3D Artistic Abilities was a class centered around exploring artistic expression through three dimensional modes of creation such as sculpture with clay, found objects, plaster, etc. Our class was very small with only six students, but they came to class everyday excited and ready to create and explore their imaginations. One great thing about teaching a community class is that people have to sign up for it which usually results in students who are motivated and engaged in creating art. This was the case with our students. They came into class asking what we would be making today to which we would usually reply, “you’re just gonna have to wait and see!” They were usually very lively and talkative and I felt the environment was one where most students felt they could be themselves and express their opinions as well as explore their artistic talents and capabilities. We met from four to six on Tuesday evenings in the art education studio classroom.
Student #1: This student definitely considered herself an artist. She had participated in many art classes in the past and expressing her ideas came naturally. She was also gifted at translating her ideas into tangible works of art. In our first pinch pot project she jumped right in and created a pinch pot that resembled her cat and even used mixed media to create her whiskers. During the vehicle sculpture assignment she created a safari truck that was a composite sculpture of a zebra and a truck. I found it very interesting that when solving the problem of how to depict her zebra’s stripes she used strips of white fabric over a black base instead of painting black stripes onto a white background. This was one of the first times I discovered her ability to address a problem with a different perception than most students. Instead of choosing the easy fix to her issue, she experimented with different mediums until she produced something she was proud of. There was one class where I saw her struggle and I didn’t know how to help her. When we created masks at the Fort Collins Museum, she was really inspired by the masks in the exhibit, but when she was done creating her own mask, she was incredibly unhappy with it. She didn’t even want to take it home. When I asked her what she didn’t like about it all she would tell me was that she knew if she took it home it would just break and wouldn’t really address why she didn’t like it. I wonder now if maybe she was a bit overwhelmed by all the beautiful and well-crafted masks she saw in the exhibit and felt her artwork didn’t measure up the way she had hoped. I see my inner critic coming out the same way when I attempt to create something inspired by another artist so maybe she was just grappling with these types of insecurities. This situation has helped me see the importance of showing examples of other artwork but being very aware of the influence this can have on students trying to measure up to a standard I have presented.
Student #2: This student presented in the beginning as very non-verbal and expressed little interest in the activities of the class. Cognitively I believe his mind was elsewhere and he was more concentrated on looking through the magazines he brought to class with him. He also may have been a bit shy in the beginning of class. At first, we had trouble getting him engaged with the lessons, but each class period we attempted to spend more time with him individually to get to know his interests and adapt our lessons to include those interests. For example, in the first lesson we noticed that he was somewhat interested in the clay, but he was more engaged in a magazine he had about trucks and vehicles. This was part of our reasoning for basing the next lesson around vehicles. Although we still had a bit of trouble engaging him in the vehicle sculpture lesson we found that encouraging him to cut pictures right out of the magazine for his artwork got him a little more invested in the assignment. Overall I think that differentiating our instruction to cater to his interests and intrinsic motivation as well as really hands on interaction with him helped the student open up and participate with the rest of the students. When one of us sat down with him and physically created his artwork with him he seemed to be more involved in making art. By the end of the class the student was so much more verbal and I realized that I thought his lack of communication was due to physical incapability when really I think it was mostly because he was just shy. During the last class he didn’t even pull his magazines out and created a puzzle piece blending many different colors and cardboard forms and shapes. I think I saw the most personal and artistic growth in this student.
Student #3: This student is hard to say much about because she only attended two classes before she got incredibly sick and missed the rest of the classes. However, in the short time I interacted with her I saw that she had a great ability to create abstract art. In the first pinch pot lesson, she created a flower, but its representation was very abstract with many different pieces of clay coming off the pot. She also worked each class on a pen drawing of intricate designs which we were hoping to incorporate into future lessons. I think her attention to detail and patterns could have been used to create 3D art lesson plans that she was more interested in. I wish I had gotten to know this student a bit better because she was very friendly and compassionate towards others and was gifted at expressing herself.
Student #4: This student was a little older than the rest and was very interested in expressing herself creatively. Almost all of her artwork had a definite connection to her interests. In our first lesson she created a small pinch pot shaped like the leaf from the book The Lord of the Rings as we discussed the plot and themes of the story. Once she made one pot she was unstoppable. By the end of the lesson she had created at least fifteen leaves which she planned on stringing up on a wire tree the next class. Her practices in the classroom showed a lot of personal initiative and imagination as well as an understanding of how to use art to express her identity. My favorite project that we collaborated on was her horse sculpture. She ran into issues a couple of times with the structural integrity of the artwork as well the choices of materials she used to express her ideas. She decided to use paper towel tubes for the body of the horse and foam for the head. She was interested in adding textures that would make the piece actually feel like a horse which I thought was an interesting way to incorporate more than the visual senses into her artwork. She ended up wrapping the tubes with panty hose whose soft texture made the sculpture feel horse-like and used yarn for the mane and tail. This was a piece that she went back to throughout the class when she had free time which I thought demonstrated her participation in a genuine artistic experience. Artists often go back to their artwork with a fresh set of eyes and new ideas and I think she understood this concept by the end of the class. I also felt that by the end she truly saw the power she possessed to express her identity through art. When we discussed the role of identity in art with the last lesson on collaborative puzzle pieces, the student was able to reflect on the many ways she had showed the class her interests through her artwork.
Student #5: This student made it clear to the class that her strengths lied in writing more than visual art, but she soon proved her abilities as an artist as well. Like most of our students she was excited and engaged in exploring the possibilities of 3D art. However what I found most inspirational about this student was what she talked about while we were creating art. Almost every class period she shared the struggles she had faced throughout her life because of her physical and mental disabilities. She discussed bullies and situations where people doubted her abilities and how that made her feel. As a graduating senior, she had already decided that she wants to pursue a degree in social work because she recognizes the inequalities in our society and wants to do anything she can to change the way the world works. In one class she said that she sees the beauty in everyone and she wants to help everyone realize that beauty that exists in them. She was a really unique and compassionate individual and I am glad I had the opportunity to meet her.
Student #6: This student loved to tell stories. He participated in all the assignments with different levels of engagement depending on the project. I think for him the class was more an opportunity for social interaction with others than an art experience although that doesn’t mean that he didn’t make some beautiful works of art. I did notice that when he was done with the project, he was done. By this I mean that when he completed the requirements of the assignment he was content with his work and ready to move on to the next project. He was another student that came to the class curious about what we’d be working on that day and excited to get started. He really enjoyed the mask exhibit at the museum in particular. He kept saying how amazing all the masks where and when it was his turn to create his mask he worked hard to create something he was happy with. He noted that it looked a bit like his caretaker. During the first class this student finished his pinch pot with time to spare so he wanted to play tic tac toe with the teachers. We played a couple rounds and then together he and I constructed a three dimensional tic tac toe board out of clay. I thought this was a good way to incorporate the three-dimensional focus of our class into his own interests. I really hope to see him again. His carefree spirit always improved my day.