Engaging the Modern-Day (Insert Noun Here). 

Paying Attention to Students, Spectators and Artists’ Processes in Today’s World.

Evolution is a critical component of survival for both biological and non-biological entities such as viruses, bacterium, animal species, industries, fields, products, and companies. This includes Art Education, especially now and more than ever. We live in an age of digital and technological developments that have afforded us luxuries, more adequate food and water supplies, medical breakthroughs, improved communications and computer programming, and more. Moreover, we have gained indefinite capacities to create and communicate through art with many of these advancements. There are new products on the market that allow students, artists and spectators to experience in different ways. Now, artists are creating artwork with new mediums such Karen Walker (http://karenwalkerfineart.com) with alcohol inks, mix-media art combining like sculpture and paint by Joseph Grazi (http://josephgrazi.com), and utilizing computer programs to build digital illustrations and paintings like Deiv Calviz (http://deivcalviz.com). However, there is a disconnect in engaging many modern-day people and delivering art education in ways that different populaces such as students in art classrooms within public schools and spectators visiting museums and local art events. How can we close these gaps in the age of Information?

The average modern-day student is bombarded with information from many school subjects, advertisement of products in every marketable industry, and videos of violence on social media platforms through constant connectivity. A predominantly popular form, video art, has wired youth diving in head first into digital mediums and sharing their creativity through Youtube, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter and more. One can find many online elementary videos created by a segmented market that is saturated with youths looking for a creative outlet to critique toys, remix mainstream music videos and films, record cosplay action sequences, and discuss whatever their heart desires. However, many of these productions are missing the quality of basic filmmaking strategies that make pieces consistent, cohesive, and interesting through storyboarding for a well-thought narrative, a variety of imagery created through different lenses and lighting, and post-production music and transitions for ambiance. If we, as art educators, delve deeper into the issue of limited skill sets, then we can acknowledge that ever-evolving technology limits students’ attention span to crafting their art because there is something new coming out constantly that competes for their concentration. Thus, students are always running off to the next big thing. This creates a vacuum of necessity for art educators to be very present with their students and create a space for their students to learn more beyond shoot film and share. Duncam (2014) states, “The Do-It-Yourself aesthetic is not necessarily something to celebrate. Today, I teach my undergraduate art education students about framing, angles-of-view, the effect if different lenses and lighting, the use different camera movements, and so on; in short, I teach a basic grammar of movie making.” I agree with Duncan’s methodology in teaching the techniques behind a medium. As art educators it is our responsibility to learn how to embrace the new changes in industry and not only fill in those gaps for ourselves, but for our students as well. Teachers are life-long learners that must reinvent themselves constantly in order to enable and empower our future generations with the life skills to march forward in an uncertain future full of caveatsthat we have not yet even fathomed.

Many contemporary spectators are subjected to the similar issues in art education as present-day students. For example, museums are competing with different markets catering to the consumer-experience such as amusement parks, movie industry and streaming apps. These educational institutions help provide a platform for artists to share their artwork, preserve culture, and cultivate the community through engagement. Artists are incorporating museums in different ways that extend beyond hanging masterpieces on walls. O’Donoghue (2015) discusses several artists who capture spectators interest through experiential-based art practices. The artists, Carsten Höller and Marina Abramovic, created installations that invited participants to be a part of art and presented opportunities to explore themselves, which is what artists do during their own creative process. O’Donoghue (2015) proposes, “Might we say, then, that to focus on experience in art education is to immerse oneself in the qualities of the teaching and learning experience? And, that it is to pay attention to the possibilities, promise, an actualities of one’s encounters and exchanges with others- objects, people, and processes alike.” Spectators became more engaged with art and it is believed to enhance their thinking and beliefs through self-examination.

As an art educator, I can empathize with both modern-day students and understand the evolution of art education in both classrooms and museums. Currently, I am a substitute teacher and a store clerk at the Harn Museum in Gainesville, Florida. However, I remember growing up during the early stages of Informational Ages and diving head first into new technology. In hindsight, I can agree that most of time I had stumbled in learning computers and programs with little instruction due to it was new and there was limited access to technologies. Previous classroom settings may have or have not included a computer in a classroom that may have had thirty to sixty students. Today, I learned most of my computer skills through technical courses during high school and online tutorials. Also, I utilize YouTube to self-teach painting techniques, crocheting, and critiques for art supplies prior to purchasing. I think there are more positive than negative aspects with integrating new technology and contemporary pedagogies in art education such as being able to research information for projects, create artwork through new fine art mediums and computer programs such as Final Cut Pro, Illustrator and Photoshop, and share my vision through websites and social media platforms with other students, artists and spectators. As per museums, I see the behind-the-scene dynamics that keeps the Harn Museum popular and as an influential establishment within the community and art industry. It keeps up-to-date with contemporary exhibits, such as The World to Come, that brings in viewers from all over the country and attracts local people with a different themes hosted through a program called Museum Nights at the Harn. The experiences I gain through working at a museum, being a substitute teacher, attending this graduate program and my upbringing contribute to my evolution as an artist, art educator and spectator. I plan to use my experiences and knowledge to help shape future artists, teach our youth skill sets that will help them in their life journey into the future, and impact our community.

References

Duncum, Paul. (2015). A Journey Toward an Art Education for Wired Youth. National Art Education Association Studies in Art Education: A Journal of Issues and Research, 56(4), 295-306.

O’Donoghue, Dónal.(2015). The Turn to Experience in Contemporary Art: A Potentiality for Thinking Art Education Differently. National Art Education Association Studies in Art Education: A Journal of Issues and Research, 56(2), 103-113.