On Apr 17, 2007, at 11:17 AM, Marvin Bartel wrote:
> Hearing about campus violence that appears to be based on anger
> management failure, I would welcome a sharing on what can be done
> in art education to make our world a better place. What art
> lessons, projects, and art critique discussions on anger
> management, on how the world is often unfair, on how to respond,
> and on racial equality are being included in our elementary, middle
> school, and high school art classes. What are the mental health
> benefits you are seeing, and how do we facilitate and encourage
> these? If you have something to share, the rest of us could
> benefit from your ideas. A primary purpose of art is to reflect on
> life, express life, and inform life. What are the things we are
> doing that allow students to do this in their work or to rehearse
> and prepare to do this.
>
Just coincidentally I am conducting a workshop tomorrow on how
artists' respond to issues of race and gender, tolerance and
acceptance. I have found so much that "works." I have 4 students
helping me with the presentation and they have added insights I
didn't think of. Not only will we be talking about art, but also
music and film and photo. The kids have put together a great little
segment on rap music and attitudes about women.
Artists respond and point out, and give us lots to think about
but do they sway and solve? I don't know. Can art prevent
something like what happened yesterday? I spend much time in my
lessons getting kids to express feelings and hurts and angers and
what they perceive as injustices. The "how-to's" and techniques and
guidance on making effective images only comes after I can get them
to identify what they want to "say." Sometimes I see "pain" I don't
really want to see, but all too often I see the place that is safe to
say something no one else wants to hear.
