Autobiographical Reflection as a student of art:
January 18, 2015
My favorite experiences in art class take place at opposite ends of the spectrum, elementary school and high school. I remember loving my elementary art teacher, Mrs. Bonawit. I think I grew to have a strong relationship with her beacuse she was a friend of the family, and also because my mom taught special education in the same school. She was an older lady with long grayish-brown hair who loved to give hugs and wear quirky jewelry/clothing. She was awesome! I also remember the elementary art classroom as being an overall fun and exciting place with huge windows leading to the outside enviornment, large group tables seating about six students at each, tall ceilings, and green walls. It is funny how one's memory can recollect some of the minor, yet everlasting details of an enjoyable experience. As far as the curriculum of my elementary art experience, I have some trouble remembering minor details about everything. We worked on figure drawings of each other, made pinch pots, did some basket-weaving, and also got involved in some community art contests (i.e. making posters to address certain causes). Mrs. Bonawit taught us about certain artists, and we also learned about displaying our work in the school hallways. If I would have to relate my elementary art experience to a tradition in the history of art education, I would relate it to the DBAE experience (Discipline Based Art Education). We also addressed issues in formalism, as well. We learned about the color wheel, lines, space, etc. My elementary art experience gave me a truly strong foundation in art and it became my favorite subject almost instantly. The goals of my elementary art class were probably learning about our identities, the enviornment, the community, and different cultures.
In terms of my personal growth in art outside of the school setting, I was very interested in drawing people (mostly girls/princesses/mermaids)! I was very influenced by visual culture as well. I remember when Dreamworks Animation's Shark Tale first came out. I would lay on the living room floor with sketchbook in hand, and draw the girl fishies! I was also involved in the idea of narrative at a young age, as I would create stories that go along with these characters creating books with chapters and everything! There was some sense of pride in flipping through the pages and reading the stories that I had imagined. The idea of narrative is truly a BIG IDEA for elementary age art students. In addition to drawing from my imagination and the visual culture which surrounded me, various family members always bought me the 'Learn to Draw' books. Even though I hardly every opened the books and actually drew from them, I got at least one for Christmas every year! I don't look down upon these books, however. If a student finds inspiration from a 'Learn to Draw' book, then I think that is great! In fact, many 'Learn to Draw' books nowadays are based on popular visual culture for children (movie characters, animals, television show characters, video game characters/settings, etc.).
My high school experiences with art were very student-led. We got to choose a handful of areas that we wanted to explore for the course of that year. These options included mediums such as still-life drawing, printmaking/woodcuts, watercolor, pen and ink, and oil painting. My high school art teacher, Mr. Hamme, was the person who made me want to pursue a career in the art field. Mr. Hamme was my art/AP portfolio teacher, art club advisor, and AP Humanities/Art History teacher (he was the only art teacher in the high school). His teaching style embodied student-led learning and discovery, with minimal teacher imposition. Mr. Hamme, now retired, had a huge impact on my outlook towards art-making, critiquing, and art history appreciation. He also is a Penn State alumnus of the Art Education program at University Park. He told me stories of his classes, student teaching experiences, and even talked about some of the faculty members who were present at Penn State when he was at school. As with the tradition of the Child-Centered Approach, Mr. Hamme stressed the importance of discovery and process of art making. He taught all of his students to be independent and to never stop asking questions. When I look back at it, Mr. Hamme was more like a mentor rather than strictly art teacher. He strived to get to know each and every student- likes, dislikes, nicknames, interests, school involvement, family, etc. All of Mr. Hamme's students respected him because he was one of the few teachers who took the time to appreciate and get to know you. I hope to one day embody his teaching theories and to apply them to my career as an art teacher. Like Mr. Hamme, I believe that an art teacher needs to be open-minded to the changing world around them. Art is a medium that will always continue to evolve and expand.
