In all four articles, including the Reinvesting in Arts Education by the President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities, art as a subject was connected to success in humanity when arts are included in a school curriculum. The success was “measured” not by testing on art specifically but rather tracking schools achievement with or without art programs. The success in academics may or may not have been attributed to the art programs however when arts were included in the curriculum the test scores were higher. In the presentation by Constance Bumgarner Gee, Art for Arts Sake? She champions for the advocacy (promotion) of art not justification (defense). I can relate to this approach. In my current teaching position at a private parochial school, art was not a priority. The general education teachers did the best they could to include art in their lessons, however it was like most often is, the first to go. The school decided to include an art program in the fall of 2018. Ever since that inclusion, with sights set on increasing enrollment, art (and other unique offerings preschool 4K) has been used to market to a wider audience and increase enrollment. Much like the standardized tests directly relating to art and success and high scores, I cannot say that the enrollment has increased because of the newly included art program, but the parents are pleased to know we have one. Right now advocacy for my art program is showing the work; taking the time to display, post online, write articles about art projects and units. 

In the statement made by Elliot Eisner,
 
“We do the arts no service when we try to make their case by touting their contributions to other fields. When such contributions become priorities the arts become handmaidens to ends that are not distinctly artistic and in the process undermine the value of art’s unique contributions to the education of the young”.

I cannot agree more. He makes the cause that art should stand alone. Art as a subject in it’s uniqueness, can only attribute to the characteristics that every one of these articles listed or eluded to in some form; motivation and engagement, persistence, focused attention, and intellectual risk taking; habits of mind including problem solving, critical and creative thinking, dealing with ambiguity and complexity, integration of multiple skill sets, and working with others; including collaboration and teamwork skills, social tolerance, and self-confidence. Repeated over and over, these values and moral fiber, can be connected to art integration in schools. The spiritual/moral, brain building, and self image aspects of a person’s life cannot be tested,  however art can encourage flexing those attributes that cannot be measured in a standardized test.

Gee, mentions the “good news” that disadvantaged, low income, urban and rural at-risk students “benefit from art more than regular students”. I am not sure I can fully agree with this statement. Again, a lot of evidence can be collected on benefits of focusing on serving a group of individuals providing a safe space in which creativity is encouraged and celebrated, but I am concerned with the word “more” in to whom this may benefit. What might the term “regular student” mean? Some children may live within financially secure homes but poor in loving environments.  When advocacy is our goal I understand why these celebrations may be used as an argument for art inclusion, but caution exclusion from who benefits from art more. 

Reinvesting in Arts EducationPresident’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities
"Valuing the Arts on Their Own Terms? (C’est pas une pipe.)" 
By Constance Bumgarner Gee
“Art for our Sake: School Arts Classes Matter More Than Ever- But Not for the Reasons You Think” 
By: Ellen Winner and Lois Hetland
“Does Experience in the Arts Boost Academic Achievement?” 
​By: Elliot W. Eisner



​

As a class exercise we were asked to create a meme from a photo we had taken. As I transition from my lunch lady duties to art teacher lady, with bittersweet fondness, I post. I will miss the institutional green trays, the excitement of the children on a meal days like homemade pizza (you can imagine), and the wonderful women who serve the nutritious meal beside me. These days spent will be forever treasured. 

As a class the students listened to a picture book on Georgia O'Keefe. They learned that she was born in Wisconsin and lived until she was 98. She lived the later part of her life in the Southwest and the majority of her subject matter was flowers that she magnified. The children chose a flower and we used view finders to enlarge the drawing on their paper with colored pencils and later they filled it in with water color.

Today I started ART ED 208. A step towards certification in the professional field of art instruction. I am currently teaching K-8th grades and just struggled yesterday with classroom management so it is on the forefront of my thoughts. A procedural issue I am sure that started out as the random entrance the students made. Starting off on the wrong foot. The trenches. What I learned so far this school year that even though the behaviors or volumes are not ideal, the children are still grasping the lesson. They are still creating. They are learning about artists and techniques. They are having a life experience. What's probably most important to keep in perspective is that there will always be things that may seem less than ideal, but our attitude and reaction to them needs to be fluid. Positivity flows and grows, negativity is rigid and stays stagnant. 

My example of a limited palette self portrait. For our school's collaborative project for our art show we will be making a self portrait within a hue family, sort of.. Here is my teaching example. I will be adding the kids work in progress. I am excited to see it all tie together.

The 2nd and 3rd graders were shown examples of Picasso's playful assemblage sculptural guitar pieces. They were given a variety of cardboard scraps, glue. string, cardboard tubes, and tape. 

The students were shown the work of Cezanne and we studied the bold colors and shapes. I set up a still life in the center of the room and the children were instructed to fill the paper, find the shapes in the objects of the still life, and use bold color they were also told to outline the objects in black and to be sure to fill the background. 

The upper grades were introduced to a different way of thinking about drawing, subtraction rather that addition. We focused on making a cube form. Trying to find the light source and what shadows might be were also challenges. After learning that the media was new to this group of 11-14 year olds they had a war paint and charcoal mask moment. We had a talk where I explained the proper use of art materials in the art room and how we do not intentionally put them on our bodies. I also told them it would be really boring if we were limited to paper and pencil because we had lost the use of the variety of materials the art room offers. I learn too, sigh, on a daily basis.