really enjoyed the enthusiasm I saw in most of these kids even though it was a requirement for them to be there. When I first arrived, I was a bit nervous that the students might not warm up to me or have any interest in what I had to say. However, when I went around to the tables to introduce myself and see what they were working on I was surprised by their reactions. Most of the kids seemed excited to discuss what they were making with me and were very open to suggestions. I wasn’t sure at first how helpful I could be for them, but I quickly found myself giving out suggestions and some advice based on my own personal experiences with art.

Once I made my rounds to every student I decided to join in on the art making. One of the assistant teachers, Suzan, gave me a sign she was making and told me I could finish it if I wanted. I found a seat beside a couple of students and began my work, assuming that this would be the perfect opportunity to get a little one on one time with some of the students. One boy came and sat next to me named Kyle; he was working on a picture of angel wings in pencil. He explained to me that he was working on a picture of an angel, but was unhappy with his first full drawing so decided to just draw the wings instead. When he showed me the first drawing I thought it was very good, but it was just unfinished. I encouraged him to work a little bit more on his original drawing and he might be happy with the results, but of course left the initial decision up to him. When I looked at his work a bit later he had made very good progress on his original piece and he seemed happy with it. This was a really good feeling for me because I felt as though I had given some helpful advice. I feel as though I showed him how an unfinished drawing that he was unhappy with could be turned into something great if he just stuck with it and put in the effort.

 

When lunchtime came I was interested to see how the art classroom was never fully emptied. It made me think about my own experiences with my high school art room. Most days I would end up going to the art room for lunch either to work on my own art or hang out with my friends who were working on theirs. There is the energy that the art room holds that no other class in a high school holds. You don’t usually seeing kids going to the math room during class to do more math. Art is something that many students are enthusiastic about and that realization really makes me happy to pursue a career in art education.

There was one student I met named Derek in the next class that reminded me a lot of myself as a senior in high school. He was very talented, but at the same time had his head in the clouds. I enjoyed talking with him, but it seemed as though he’d rather talk about other things than art. He had a very lovely painting on his canvas that was unfinished and, at the rate he was going, seemed as though it was going to remain unfinished. For the majority of the class he sat and talked until I gave him a little nudge to keep working. I had to remind him a couple times that he could work and talk at the same time. It is funny to see the different personalities in each class. Some students keep to themselves and work a lot, some enjoy working while socializing as well, and others just like to sit there with their hands in their lap. I am guessing this also depends on what type of day they are having, which will be interesting to observe when I go back.