Youth Created Art
Mindy Montgomery
Exploring Expression Through Subject and Media
Research Brief #2 Artistic Development University of Florida Fall 2012 page
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http://mindmont.weebly.com/youth-created-art.html Students
grow “through the ownership of their artistic process� (Gradle, 2009)
The Pinterest board I created for the youth created art assignment explores many different media options for high school aged art students and how the media is used to convey emotion. I looked at different themes and subject matter used throughout the teen-age years to determine if there was one common medium students tend to use. While the majority of teenage teen-age artwork on the internet is posted by the art educator, photography seems to be a dominant medium posted by teenagers/students. I found this interesting as technology available to students has changed how and what they produce in their artwork. When assignments are given to students in the classroom setting, the ideas are more controlled, but none the less personal. Students solve the problems given to them based upon the culture in which they are raised in and the emphasis placed on art in their lives.
Youth Created Art
Montgomery 2012
As we have learned over the past few lessons, children are influenced by many things including culture and what they are exposed to on a daily basis. As educators we give students criteria which they must meet. How the teenager moves beyond the basic criteria to make the art their own is part of growing as an artist. Hamblen (1984) discussed that students create art according to their own beliefs and what they feel society deems as important. This has an important impact on what and how students create. Over the past few years I have noticed an increasing interest in graffiti art, not just tagging one’s name but graffiti as an actual art. I had several former students who thought our small community needed a cultural awakening. They decided to act in the style of artist Bansky and secretly created murals all over the city. A great idea to influence our culture but they approached it in the wrong way. These students were influenced by what they thought was a lack of culture in our area, but also by a more global phenomenon of the evasive Banksy. Vygotsky’s theory (Wardekker, n.d.) of education places emphasis on the role which language, culture and social interaction play on a child’s artistic development. While perhaps the efforts were misguided, the students were able to collaborate together to create artwork with deeper meaning. The teenagers were able to visually express their emotions and concerns with society. Communication is the key to spread knowledge and information. Art is one of the greatest and earliest forms of communication. Teenagers are masters of communication, be it through text message, phone calls, IM, personal writing or their artwork, yet they sometimes lack the ability to know what is appropriate. 2
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Youth Created Art
Montgomery 2012
Many students deem their artwork as deeply personal reflections of the issues with which they are dealing. Growing up today can be difficult, and art can be an incredible form of expression. My Pinterest board shows works of art by middle school through high school students, with a great progression being shown in ability and growth of subject matter. The subject matter matures as the child does. The art educator plays a great role in this part of the child’s artistic development. We provide suggestions of appropriate subjects as well as create lessons, which challenge the student’s ideas and creativity. The student can grow as an artist “through the ownership of their artistic process” (Gradle, 2009). Part of the process includes questioning students to enable them to revise and develop their artwork in a more meaningful way. Each student’s personal experiences play a great role in the process they use to create, develop and revise their artwork. Getting teenagers to grow creating art can be a challenge. Understanding the many theories of development and how and what influences students creates a strong art educator armed with the tools to develop strong creative teenagers prepared to purposefully express themselves in any medium. Art gives children the chance to work through lifes problems and to find their place in the world.
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Youth Created Art
Montgomery 2012
References Gradle, S. A. (2009). Another look at holistic art education: Exploring the legacy of Henry Schaefer-Simmern. International Journal of Education & the Arts, 10(1). Retrieved from http://www.ijea.org/ Hamblen, K. A. (1984). Artistic perception as a function of learned expectations. Art Education, 37(3), 20-25. Ivashkevich, O. (2009). Children’s drawing as a sociocultural practice: Remaking gender and popular culture. Studies in Art Education, 51(1), 50-63.
Etiam eu ipsum. Donec Smith-Shank, D. (1996). The amazing art worlds of culturally advantaged high school students. ac arcu.
Wardekker, W. L. (n.d.). Critical and Vygotskian theories of education: A comparison. Retrieved from: http://webpages.charter.net/schmolze1/vygotsky/
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