(6) Service Learning Observation: Beattie Elementary School (11/18/22)

For this documentation entry, I am merely focusing on children's play and artistic tendencies. At CAEA, Ms. Noel and I had had conversations about creating a lesson that coincided with the opening of the construction zone studio. But, she had been sick all week and was unable to get that going. So, that lesson is reserved for this coming Friday.

Experience #1: Playing with Plates!

In their painting studio, students were experimenting with paper plates and paint sticks in order to create various designs and patterns. After talking to one of the students, (see video) it was later realized that these artworks were gifts of gratitude to their teachers for giving them so many surprises the day before fall break. I also enjoy how the student explains her sources of inspiration. She says that she saw the red. orange, and yellow paint sticks, and those reminded her of a sunset. I can't remember the last time that I created art purely based on the colors available to me. It makes me wonder...

When a child makes choices in their work, the ones that make the most sense to them, often seem mundane and simple to adults. Is this just because we perceive artmaking differently? Or is it because we are inspired by the things that seem more complex to us?

Experience #2: Creating Art Alongside Students

For the first time in my documentation experience at Beattie Elementary, I had chosen to create a plate alongside the students. Here are written (synthesized) observations:

• It seemed as though students were not interested in what I was doing.

• All of the plates that were created were all collected by one student to give to their teacher. In this way, it seemed like a collective art project. One in which I was not invited to partake in.

• I found myself thinking that I was not engaging with the plates in the same ways the children were. For example, they were creating plates for their teachers as a thank you and joking about eating off of them later. Maybe this why my plate was not accepted into the collective.

• I also considered that my plate wasn't accepted because it looked different from the rest. Most of the students were utilizing primary colors. Whereas I stuck to my typical pink and purple:

These observations beg me to wonder...

Do children see adults artwork as inherently different from their own? And if they do, why is this the case?

What are the pros/cons of creating art alongside children? Do the pros outweigh the cons and vice vera?

Experience #3: Toys as Studio

For whatever reason, when students engage with the toys on the rug, I always find myself wondering if art-making is happening and my gut tells me no. I make the conclusion that children see toys and seek to engage in play, not art. But this week, my mindset has shifted.

In my high school practicum experience, we talk about providing students with examples and non-examples as a teaching strategy. I have considered that in art class, students will have to determine create examples and non-examples for themselves. And that is exactly what this student is doing in the above photo.

This student has methodically categorized animals by species and arranged his examples and non-examples in a way that makes sense to him. I have realized that categorization is a creative process. Artists are constantly making determinations on what "makes sense" and what doesn't "make sense" for their work. In their early stages, artists lean into pushing their artistic choices into a single category. But as they develop their craft, more categories are pursued as well as pushed and pulled against one another.

All of this is to say that although I would not say that this student is mindfully creating art, he is exercising his ability to categorize concepts, which serves him well as a practicing artist.