We be will using a blog, (basically a web log) as a journal/portfolio for this course. I will be posting Journal entries for you to comment on as well as assignments and deadlines for projects. You will be creating your own blog to post your artwork, lesson ideas, and reflections on.
For your first assignment is to read Chapter 1 in the text Emphasis Art.
Please comment on Journal #1 due Friday September 2, 2011.
Journal #1
What is your definition of art? What is Wachowiak and Clements' definition of art?How does your past experience with art compare to the qualitative art program that the authors advocate in your text?
Please use complete sentences and check your spelling in all of your postings. I am looking for a minimum of 2 full paragraphs and maximum of a one page word document. (You are not writing a dissertation in art education.)
Spell check in a word document and paste your post into the comment area.
Please post as anonymous and type your first and last name to each journal entry.
Robert Stahl
ReplyDeleteI was in class today.
Brittany Kranz
ReplyDeleteAs I reflect on my definition of art, I find myself having trouble pinning down just one answer. To me, art is a reflection of oneself and one’s surroundings. It is your culture, beliefs, history, future, present, imagination and emotions. Art is a way to express any feeling or idea one may have. To me, art is a “catch-all” category where one is able to do anything or be anyone.
The authors in our text do not define art clearly. After reading the chapter, I do not feel art has one definition. I believe art’s definition lies in the ten rationales for art education. Art is a cultural understanding, a national need, it makes the ordinary important and special, is a form of personal communication and expression, is creative, is our vocation, makes us aware, helps us be literate, helps us to learn in school and is a different way of communicating. These rationales give us reason as to why we should use art in schools. The same principles for art education apply as we move through the stages of life.
During my elementary and early high school years, I try to remember the projects I created in art class. I cannot say any one project in particular sticks out in my mind. We were required to follow what the teacher did: cut here, paste there, draw a line over there, etc. One summer, however, I took an art class just for fun. The teacher would give us an idea and we were to create it. I remember creating a painting of a lake, looking at the picture, reflecting on it and determining what it meant to me. As I grew up, art became more of a qualitative method than what it previously had been.
My definition of art is very thin because I have had very little experience with art in my lifetime. But to answer this journal question, I will simply say art, to me, is a form of expression just like literature and music. To me it also symbolizes the many aspects of one’s culture. While this definition, to some extent, corresponds with Wachowiak and Clements’ definition of art, it is still rather thin when it is weighed against the ten rationales for art education discussed in chapter 1 in Emphasis Art. Wachowiak and Clements make it simple and state that “The goal of education is to help students develop their intellectual capacities and the capacity to express their thoughts and feelings” (Emphasis Art 6), and art education meets both aspects of this goal (6).
ReplyDeleteIn light of Wachowiak and Clements’ definition, my past experience with art falls short of this definition. This does not say I have no appreciation of art; rather it is because I have had very little opportunity to whet my interests or to gain much skill or knowledge in this topic. Throughout my elementary years my teacher did not advocate art because she was simply too overwhelmed with the basic subjects to take much time for it. I’m not saying I never did any art, but rather that it was never a priority in my classroom. We always did art that represented the major western holidays and a bit of other stuff with crayons, markers, glue, and construction paper; however, we never explored any media other than the basic forms such as drawing, coloring, and messing around with paint. This, I must say, falls pathetically short of the qualitative art program that the authors advocate in the text. Art never challenged me cognitively and I was definitely not given much opportunity to express my thoughts and feelings by way of it either.
I am hoping Art 310 will help me gain a deeper understanding and appreciation of art so I can offer more to my students that I was ever offered.
I failed to sign my name in the previous post.
ReplyDeleteRobert
Rose Long
ReplyDeleteAs I reflect on Chapter 1, I would have to say that I do not have an exact definition of art. However, through my experience with Art, I believe my definition is the following: Art is the production of a piece of work that is a reflection of something the artist wants the world to know about. Whether the product is of what the artist is feeling, doing, thinking about, wondering about, worried about, or anything else that may be going on in the artists mind or surrounding area, they want to share it with the world and creating a piece of art is there way of doing that. Wachowiak and Clements do not have a clear definition of art from what I could tell in the chapter. I think that this is because art is an abstract term for anything that a person creates, whether it be a picture, sculpture, or something entirely different. The definition of art is left up to each person’s individual interpretation. That is why I think that they listed the 10 rationales for art and not a clear cut definition, because there is no clear cut definition of art for anyone in the world. What one person thinks is art, another person may not. That is the nice thing about art, it is left up to each person’s own individual interpretation of the piece.
My experience with Art in high school was very similar to what the book says about the qualitative method of Art. When my art teacher introduced a new project, she gave us the guidelines or ideas of what we were to follow and then we had I would say about a week to week and a half to work on the project. When I was in high school, we had 90 minute class periods two or three times a week depending on the week. So I would say that for the average project we probably got between 6 and 7 hours of in class time to work on the projects. We worked with everything from paint to a medium that was similar to chalk to paper mache. We also learned about the color wheel and different types of lines and viewpoints. I also took a drawing class in high school where I worked on sketching different views of a variety of block shapes for accuracy. In college, I also took a class dealing with Drawing. In this class, we again worked with a variety of mediums and were working on making qualitative drawings of a section of a set design that was in the classroom. We did not have as much leeway with this class as I did with my class in high school, but I still in joined working with the mediums and still enjoyed the class. Other than that, I had the occasion art project in elementary and junior high that were more about a set project and getting it done to do the next thing rather than the quality of the work. So I would have to say that most of my experience has been with more of the qualitative method of learning about art from what I remember, rather than anything else. Although I did learn by using different approaches to art.
Jonathan Stahl
ReplyDeleteAs I try to think of a definition of art, it makes me realize how little I know of this silent and mysterious form of expression. To define art, I perceive it as a way for people to communicate their thoughts and feelings, their beliefs, culture, and much more in a silent and yet colorful and eye-catching approach. Art is wonderful way to bring beauty into the most ordinary occurrences and circumstances.
As I read the first chapter of Emphasis Art, it is clear that Clements and Washowiak do not have a single definition of art. Instead, they define art from ten different viewpoints; and each of the ten rationales highlights a different aspect of art’s significance to education. However, their focus seems to be on art as a form of universal communication and personal reflection that allows students to use their artistic creativity.
My experiences of art are very different from the art program that the authors illustrate in the text. Our teacher did not have an art program that inspired the students to creativity and artistic accomplishments. It was simply construction paper, scissors, rulers, glue, paint, and crayons to celebrate the current holiday. In fact, when I think of art in my elementary school years, I think of Halloween skeleton figures cut out of construction paper and held together by brass fasteners; the red and green paper chains hung around our classroom for Christmas; or constructing red and pink “Be My Valentine” hearts. I am looking forward to learning a variety of different methods from a qualitative art program that may inspire students to artistic creativity.
Kelsey Stadtler
ReplyDeleteMy definition of art is a person’s ability to capture an image and express that image in their own ways. Art is a time when a student can be unique and express just about anything the way they feel. After reading the chapter, Wachowiak and Clements didn’t have an exact definition of what art is. They described that art education is important because it fulfills many important functions of schooling, and that art is a critical part of what children need to be doing as they develop their awareness of the world around them. Art helps students learn how to express themselves and connect with the world.
I didn’t have much art experiences, except for a couple required art classes in middle school and two art classes in high school, but I did enjoy being in those classes. The art classes in middle school mainly focused on familiarizing us with art and different types, such as painting, chalk, oils, and drawing. In high school, my art class focused on the different cultures around the world. I thought this part was very educational because you got to see the different types of art that is created, and we got to make some of the art ourselves. I believe both of my classes used similar tactics that are described in the book about the qualitative art program because not only were my teachers teaching us something new about art, but they were letting us use our imagination to create something we thought was art.
Brittany Huback
ReplyDeleteI would define art as a way a person can express themselves in a way they were not able to with words or verbally. It allows us to be our own person in a unique, individual way that gives meaning from our own experiences.
Clements and Wachowiak defined art in various ways. They stated that art is an international language and it is a way we communicate without words. Since art is universal, we incorporate it within our cultures and it shows the unique sense of our identity. Clements and Wachowiak also state that art education serves to develop such skills, broadening understanding and enchancing acceptance of fellow human beings.
I do not have much art experience except for what I was offerend as an elementary student and the required courses as I advances in my education. In elementary school, our artwork came from personal experiences we had and was often times integrated in several of the subjects. The art classes in junior high focused on the different forms of art but we were required to follow a certain criteria instead of expressing ourselves with personal experiences. I also was able to take an art class in high school that focused on familiarizing us with art in different cultures. I definitely see similarities with my art classes and the qualitative art program discussed in the book. Throughout my education I was able to express myself through the different forms of art and was still able to learn new things within the class and many cultures around the world.
Tonya
ReplyDeleteI would define art as a way of expressing yourself. Through art you can create what is important to you and show your emotions through your art. This past summer I watched a guy create art with spray paint. It was amazing to watch him and to view the outcome of his work.
I found it difficult to find a definition from the book. However, when talking about children's art, Clements and Wachowiak states, "Only Children who express their ideas, responses, and reactions with honesty, sensitivity, and perceptiveness from within a framework of compositional principals and design actually create art (Art Emphasis 6).
During my elementary school years we had art class twice a week. I remember cutting patterns out and the teacher usually had a display of what we were trying to create. In high school I do not remember taking an art class. It was never required but it was an option. I hope to learn from Arte 310 to better prepare for when I have my own classroom.
Stephanie Horkey
ReplyDeleteI would define art as anything that can or uses the five senses. I believe this because most art people think of is visual so your using your eyes, but art is not only visual it can be using your hearing like a symphony or it could be the sense of touch like when I was in design are project was to make something with texture for the school of the blind. The sense of smell and taste could be anything in culinary like decorating a cake. Nowadays I believe art can be anything you see. If you walk down the street a persons clothing is art work its how you express yourself and other objects is what makes it artwork. Clements and Wachowiak believe art is using different medias and mediums in what you do. THey believe that art is a way of how we learn and express our understanding of an idea. Also, they want to stress that children learn to see more, sense more, and recall more. Children will become more aware of their changing and expanding environment.
My past experiences with art is using different mediums and learning in one of my classes that the media can take beautiful people and alter what they look like in order to make society think its what all people should look like. Using different mediums helps you broaden your mind. For example I'm in sculpture and we have a black of plaster and you have to think 3 dimensional and think how am I going to subtract parts of this to make something more interesting. The authors say that the student needs to evaluate what they are doing and see if it makes a difference on what you do if you add this or take away that. Through my classes I have seen many different ways to see art.
Bailey Swenson
ReplyDeleteMy definition of art would be a way of expressing yourself and communicating with others in a universal language. I believe that art is a way to express your creativity and give your perception of the world around you so that all others, regardless of culture, can understand or at least respect your ideas.
Wachowiak and Clements define art as the essence of an experience through expressive and discriminative choices. They compare art to poetry, in that it is very expressive and it gives you the feeling of an experience. The artist makes choices which then reflect on the type of art that they create. The authors also describe art as communicating meaning without using words. Art, they state, is also a vessel through which a person can make an individual statement. Art gives people a way of communicating with others, but still gives the artist a sense of pleasure and meaning.
My past experience with art is comparative to the qualitative method for teaching art that is explained in the first chapter of our book. I always enjoyed art, and although I was never the best in class, my teachers let me express myself within a framework while also guiding me. This helped me to become confident in my abilities and I am now aesthetically aware and am able to evaluate my work. I believe that both my classroom teachers and specialized art instructors gave me the guidance and challenges to express myself and understand that art can be done by anyone, not just “something special done by special people”. (p. 8)
Elissa Reppe
ReplyDeleteMy definition of art is a person expressing themselves on paper or with mediums rather than in words or writing. I don't think art can be good or bad. I think it is however the person views it. If there is a picture of a lake, one person may say, "O, there is a picture of a lake." The other person might say, "Wow, that is beautiful. That is art." Everyone has a different perspective.
They state that art is a way to express feelings without words, an international language. It is also a way that someone can make a statement.
My past experience was not comparable to the qualitative method. My teacher gave alot of attention to the "good" art students and didn't really care about the not so good students. She didn't encourage or try to inspire the struggling artists.
Jeanna Jerde
ReplyDeleteIn my simplest definition, art is a form of communication and expression achieved through manipulation of media. Art can appeal to each different sense: visual, auditory, tactile, gustatory and olfactory. It is hard to define it past that because art has such a wide range.
The authors of the book do not give a clear definition of art. However, they do say that "only children who express their ideas, responses and reactions with honesty, sensitivity, and perceptiveness from within a framework of compositional principles and design actually create art." They also say that Art…distills the essence of an experience through expressive and discriminative choices.” I believe this is how they define art.
I view art as a medium to express myself personally and in more depth and meaning than I am able to achieve otherwise. It is an outlet that I can plug my thoughts and emotions into and display. I thought of the difference between myself and other students in my early art classes when art was required. I think the difference was our thoughts and beliefs of art. They thought of art only as a mechanical skill that only some “talented” people were able to achieve whereas I thought of it also as a poetic and personal expression and a universal form of communication that anyone can achieve with the proper training and approach. My teachers would encourage my approach to art through positive feedback, attention, motivated suggestion, and good grades.
Max Desai
ReplyDeleteTo me art is creattion, everything around us, everything we do, everything we see. People themselves are a work of art. Nature is a work of art. But only some people choose to view the world that way, and those people are artists.
Washowiak did not have a definition for art. He explains art from many different views. Everyone with a different veiew towards art and education. Which allows students to view things in an artistic way.
While growing up in elentary school i remember doing all sorts of arts and crafts and painting, coloring, glueing, easting glue, but today i can not recall ever taking an acual "art" class. Art is just a part of life and while we are young we are interested and excited about it but then after we grow older we lose interest. Why? No time? No one with the same interest? No thinkig were good enough? There are many reasons for people to quit art, but think back to when art was fun. Why can't it still be?
Robert Stahl
ReplyDeleteThe post without the name is mine. Here is the first sentence.
My definition of art is very thin because I have had very little experience with art in my lifetime. . . .