Student writing in art class is an effective medium to foster self-directed reflection. While I make the effort to provide daily feedback on every student’s artwork, my advice is either adhered to or ignored. Student reflection is another matter entirely. Writing down their thoughts about an artwork opens up a personal dialogue between the student and their work.
Importance of the Artist’s Statement
Students were introduced to this project by emphasizing the importance of the artist statement. This was done by explaining to students that an artist statement describes who you are as an artist and what your art is about. An example of artistic interpretation was first demonstrated through whole class discussion (See Student Reflection Lesson Plan) before students were led through a series of mind maps to conclude their own personal discoveries about their artwork.
Students reflected upon their completed abstract paintings (See Section V for a detailed explanation of the project they reflected upon) and composed written statements that described their work’s appearance and explained the reasons behind their color/technique choices. This process was meant to aid both student and teacher in understanding the creative direction each student took, or intended to take. As amateur and professional artists alike are expected to articulate their ideas through artist statements, it was the intention of this lesson to encourage students to take responsibility for their creative decisions and attempt a primitive understanding of formal analysis.
Carefully Framed Questioning
Students used appropriate and precise terminology by referencing vocabulary sheets I distributed at each table. These sheets allowed students the opportunity to seek proper spelling of art principles and elements as well as colors and emotions. While students were not graded on their spelling or punctuation to promote a risk-free environment, I still felt that encouraging students to use proper grammar was an important skill to promote.
When building their statements, I asked each student to follow a mind mapping structure demonstrated below:
Teacher: Please divide your page into four different sections by drawing a cross on your blank page.
The teacher will model this entire process on the chalkboard using his/her own abstract work.
The teacher will draw a large square on the chalkboard intended to represent the piece of blank paper students have opened their sketchbooks to.
Teacher: What I would like you all to do now is list the colors you used while listening to the music I played during your previous class. I want you to document these lists on the left side of the page. So in the upper left corner, you will list the colors used in your first painting. In the lower left corner, you will list the colors used in your second painting.
Teacher will model this process using the chalkboard and abstract painting. Once the teacher has quickly jotted down the colors used, he/she will circulate around the room checking to make sure students are following directions properly.
Students will list their colors.
Teacher: It would seem that many of you are ready to move on so I’ll fill you in on the next step. On the opposite side of your paper, please list the emotions you were trying to express during last class’ painting exercise. In the upper right corner, you will need to list the emotions you felt during the first song. In the lower right corner, please list the emotions you felt during the second song. I’m going to play a clip from each song to jog your memory.
The teacher will briefly play clips of both songs the students listened to and write the name of each song on the board. Students will be instructed to copy the names of each song above the appropriate list.
Finally, once both lists are complete, students will be instructed to draw lines that match each color listed to the emotions they were trying express on the opposite side of the page. The teacher will model this process on the board.
Teacher: I used a little orange in this song because the saxophone swells made me feel a little excited. So, I’m going to connect the color orange to the emotion ‘excited’.
Once the colors have been connected to their emotions, the students will be asked to write complete sentences that describe these connections.
The teacher will model this process:
Teacher: When I created my first painting to Charles Mingus’ “Goodbye Porkpie Hat”, I used a lot of blue and I have connected this color to the emotion ‘grief’. My complete sentences would then sound like this:
“My first painting is meant to show the sadness I felt while listening to “Goodbye Porkpie Hat” by Charles Mingus. I decided to express this emotion using the color blue.”
This carefully framed structure allowed students to build complete sentences suing vocabulary words unique to their painting. This also communicated solid expectations for student output. If had asked students to simply write a few sentences about their painting, students would only produce responses at their own comfortable level of reflection. By introducing this structure, students who had trouble forming complete sentences had a structure to fall back on and students who strive to complete the bare minimum would still produce work of an acceptable quality.
Written Reflection v. Open Discussion
Class wide discussions can seem scary to students uncomfortable with public speaking. The purpose of the written reflection is two-fold: First, this allows shy students to communicate their feelings about their work with the instructor. Second, this encourages students who have a hard time expressing their feelings orally to try reading a written statement with the class.
Once students had completed their written statements, the shift towards sharing their statements aloud was much smoother than discussing work on the spot. Students appeared to feel more confident in sharing their ideas after they had been arranged into complete sentences with accurate vocabulary. Additionally, this allowed for students to give feedback to each other about the work created in class. My feedback was largely relegated to encouraging the output of high quality artist statements–the students handled the assessment of their own work marvelously.