Diane Ravitch On Public Education

An Ethic of Excellence: Building a Culture of Craftsmanship with Students by Ron Berger

Please read this book. It is a good and short read published by Heinemann of Portsmouth, NH.

I found myself repeating the message of making 3-d projects more dimensional instead of flat with a strong three-point, or multi-point landing for stability. An “A” project was a finished project. “Finished” was a code word for finely crafted work throughout, showing thoughtful, deliberate surfaces and edges.

Repetition is the best learner and students began telling themselves and their peers until a “Culture of Craftsmanship” was born in my art classes. Word spread and many new students started my classes knowing what to expect. 

Ron Berger is not an art teacher, but a “Master Teacher” and uses the art of classroom critiques to fine tune science projects, creative writing, research papers and everything the students make. His students are given time to execute multiple drafts for growth and improvement.

He believes engaging students in activities that will “expand the notion of excellence to include excellence as a human being...” Ron Berger says “there is no time in the new “standards” for a deep investigation of culture”. “[His] students will never again view history and science without ethical questions and discerning eyes; they will hunger for deep intellectual discussion and debate; they will be open to understanding different customs and cultures; they will have the memory of a friendship that transcends race and background”...”showing kindness...and caring for others”. (p62)

“The question for [Ron] is not whether we can afford to keep art in our schools but how we can ensure that students put artistic care in everything they do.” 

“Art is everything and everything is art” (Ron Berger)

I have often said to my students “ Art is everything but everything is not necessarily Art.” (John Anderson) 

www.edutopia.org/ron-berger

Check Out Photographer Kelly Stachura.

Kelly photographs a wide range of subjects proving she knows her way around the art of photography. 

My personal favorite is the suite of dancers.

Her dance photos capture the strength, stretch, and balance of the dancers in compositions that suggest motion before and after the click of the camera. She likes to catch the dancer at the end of a phrase in the completion of a pose at full extension.

Respect for their athletic and artistic prowess is evident in each image along with their humanity. 

The feeling and the beauty of artistic expression by the human body is meticulously revealed in explicit detail. Her use of color, composition and soft lighting transform strenuous, challenging work into the smooth, flowing movement of the dance performance. 

Kelly was very well known in high school as a rising star in the visual arts. Her involvement in various artistic activities today present her as an accomplished artist. 

Visit her website and explore the wonders of her expertise.

www.kellystachuraphotography.com

#6 “The arts teach students that small differences can have large effects. The arts traffic in subtleties”. Elliot Eisner

What this means to me?

“The devil is in the details.” Focusing on the finer points in the process of art requires more time and more thought. During the process of making art, your actions reveal your thinking as a visual message. Breaking down the steps along the way to make deliberate marks, gestures, and/or color changes control your expression and avoid giving alternate signals in the work. Poor craftsmanship when technical excellence is required can be a distraction to the viewer. 

Usually surface adornment is an issue of scale. Small hand made, fine art jewelry in silver and gold show a tighter control in polish and pattern. While large scale cast bronze sculptures by Henry Moore tolerate a looser, more gestural expressionistic surface texture. Both works are well planned, and thoughtfully controlled by the successful artist. 

A work of art should appear fresh and spontaneous; not overworked. It takes decades of experience for the successful artist to go directly to the critical issues of a work in a very quickly executed manner; and call it finished. If it looks so easy to produce and you can say “anyone can do that”; then please try it! JA

“It often happens that in our understanding of a work of art, it is the indescribable that lifts it beyond the scope of the most convincing analysis. Thus the effect comes from what the image does not reveal, the unseen world implicit in the photograph. Such is the vision of an observer like Henri Cartier-Bresson, who was interested less in the pearls than the string holding them together. The truth is found not in a comprehensive assortment of facts, but in the spaces in between.” (Pierre Assouline Henri Cartier-Bresson A Biography Translation-Thames & Hudson 2005, original 1999.)

#5 “The arts make vivid the fact that words...nor numbers exhaust what we can know." Elliot Eisner

#5 “The arts make vivid the fact that neither words in their literal form nor numbers exhaust what we can know. The limits of our language do not define the limits of our cognition.” Elliot Eisner

What this means to me?

Art is another language; another way to understand our world. 

What does an object’s form, shape, color, and texture reveal when words and numbers are not available to us? Ask an archeologist. 

“Archeology is considered a science and a humanity. It draws upon anthropology, art history, linguistics, and geology to name a few among many other disciplines. It’s purpose is to learn more about past societies and the development of the human race. Over 99% of the history of humanity has occurred within prehistoric cultures, who did not make use of writing. For many literate cultures, written records cannot be trusted as a sole source. Material records may be closer to a fair representation of the larger population.” (Wikipedia)

The distinct art object is fixed into existence for others to observe. The artist often takes something mundane, missed or rejected by others and raises it’s value to a larger purpose. The main objective for the artist is to be innovative and creative, making a one of a kind statement, and to be true to herself or himself.

Acting, dance, music, painting, photography, and sculpture, extend the “limits of our cognition” by providing a clearly perceptible and intense experience. Bright colors and animated forms provide a striking reality for the senses. The power of life with all it’s spirited ups and downs is expressed in art with lively presentation. Students learn about themselves in the arts. The arts teach the ability to think critically; to solve problems; and to synthesize long term goals into daily activity. JA

Elliot Eisner's 10 lessons the arts teach

The Most Aggressive Defense Of Teachers You

The Most Aggressive Defense Of Teachers You

Alex Mandli: Ceramic Artist and Teacher

I would like to introduce Alex Mandli. I am well acquainted with Alex.  I was a student teacher, teaching art with him as one of my mentors in 1976. We remain good friends today. He is a committed family man, a driven artist, and a successful art teacher.

I own many of his pieces from early work to the present, in different styles throughout his career; including vases, covered urns, coffee mugs, sculptures, and large plates. His works for the last thirty years are carefully hand crafted vessels in elegant, simple forms. These are perfectly hand burnished surfaces which provide the ground for his delicate, rich, innovative designs from nature. His images transform the usual look of ceramic into polished stone. 

I would like to point out that Alex is a retired public high school art teacher. He is a “Master Teacher” and an expert professional ceramic artist. He cares as much for his students as he does for his art; which gives him the ability to inspire countless youths to become much more than they ever thought they could. JA

"Since I began working in clay, my goal has been to make beautiful vessel forms and adorn those forms with surface decoration. Many times that decoration follows a theme or series. My current work involves the very basics of making pots, namely, the use of clay, water and fire.

For years, I’ve studied and enjoyed the pots of many ancient cultures. Through this study, I became interested in their firing techniques, specifically their firing of work in a pit. I became attracted to the random action of fire on clay, or what has been termed “the gift of the flame.” The excitement of this firing technique is the pleasant or sometimes unpleasant surprise discovered once the pit fire has cooled. Once the fire is cool, all that remains is the random marks made by the fire and ash."

Alex Mandli

Alex Mandli Ceramic Artist