Entry #10
April 20, 2020
#transforminginwaysIdidnotexpect
I am not a fan of online classes. The only times I have attempted taking a class online, I’ve dropped the course after only a few sessions. I love human connection and interaction in person. Studio classes in particular generate a very special class culture because of the nature and set up of a studio class. We spend long hours with one another creating art, practicing and improving our skills, learning from one another, finding inspiration from one another, bouncing ideas off each other and coming up with solutions to problems in our practice together. The last time I saw my comrades before the Covid-19 quarantine it was an emotional and uncertain goodbye, there was a sense of mourning the projects we wouldn’t get to finish in our respective studios while also scrambling to take what tools we would need for projects made at home that hadn’t even been assigned yet.
Too often in our public schools are art program budgets slashed and reduced when things get tough. As a result, art teachers often experience the pressure of having to justify the need for our professions in school. Why is art education important, why do students need this and how badly is it needed really? Before this pandemic, I thought there was absolutely no way that art could be taught online, it’s just too limiting and restrictive. I still think this, but little by little I have been learning that where there is a will, there is a way. I have been most impressed with how my metalsmithing teacher has managed this whole distance learning situation in a discipline as difficult to transfer to a home setting as metalsmithing. Among the most exciting things I’ve learned in metals has been soldering and forging, neither of which can be done from home without the proper (and expensive) equipment. As soon as school was switched to online, my teacher got working and figured out ways to keep us being productive and challenged to be creative. Our final project for this semester which has all been worked on from home, has been a cold connection chain making project. The theme is protection, “to explore the ideas and items of protection, both physical, spiritual and psychological through a wearable and highly personalized piece of jewelry.” This has been an amazing way to help us process and cope with what is happening in the world today. In a new normal in which going to the groceries involves being hyper alert to not touching our face and maintaining our distance from anyone that crosses our path.
So, why is art education important? Because when push comes to shove, creative people can reinvent themselves to come up with imaginative solutions to problems we didn’t even know could exist and in turn, culture and nurture creativity in others. The clock stroke midnight to ring in the new year January first, 2020, and no one would have ever imagined what this year had in store for us. With every passing week, teachers in all subjects have had to come up with innovative solutions to keep learning going, but art has been the saving grace to keep us creative beyond boundaries, and sane. Art is necessary to help us express the array of emotions this time of uncertainty has brought across the spectrum to everyone we know.
I have struggled to step out of my comfort zone and adapt to new ways of posting information online. Figuring out how to do screen casting videos for online learning and online systems to improve the learning experience for my future students has not been something that I’ve been enjoying. I know however, that it’s necessary and crucial for me to stay updated on all the new ways in which I can engage and connect with my students remotely. Just as teachers now never expected to have to change their entire curriculum for an online one, we never know what other perils may present themselves in the future. My drawings of the metamorphosis process continue to reflect my real-life journey in ways I did not even imagine. I am grateful for these opportunities to learn even through difficult and stressful times. I know I will be a better teacher for it and am learning despite the difficulties to overcome obstacles no matter how impossible it may seem to re-adapt.
