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Lesson Plans


Re: School-to-Work for the Vis.Arts

[ Thread ][ Subject ][ Author ][ Date ]
kprs (kprs)
Sat, 07 Sep 1996 15:59:33 -0700

Susanne Gunter wrote:
>
> Request for information and conversation on preparation of secondary art
> students for careers.
>
> My name is Susanne Gunter and I am a secondary art teacher in a rural school
> district in SC. I have received a grant from the State Dept. of Education that
> focuses on the preparation of students for art careers. Within the next
> year, I am to pilot a project based on the School-to-Work Transition Act of
> 1994. If you have any contacts or share an interest in this aspect of
> secondary education
> (training students for careers in the 21st century), please contact me.
>
> I am a newcomer to the net and look forward to your comments. SFG

Part of my reputation as a high school art teacher is that I guarantee to
parents and students that if the student decides to go "on" for art, I
will help them get into the art school/college of their choice. Knock on
wood, with parent/student/financial aid/reality check dialogue all of my
students who have wanted to go "on" have in 20 years. Now THAT IS
PREPARATION OF SECONDARY ART STUDENTS FOR CAREERS. I personally don't
think working as a layout artist, typographer for quick printers, or
selling work in a gallery as a "career", and I have done them both.
These are the kinds of positions our art students can confidently get
without a portfolio from a reputable art school/university portfolio.
This might sound snobbish on my part, but there are fabulous technical
art colleges/ as well as creative art schools, with specific majors, with
studio space, professional artists, exposures to great cities, museums,
and cultural influences that my highschool program can NEVER even hope to
match. If you are asking whether a high school can prepare a student for
a career, I guess I'm saying NO, but we can prepare students for the
opportunities to go to a venue that will prepare them for a career.

We can however, expose our students to the acknowledgement of what an art
career is, can be, should be, can't be, will be.......We can bring in
professional artists to talk about their experiences.

So I guess what I am asking for you to tell me is define what your
mission is.

San D