As this new school year is getting started, Mrs. Shemansky and I are finding ourselves so busy every day with tasks that range from the mundane (attendance) to the idealistic (teaching our kids to express their ideas and make connections with people and projects from around the world!!).  I think I can speak for us both when I say that there is not a minute in our day that we are idle.  So when a student asked me the other day, ‘Do you only teach art?’ I saw this big opportunity to tell her everything I do that is art but is so much more than art.  Unfortunately, after a long pause, I said, ‘yes’.  I wasn’t prepared to put everything I do into words- let alone a few really well crafted words that a polite response would entail (I’m sure she didn’t want a dissertation on everything I think I do all day).  But I knew right then that I had to do some serious thinking about this so that next time I’m asked what I teach I have a better answer.

It’s not all about art.

First and foremost we are here to provide students with a space to learn and talk about their art.  We give them a vocabulary to use that allows them to see art in a more knowledgeable way.  For example, in our Continue reading →