Saturday, April 20, 2013

Heart Some Art

In the hierarchy of admirable people, art teachers belong in the top tier.  I am extremely fortunate to have known many great ones, and to have grown up in a place where the arts are valued.

Ms. Monson was our art teacher in elementary school, and again later on in high school.  I mentioned that the arts were valued in our small Minnesota town, and I think that is in large part because of her.  Art class wasn't just an afterthought, something to fill up an hour in the day, it was a priority.  I guarantee that any one of us who spent time in her classroom can still vividly recall the smell of paint, and the big sink to wash out our brushes in the back.  Each of us has a favorite project that we could talk about in detail many years later.

See, she didn't just hand us some paper and pencils and leave us to our own devices.  We made marionettes and used papier mache.  We painted murals, learned perspective, and listened to the song "Vincent" by Don McLean.  We were introduced to the work of Matisse and Marc Chagall.  We made a mess on her pottery wheel, and sculpted animal banks out of clay which she fired for us in her kiln.

And the thing is, we all felt like Da Vinci.  Throughout the year we'd hand in our finished projects for review, and after a week or two she'd hand them back to us.  These were highly anticipated moments - if you didn't get yours back, it meant she was saving it for the art show in the spring.  Such pride!  Everyone had some pieces included because, really, everyone is an artist.  And she understood that art is as much about heart as it is about technique.    

The art show itself was an impressive affair.  The junior high gym was transformed into a gallery, with formal divisions and professional looking mattes, and live music provided by the orchestra.  A first grader's still life was equally as important as a senior's self-portrait.  And each night, you'd see kids leading around their parents, eager to find and point out their masterpieces. 

In a time when art classes are being cut mercilessly, it strikes me often how lucky we were. 

Most schools today have very limited art programs, if any, and it only seems to get worse.  Thankfully there are private organizations that work to fill in the gaps, but they can only do so much.  One here in New York City is called Free Arts NYC, and I am privileged to volunteer with them from time to time.  They run Saturday art workshops and a variety of more long term art-based mentoring projects for at-risk children and families.

Today I spent time with these kids again after a few years of letting it slide, and it has filled my heart. 

So I guess this is just a public thank you to art teachers everywhere, especially mine. 


http://freeartsnyc.org/



My hippo bank.  : )