When I was in college, the Art Education club tried to host a "Dinner with an Art Teacher" once or twice a year. We would invite several nearby art teachers and all have dinner and then discuss a topic related to our field. For one memorable meeting, we chose to discuss art teachers as artists.
It seemed that a commonality among art teachers was the apparent lessening of personal art making, even a complete cessation for some. One guest speaker told us that she had gone for ten years without making any art--she told us she just couldn't find the time, energy, or inspiration to work on her own ideas. After so much time had passed, she became interested in items she had found at a yard sale and began to photograph them. It snowballed from there, and she became an active artist once again. This led to a very lively discussion. Why was art making left by the wayside? How did they begin creating again and how did this affect their experiences in the classroom?
It seemed that a commonality among art teachers was the apparent lessening of personal art making, even a complete cessation for some. One guest speaker told us that she had gone for ten years without making any art--she told us she just couldn't find the time, energy, or inspiration to work on her own ideas. After so much time had passed, she became interested in items she had found at a yard sale and began to photograph them. It snowballed from there, and she became an active artist once again. This led to a very lively discussion. Why was art making left by the wayside? How did they begin creating again and how did this affect their experiences in the classroom?
