Reflecting on Olivia Gude

Olivia Gude's article, New School Art Styles: The Project of Art Education, from Art Education Magazine, was a fascinating read and a bit of a learning experience for me this week.  The article tells of schools' current art programs, which Gude believes "do not actually support creative self-expression and that they are not effective in teaching students about methods of artmaking outside of school contexts."  Gude believes that current art education is old hat.  She argues for an arts education that supports student learning and enrichment by creating projects that ask students to find meaning in their artwork and "reflect as closely as possible to the actual methodologies" of the artist who is being taught.    Gude says that by letting go of the old, outdated, repetitive projects that teachers currently give, we can begin to embrace the art education of the future that provides for better, more inspired products.

When I first read this article, I was excited, shocked, and depressed all at once.  I loved that this was such a positive article that had so many suggestions for better ways to educate students, however my first reaction was a bit disheartened, if I am being totally honest.  After reading the article, I felt like I have been giving my students a disadvantaged art program because I have not been teaching them in the way that Gude suggests.  In all reality, I am a first year teacher, who has many years ahead to learn, reflect, and grow.  In the past several months of my teaching at Fulton, I have tried to focus on the Big Ideas in art that I learned so much about in my undergraduate career.  Getting kids to understand concepts and think critically about them in their work has definitely been a challenge.  I feel that I have done a fairly good job at this, but Gude's article made me feel that I should be doing more to engage them with their artwork.  My only hope is that I can put some of the articles suggestions to use in my classroom to provide a better, more well-rounded art curriculum for my kids.

I would love to know if Gude has a website or resource with lots of lesson ideas for educators.  I loved the little side comments that provided project ideas because it helped me to better understand some of what Gude was describing.  If anyone knows where I can find this, please let me know.  Hope you all loved the article as much as I did.