Publication Date: Friday, July 16, 2004
SCHOOLS
Not your father's art class
Not your father's art class
(July 16, 2004) Teachers no longer stress 'doing your own thing'
by Alexandria Rocha
While yesteryear's art classes focused primarily on the creation of personal objets d'art , today's offerings are less about doing and more about thinking -- by way of a whole lot more studying.
Because of a change in the way art is taught, teachers have the new task of blending book reading with the excitement of creating. Before picking up any materials from the supply cabinet, art students see slides, read books and articles, visit galleries and write essays on the project at hand.
"Teachers of art now are more aware of the cognitive processes, not just the hand movements," said Patty Larrick, the art education director for the Palo Alto Unified School District.
"You've got to give students a context in which to work. You want kids to stop saying, 'I like it,' 'It's really cool.' You want kids to be more able to judge what they're seeing," she said.
To achieve that goal, Palo Alto instructors utilize five state- and district-mandated standards to teach art -- artistic perception, creative expression, historical and cultural context, aesthetic valuing and connections, relationships and applications. Each standard comes with a set of sub-standards that students are required to learn.
This type of structure is only a few years old. "In the old days, we were inventing our own curriculums," Larrick said, adding students were lucky to get teachers who actually knew what they were doing.
John Robinson, a retired art director now teaching a summer school course, agreed with Larrick's assessment. "It was more about 'do your own thing' and self expression, an aspect that permeated into every area of our lives -- and it was reflected in the classroom," he said.
"There was a frustration because I knew that the fundamental skills needed to be there," said Robinson, who taught at local school district for more than 30 years.
Yuan Tao, 14, is taking a beginning art class from Robinson this summer. Learning the fundamentals helps Tao create artwork she enjoys -- sketched images that convey such themes as truth, she said.
"I like trying different techniques," said Tao, who will be a freshman at Gunn High School. "Sometimes the techniques are hard to get."
Robinson said Tao's attitude is typical of modern Palo Alto students..
"Students understand the need of skill. I don't have to convince them of that need. Twenty years ago it was, 'I don't need this. I just need to express myself,'" Robinson said. "What ended up happening was oftentimes there was the idea, but the skills weren't there to do the idea."
Robinson, who participated in writing the new art standards, said teachers now ask themselves two questions with each art project: "Where is the skill development in this?" and "Where is the self expression in this?"
Danielle Kim, 14, doesn't consider herself an artist but asserted she could become one with enough practice.
"With this first foundation, if I built on it, I would probably be able to have success with art," said Kim, who will be a freshman at Paly this fall.
Kim's statement exemplifies Larrick's philosophy, which asserts that art -- like anything else -- can be learned. Students willing to seriously apply themselves can make it on par with students who have natural talent, Larrick said.
"Talent is greatly overrated in the arts," she said.
Alexandria Rocha can be e-mailed at arocha@paweekly.com
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