Read and Respond #1

           Art education is moving forward like it always has to some degree. The older views of art education no longer suffice for today’s artist, just like it was over 80 years ago when it was starting to change due to modernism. The idea of teaching a “7+7” method or incorporating multicultural studies of line artists into a line unit is a practice that needs to change. For my own teaching I believe students need ample amount of “play”. Without it students will continually try create a work without understanding how the material works or always try to create a master piece even though they have never used the medium before. The concept of meaning behind the work being made also needs to make a comeback. During modernism the idea of a work telling a story was deemed to be to simple and that personal of a relationship between the work and the viewer was discouraged. Students today need not to base art solely on that principle, however denying that door can limit some students meaning making. Today’s generation of learning artist requires different teaching techniques then even 20 years ago, much like the students in 20 years will need to be taught differently. Our job as artist-teachers is to give our students the tools not only so they can understand art and art concepts but to also create meaning in their own work and therefore truly understand others work.