Avoid Free-For-All Chaos in favor of Deep Dives.
"Mockingbird" by Emily Uwabor, Acrylic on Canvas, featured at the NCMA in 2024. A portrait of her sister.
When I say “independent,” I mean student driven but with clear expectations. “Do what you want” is a recipe for shallow explorations and wasted supplies. In a school, I want them to learn something more than using their time to make an image or create a “thing.” It’s important that every exploration we do, guided or independent, meets 3 requirements.
1.They need to learn more about themselves
2.They need to be exposed to the art outside my room
3.They need to explore a broad range of media with purpose
My students can start with any of these three paths for an independent exploration, but weave in the other two. For example, they may want to do an artwork based on a theme they care about; self, a political/social issue, to explore something they are passionate about, etc. They then need to find an artist or art movement that also addresses similar passions. Finally, they need to decide what media they would like to utilize, and reflect on what they have used in the past, and consider how they might explore something new.
Every exploration we do in art is tied to a historical movement, culture, or artist (historical or contemporary). A student may be inspired by one of these to create a work of art. I provide students with a basic understanding of major movements of art from Byzantine art through Op Art and they know there are many more. We have a beginning list of cultures to explore, but understand ancient and contemporary versions exist. Though I provide a list of famous artists of diverse backgrounds, I encourage my students to explore contemporary artists as well. Any of these can become the inspiration for an artwork.
A student may be excited for the opportunity to explore a new media they have not tried before. Something they saw on social media, or a material they have always wanted to try but have not yet had a chance to use. It might even be a combination of materials they would like to experiment with.
Any of these three modes is the foundation for their independent exploration, but they need to tie in the other two as they plan and explore ideas. In the example above, Emily’s painting above was inspired by the work of contemporary artist Kehinde Wiley. She wanted to deepen her knowledge of creating skin-tones in paint and play with the art element of patter in a way Kehinde excels. She made personal connections by using her sister as a model and symbols based on the poems of Maya Angelou.
1.They need to learn more about themselves
2.They need to be exposed to the art outside my room
3.They need to explore a broad range of media with purpose
My students can start with any of these three paths for an independent exploration, but weave in the other two. For example, they may want to do an artwork based on a theme they care about; self, a political/social issue, to explore something they are passionate about, etc. They then need to find an artist or art movement that also addresses similar passions. Finally, they need to decide what media they would like to utilize, and reflect on what they have used in the past, and consider how they might explore something new.
Every exploration we do in art is tied to a historical movement, culture, or artist (historical or contemporary). A student may be inspired by one of these to create a work of art. I provide students with a basic understanding of major movements of art from Byzantine art through Op Art and they know there are many more. We have a beginning list of cultures to explore, but understand ancient and contemporary versions exist. Though I provide a list of famous artists of diverse backgrounds, I encourage my students to explore contemporary artists as well. Any of these can become the inspiration for an artwork.
A student may be excited for the opportunity to explore a new media they have not tried before. Something they saw on social media, or a material they have always wanted to try but have not yet had a chance to use. It might even be a combination of materials they would like to experiment with.
Any of these three modes is the foundation for their independent exploration, but they need to tie in the other two as they plan and explore ideas. In the example above, Emily’s painting above was inspired by the work of contemporary artist Kehinde Wiley. She wanted to deepen her knowledge of creating skin-tones in paint and play with the art element of patter in a way Kehinde excels. She made personal connections by using her sister as a model and symbols based on the poems of Maya Angelou.
We do significant pre-writing before diving into supplies. The images above are pages from my Advanced Art Students Workbook. We research our mode of exploration (Historical movement, culture, or artist). Students propose 3 ideas of what they could make, so if a first idea fails, we have back-up ideas. A sketch page follows, then a pre-planning page to help students focus their ideas. This is when students begin a formal sketch and share it with peers and the instructor before jumping in. The 3rd photo shows a chart that I initial daily to note their progress and highlights deadlines. This allows me, the instructor, to track progress, and handle issues before they become problems. About mid-way through our explorations all students must complete a mid-project per evaluation. This gives them time to reflect on what is going well and catch issues before they become insurmountable. The last page shows my Universal Project Rubric.
Students need to be working every class period. They need to be engaged in the process of creating. It's part of my rubric, and I note their participation daily. My first grade every quarter is "Studio Habits." It encompasses a lot, from setting up your work area to cleaning up after yourself, as well as being on task for the bulk of your class time. I just call it "Studio Habits." The first day of the marking period, each student gets a participation grade of 100%. As we progress through the marking period, I deduct points as issues arise.
I circulate about three times each period to check progress and see if there is an issue I need to address and see if the student was thinking about a problem to solve, or confused, or maybe just chatting about a party they attended. I'll help that student refocus. If it was a participation issue, I may deduct 2 or 3 points for those distracted students. If I have to remind them a couple of times, then maybe 4 to 7 points for those who do little.
Additionally, I do not allow students to take work home because I cannot verify if the work is truly theirs. This also avoids the issue of a student choosing not to participate and saying, "I'll just do it at home." As a new teacher I fell for that, but changed quickly when work never came in or was obviously done by someone else. There is no substitute for creating art under the watchful eye of a knowledgeable certified teacher.
We close every exploration with a formal project reflection and/or artist statement that is displayed along with the artwork. Here are a few projects in my most resent round of independent projects.
Students need to be working every class period. They need to be engaged in the process of creating. It's part of my rubric, and I note their participation daily. My first grade every quarter is "Studio Habits." It encompasses a lot, from setting up your work area to cleaning up after yourself, as well as being on task for the bulk of your class time. I just call it "Studio Habits." The first day of the marking period, each student gets a participation grade of 100%. As we progress through the marking period, I deduct points as issues arise.
I circulate about three times each period to check progress and see if there is an issue I need to address and see if the student was thinking about a problem to solve, or confused, or maybe just chatting about a party they attended. I'll help that student refocus. If it was a participation issue, I may deduct 2 or 3 points for those distracted students. If I have to remind them a couple of times, then maybe 4 to 7 points for those who do little.
Additionally, I do not allow students to take work home because I cannot verify if the work is truly theirs. This also avoids the issue of a student choosing not to participate and saying, "I'll just do it at home." As a new teacher I fell for that, but changed quickly when work never came in or was obviously done by someone else. There is no substitute for creating art under the watchful eye of a knowledgeable certified teacher.
We close every exploration with a formal project reflection and/or artist statement that is displayed along with the artwork. Here are a few projects in my most resent round of independent projects.
A.J. did this painting based on the work of Mondrian. He made a personal connection by reflecting on his favorite breakfast cereals, the percentage he generally consumed, and the percentage of each color present on the cover of his cereal. His favorite cereal is on top but because it's sugary, his parents rarely buy it. The larger portions represent fairly healthy cereals he consumes the most but in general like least.
Karolina's family is from Mexico, so she decided to focus on the artist Pedro Linares López. He developed the artform we know today as Alebrije. She crated an animal combination that represented her ow personality, and used expressive colors of green for growth (as a students) and blue to represent her more quiet nature.
Emma chose to do an idealized landscape based on a photo of her own back yard and making connections to impressionist artists. She experimented with acrylic compound paste for texture, and the playing with natural textures.
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