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presidents statement TAEA was a small association between the ’60 and ’70s. Some of our members were still studying in universities around the country and across Texas. During that time, a big story in the Panhandle was about an art teacher who taught in Amarillo in 1916 and then opened the art department at West Texas State Normal College, now West Texas A&M University. That art teacher became a legend in the history of art education in Texas. If you don’t know the teacher that came to teach in the Panhandle, it was Georgia O’Keeffe.

Looking back, before and after Georgia O’Keefe came to Texas, there were a lot of art departments just getting started in the small towns and larger cities in Texas.

With this came one-person programs, where art educators worked alone due to the long distances between population centers of Texas. Groups of art educators who were fortunate to live in Texas’ larger cities came together and developed urban communities for art education.

Programs developed in various ways. Those lone wolf artists/educators found their peers, and urban artists/educators began working together. Art museums started growing more extensive and more became founded. Recognizing their programs, museums became prominent sources for Texas education. With this growth, art educators began taking the long trips we, as artists/educators, needed to view the art of Texas and the world.

Artists and educators in Texas could learn from other artists as we opened studios of our own and studio classrooms. We could meet at conferences and visit each other’s homes and studios more easily. Our community of artists/art educators grew. Those living in East Texas, the Gulf Coast, the Rio Grande Valley, the Blackland Prairies, the High Plains, and West Texas came together as the heart of this community. In its growth, Texas Art Education Association promoted and nurtured a vibrant community of artists/educators in studios and schools in Texas; this helped bring us together.

We need to remember that this growth and all the encompassing experiences helped us now create art, artist, and artists/educators of the next generation.

Moving forward, we continue to create spaces for ourselves as artists and educators as we participate in broader spectrums of art communities in Texas and beyond.

Walter Holland, TAEA President

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Christopher Adejumo

Associate Professor Adejumo has published over twenty-five book chapters, articles, and instructional guides on visual art and art education. A practicing artist, Adejumo’s relief prints, low-relief sculptures, and paintings have been shown in over thirty local, state, national, and international exhibitions.

Chris Bain

Chris Bain is an Associate Professor of Art Education at The University of Texas at Austin. Her research interests focus on the intersection of theory with practice in art education. More specifically, her research examines the preparation and development of art teachers, both at the preservice and inservice levels.

kathy brown TAEA BOARD: Linh Nguyen (President Elect), Myron Stennett (Vice-President Elect Membership), Jami Bevans (Past President), Walter Holland (President), Angela Coffey (Vice-President Elect Youth Art Month), Gretchen Bell (Vice-President Membership), Tiffany Silverthorne (Vice-President Youth Art Month), Sara Chapman (Executive Director), Lisa Saenz-Saldivar (Treasurer), Ricia Kerber (Commercial Exhibits Director), Jenny Lucas (Secretary)

Kathy J. Brown is an Assistant Professor at UNT, in the College of Visual Arts and Design. Brown’s research interests include social justice art education, anti-blackness in education, pre-service and in-service teacher experiences, critical inquiry in the urban art room, visual culture and race.

Kevin Jenkins

Kevin Jenkins is an Assistant Professor of Art Education at Texas State University. Kevin’s research includes gender transition documentation as palimpsest and social media as an artistic space that serves as a pedagogical tool and a site for activism.

Maggie Leysath

Maggie Leysath, Ed.D. has been a Texas Certified Teacher since 1998. In that time she has taught English/Language Arts and Art All Levels. Current owner of The Studio. The Studio is a for profit art education center where communty members can gather and explore creative expression and grow as artists.

Rina little

Rina Kundu Little is an Associate Professor in the School of Art at Texas Tech University. She is most interested in material and relational entanglements and affects; how meanings are constructed through cultural practices and differences; how places can be altered and connected to sites of struggle; in performative acts of inhabiting space creatively, and in practices of worlding.

Heather Kaplan journal design: Andrés peralta Artwork throughout issue: Page 2: El Canyón / digital monotype, 2022 Page 24: El Drive-In / digital monotype, 2022 Page 36: La Panadería / digital monotype 2022 Page 51: Las Flores / digital monotype 2022 Page 60: El Orgullo / digital monotype 2022 back cover: El Mundo Es Tuyo / digital monotype 2022

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Heather is an Assistant Professor of Art Education at University of Texas El Paso. As an educator, Heather has worked in the schools, community education, early childhood education, and in higher education. She focuses on art making as inquiry and exploration, and believes it to be essential to cognition and academic growth.

Heriberto Palacio

Heriberto Palacio holds an MFA from Watkins College of Art. As an interdisciplinary Artist that explores human relations and awareness through research that investigates social constructs, as goal of their research is cultivating spaces/projects that uplift and educate the Black community.

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EDITORIAL

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS 2023 DAWN STieNECKER

ANDRÉS PERALTA & DAWN STEINECKER COMMUNITY-BASED ART EDUCATION: ENRICHING THE EVERYDAY LIVES OF SENIORS IN THEIR COMMUNITY

THE POWER OF JOY MATT SCHUPPERT

VICTORIA QUEMADA

WE ARE A COMMUNITY OF WOMEN

STUDENT ARTISTS AND PERMANENT ART INSTALLATIONS ON CAMPUS

ANAHID GHORBANI

Riley Wetzel and Samuel J. Ayers

VISUAL ARTS BUILD CONFIDENCE THROUGH LITERACY

ART IS FOR COMMUNITY

SONIA PACÉ-INKSTER

ADAM LANCASTER

THAT’S HOW WE ROLL: ART CARS AS VEHICLES FOR COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT LINDSAY RIPLEY

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GOODWILL TOWARDS FRIENDS: A SOCIAL PRIMER FOR SOLITARY CREATURES AIMEE VALENTINE

A LIFE OF ART

CULTIVATING COMMUNITY IN THE ART ROOM

ALLISON GAUGHN

KERI REYNOLDS

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Evergreen woods and rocky blue-green mountain peaks dolloped with snow gave way to desert sage and rustcolored cliffs and plateaus as we wound our way from a life we left behind to a life we had yet to live. We were nomads, moving from place to place, following the agricultural work that sustained our livelihoods as migrant workers. My life was a constant in-between, inbetween elementary grades, in-between schools, in-between homes, and in-between siblings packed like sardines in dad’s old station wagon.

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Growing up, we lived a nomadic life. I saw many communities nestled in diverse ecosystems and biomes, from high desert mountainous regions to coastal plains inhabited by equally diverse populations.

Although united by an American educational system, public schools were very different from place to place, emphasizing teaching one thing over another. Every place I went had art class, the one true constant.

The art room was a space where creativity was encouraged, where experimentation was the golden rule, and I was able to imagine the impossible and make it somewhat possible.

Being nomads meant we often traveled light, carrying only the most essential things: clothes, cooking utensils, portable keepsakes, trinkets and baubles, and photo albums. Mine was always some pencils, crayons, and a sketchbook, blank paper my mom would put in a folder. I spent many hours in the back of a station wagon, dreaming up colorful characters, imaginary flora, fauna, and vehicles that combined the colorful awkwardness of Dr. Seuss with the streamlined futurism of Star Trek to fill the pages. I cataloged the communities we passed through and wrote and illustrated short stories based on my understanding.

I filled the pages trying to capture important moments, people I met, the stories they told, and the memories they had. Each community was different, and each narrative was individual. The one common thread was me and my sketch pad. I can’t say it was the language since in one part of the country, there was soda, in another, pop, and yet in another, everything was Coke.

Since we traveled light, we often had to start over in every home we had. My family traveled together, aunts, uncles, cousins, and sometimes grandparents. Long-time friends also accompanied us, along with recent acquaintances made along the way. We often made living arrangements in small clusters of homes in the same neighborhood and sometimes on the same block—sometimes one home right next to the other. Our little community was held together economically; we all worked in the same place; socially, we all spoke the same language and had similar beliefs; and culturally, we were all from a similar heritage. We were also held together by a deep love and commitment to the arts. Some of us were singers, some played instruments, some were storytellers, and some were visual artists. Most of my fondest memories involve an evening of song and storytelling combined with making art out of found objects

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to decorate whatever new homes we were occupying. There were candle holders and whirligigs made from reclaimed aluminum cans, vases made from old books and magazines, and patchwork quilts made from garments pulled out of donation boxes. Adults guided children in fashioning each, providing an informal art education experience and an opportunity for them to weave in a bit of creativity of their own. Through the arts, we fashioned our community, and it was one of the things integral to keeping us together as we moved from place to place.

Education provides opportunities for communities to develop and grow through the interchange of ideas. Experiences offered by art education build community. Students of all levels are community members, people, neighbors, family, and leaders. Art builds community by providing spaces that promote constructive interaction among people and enable them to experience the transformative power of the arts through community-driven public arts events, museum educational experiences, formalized art education, or informal arts practices.

Wherever creative and artistic interchanges occur among communities, they provide connections between people that can lead to collective civic awareness and action, from providing equity to addressing environmental change or opportunities for healing, either physical healing or community healing.

Art education also provides opportunities to include younger generations in active participation or mindfulness about the communities in which they live. Creative experiences where innovative idea exchanges enable young people to participate as meaningful contributors to their community’s social, environmental, civic, and economic development. Engaging young people has the potential to bring more adults to join in, acting as mentors and coaches and supporting programs that advocate for art education, specifically when tied to the community. Many older community members are eager to share their historical knowledge and cultural memories about the community. Getting more people involved intergenerationally means more interchanges of ideas about how things are and how things could be might help improve the conditions of their communities.

As art educators, we have the opportunity and responsibility to support students in their endeavors by encouraging young people to bring the unique problem-solving skills art provides. Bringing art into the

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community offers an opportunity to educate through the arts and deliver experiences that are not always available in formalized school settings, such as developing critical life skills, social/emotional development, civic engagement, and enacting social change. Active community engagement through art allows youth to become socially conscious and engaged entrepreneurs who bridge economic and cultural differences.

When people in communities become involved in formal and informal art education, they develop a vested interest in preserving a place and cultivating its development for future generations. Art education supports a sense of ownership or connection to the sites, people, spaces, and culture that comprises a community’s sense of identity. Engaging through artistic and creative endeavors helps build relationships between people and their communities become a better place to live, work and visit.

Residents take ownership and responsibility for their community and the areas it inhabits, helping foster relationships with their community and each other.

A community full of art is a community full of hope for the future.

andrés peralta

Andrés Peralta is Associate Professor in Art Education at Texas Tech University. He has taught Art, ELL, and Spanish in public schools and has been an educator since 1996. Through lenses of post-humanisms and feminist new materialisms, his work in research and art-making focus on futurism concerning the intersections of trans*identities, technologies, constructions, and perceptions of self through social media.

dawn stienecker

Dawn Stienecker, PhD, is an art educator with over 15 years of experience who has taught in range of settings from community environments to private and public-school classrooms, working with early childhood learners to university and graduate level students. She seeks to understand dynamic facets of educational interactions in and beyond the classroom and in informal learning situations. Her research interests are in the ways informal research approaches can be implemented in formal research projects that demonstrate both praxis and critical investigation.

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Creating an enriching program for seniors is something our generation needs to plan for as our parents and grandparents age.

The detrimental effects of living alone, being immobile, and having less contact with others can age our elderly family members faster than the average rate. According to Bagan (2022), “three aspects of successful aging (are): low risk of disease, high mental and physical functioning, and being actively engaged in life” (paras. 18). Art can have significant benefits for seniors and is a catalyst for well-being.

I have created a curriculum for seniors who are fully engaged in learning about art while creating art. Furthermore, many artists and community art educators out in the world can relate to seniors, want to provide inspiring messages for each of them, and plan to create programs for them so that they may have access to examples of this knowledge.

Programs for seniors aim to elevate the senses and promote continual growth instead of a sedentary life. Alahverdi (2021) notes that one can care for seniors through the arts.

“By engaging in the interactive artmaking process, older adults were able to build new and strengthen existing relationships with

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younger generations, share their knowledge and life experiences, learn new skills and information, and reduce depression and anxiety while increasing their sense of well-being” (p. 17).

This curriculum enhances seniors’ well-being through artistic activities to prevent loneliness and promote mental well-being and a sense of self-worth.

Needed in a curriculum for seniors is an activity through which to interact socially and learn new content. This curriculum is not just about creating art but learning about artists and their stories, connections with self and community that form creativity, and creating art to learning about mediums, techniques, and skills. Self-acceptance and knowledge appear essential to seniors. “Socially engaged artistic and pedagogical practices involve exchanges that take place between people; the artwork opens up the encounter through dialogue, discussion, and interhuman negotiation; and it involves coming up the perceptive, experimental, critical and participatory forms of interaction” (Schlemmer, 2016, p.14). By providing multiple artists and their stories and active making, seniors may be able to connect and

see connections between them and other cultures. The goal is to provide an atmosphere and knowledge to help seniors achieve new accomplishments.

Community-Based Art Education Community-Based Art Education (CBAE) has several paradigms and speaks to teaching artists, art teachers, museum educators, and others. Employing CBAE and teaching through an informal setting approach can provide a social justice framework for civic engagement and socially engaged art and work with K-12 populations, racial and ethnic groups, and elders (Blandy, Congdon, Bastos, Neperud, and Ulbricht, 2022). CBAE, defined broadly, is often the informal teaching about art or the making of art that takes place outside of schools or forum settings. A good curricular design enables learning traditional and untraditional art skills to express ideas about self and community while socializing with others to learn about each other and the community in which participants live using local resources. Lawton, Walker, and Green (2019) say a potential conceptual framework for enacting CBAE should be educational, reciprocal, empowering, collaborative,

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and transformational. CBAE focuses on older adults and brings them together for an educational experience, empowering, and collaborative through making, interacting, sharing, and engaging in the community through art spaces and resources. “The value of these programs lies in providing art classes to those who might not otherwise have such opportunities…” (Schlemmer, 2016, p. 3). The new information seniors learn and the new relationships they form are invaluable and monumental to themselves and the program Arenas (2007) writes, “Every culture generates its own art, which is ultimately an expression and extension of the self, the people, the place. It is most meaningful to situation programming in the places in which participants live to give them access to art made by those living there, so there are shared social concerns and cultural understandings represented” (Grey & Black, 2007, p. 279).

A rich culture in San Antonio can be taken advantage of by seniors willing to learn about the background. This curricular design focuses on senior communities in San Antonio to encourage them to relate to many artists in the city of San Antonio regarding the art of food, social issues, and aesthetics.

One of the beneficial parts of a CBAE curricular design is that it socially engages people. Loneliness is a massive problem with the elderly population; a “study found 43 percent of surveyed older adults felt lonely” (Kim, 2012). Loneliness can have catastrophic results, especially in seniors. “Social isolation was associated with about a 50% increased risk of dementia and other serious medical conditions” (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2022).

Integrating community-based art programs into various areas around a city might decrease loneliness and promote a sense of place for seniors. A place to make acquaintances, friends, and even romantic interests to improve quality of life.

Personal Connections Several components shape my thoughts about art and education. I grew up being very close to my grandparents. They offered a life that was abundant and lush with creative activities, and I spent most of my childhood playing the piano. Furthermore, I was allowed to unleash myself when offered hands-on creativity.

It was a valid form of active social engagement that my family appreciated and instilled in me. Next, my mom is an educator, and I have always respected how she is patient with her students.

You could tell it gave them the confidence to express themselves imaginatively. Even as a little girl, I wanted to teach like her.

Watching my grandparents as they age has not been easy or without a struggle. You could tell when they were active in their week or sedentary just by the things they remembered and the dexterity they displayed. I wanted to help them but was not sure how. I realized how I could help seniors while stationed in Key West, Florida, employed as an Activities Coordinator at one of the nursing homes on the island. Every day I was encouraged to create activities about which seniors might care. There were many days when I fell flat, but the most fulfilling days were when seniors blossomed, displaying their personalities and excitement to do something.

Overview of Curricula Art education creates myriad learning experiences in (making, creating, producing, generating), observing, and studying the arts. The purpose of the instructor is to be a beacon and guide for presenting challenging objectives and enhancing creativity through the process of (making, forming, and generating) art pieces. The goal is to have seniors observe, explore, and discuss art in a way that leads to lifelong learning, enrichment, and enjoyment.

I developed these CBAE curricula as a series of workshops so that seniors could experience the gratification of education and the benefits of connecting with others through community

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involvement. I focused on curricula that helped seniors develop skills with technology, social media, quilting, floral arrangements, and family traditions.

Social Seniors The social dilemma is no longer just for young adults. A rise in the growth of an elder community is surfacing throughout Facebook.

There is a need to keep their loved ones happy and active for many families as their relatives progress through their golden years.

Erickson (2011) notes, “Online channels allow individuals to connect with others regardless of location, creating more opportunities to share topics of interest, interact with others, provide emotional and moral support to those in need, as well as stay in touch with friends and family” (p. 1).

We are increasingly hearing of someone’s “kid” adding their parents to “The Facebook” and joining the online conversation.

According to Erickson (2011), many seniors are starting to like it: For seniors with limited mobility and those who are no longer geographically close to friends and family, online social networks may help maintain connections that would otherwise be difficult to preserve or lost completely. (p. 1).

Seniors can reconnect with alums from schools, sports teams, churches, and cities. As with anything, there are drawbacks; grandma is learning new vulgar words, and grandpa sees when left out of poker night. There is also the issue of a generational learning curve. Some seniors looked at FaceTime and Skype and said no thanks, but with the connectedness, they can have with friends and family through Facebook, others test the waters.

An essential facet beyond keeping up with friends and family is the resources to which they are introduced. Advertisements, news outlets, and friends and family posts number among the resources.

Seniors are learning and shaping their communities.

“Because these individuals tend to have diverse backgrounds, they widen our exposure to more resources… this, in turn, creates a feeling of belonging to a broader community” (Erickson, 2011, p. 2).

Alongside the concept of community is the actuality of community. Technology and experiences also invite students of all cultures and ages to explore the city. Students can “examine cultural constructions about place, nature, and wilderness” in their chosen environment for added experience (Graham, 2007, p. 381).

Seniors are passionate about history, and working within their chosen environment brings it full circle.

Quilt Queens and Kings This CBAE workshop aimed to have seniors dialogue about being helpful, using their talents to make a quilt, contributing to their local communities, and making a real difference for others. They can create and donate their quilts. According to the National Institute of Aging, “joining a group, visiting friends, and taking a community class can facilitate learning and positively influence moods with the elderly. Organizing donations for people in need is also one of the top actions to do to improve overall health and wellness” (NIA, 2021). The workshop is beneficial, not just for entertainment purposes but also for the mental stimulation needed to feel useful.

Flowers On The Wall Although floral arrangements were the project’s basis, I needed to transform it into something a bit different once I began putting resources together. Through this project, seniors will change their thinking about art, flora, and floral design through a process of flower pressing. Concepts such as arid landscapes and flowers in western art create conversations about crucial understandings in visual art. Through O’Keeffe’s in-person examples and the craft of

pressing flowers, seniors will start conversations and questions to encourage artistic practices. A part of the workshop comprises the seniors and me visiting Wild Seed Farms in Fredericksburg, Texas.

Here, we can get into physical art demonstrations in real time and the mediums we can use.

Furthermore, I want the seniors to dive deeper into the flowers of O’Keeffe’s paintings by talking about texture, color, size, etc., and compare her New Mexico flowers with our local Texas flowers.

Work such as this creates connections between self, friends, and family. Flowers decrease depression, refresh recent memory, and encourage companionship (Haviland-Jones, 2001).

Through this project, students can discuss the significance of artworks about flowers, create work using the art of pressing flowers, and initiate conversations on how to display their art and how they feel it relates to the O’Keeffe paintings. The purpose of this workshop was so the elderly would benefit from being outside, getting social, and learning something new.

Family Traditions One common thing among most female seniors and maybe others is their capability to prepare a good home-cooked meal.

I wanted to incorporate something that seniors would be good at and add aesthetic elements with which they may have yet to be acquainted. The workshop involves learning about artists and their connections to self, food, and family. Seniors are asked to find a family recipe and photographs that will be compiled into a cookbook creating something entirely their own and inspiring particular nostalgia. The cookbook is an artistic creation that could bring together memories using design, images, and words.

Something special I thought of doing is finding a charity that connects to the workshop. Seniors are notorious for wanting to feel involved or needed, so choosing a charity is an excellent activity for engaging with communities in need by, “offering emotionally meaningful volunteer opportunities for older adults, and for giving these volunteers adequate support and freedom. In this way, older adults are able to find purpose, satisfaction, and good health later in life at the same time that they give back to society, (Wong, 2010, paras. 8).

The cookbooks that they will spend time compiling can be sold for their given charity. There would not be a cookbook without food, so a community potluck is designed for locals to meet, dine, and purchase cookbooks, resulting in a charity donation.

It is a big undertaking, but I feel it will be a project seniors will feel passionate about and flow smoothly. The seniors will be learning, creating, reminiscing, and giving back to those in need while making friends.

Conclusion Art education is no longer just for the young; aging seniors benefit in more ways than one and love the process of making and talking. Through the culmination of this program, the curriculum enriches the artistic fundamentals of senior care. The ultimate goal is to create a program that encourages seniors to learn about artists that challenge them to pursue the value of self and aids in promoting mental stimulation, well-being, physicality, and connectedness to communities. This curriculum will hopefully change how the public sees seniors and will optimistically create new programs in the future.

References Alahverdi, D. (2021). The Art Enrichment Programs’ impact on senior citizens’ overall sense of well-being (dissertation). The Art Enrichment Programs’ Impact on Senior Citizens’ Overall Sense of Well-Being. ProQuest Dissertations Publishing. Retrieved 2022, from https://www.proquest.com/openview/937330901f4ebfd7b55701ff4 89552f5/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=18750&diss=y.

Bagan, B. (n.d.). Aging: What’s art got to do with it? Today’s Geriatric Medicine. Retrieved 2022, from https://www. todaysgeriatricmedicine.com/news/ex_082809_03.shtml Bolin, P. E., Blandy, D., & Congdon, K. G. (2000). Remembering Others: Making Invisible Histories of Art Education Visible. National Art Education Association.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (n.d.). Loneliness and social isolation linked to serious health conditions. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved 2022, from https://www. cdc.gov/aging/publications/features/lonely-older-adults.html Erickson, L. B. (2011, August). Social media, social capital, and seniors: The impact of Facebook on bonding and bridging social capital of individuals over 65. In Amcis.

Graham, M. A. (2007). Art, Ecology and Art Education: Locating Art Education in a Critical Place-based Pedagogy. Studies in Art Education, 48(4), 375–391. https://doi.org/10.1080/00393541.2007.1 1650115 Gray, S. R., & Black, S. (2007). Welcome to Art City: Place-based Education through a Local Museum. Curator: The Museum Journal, 50(3), 277–286. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.2151-6952.2007.tb00272.x Haviland-Jones, J. (n.d.). Flowers & Seniors Study. About Flowers.

Retrieved May 7, 2022, from https://safnow.org/aboutflowers/quicklinks/health-benefits-research/flowers-seniors-study/ Kim, L. (2012). Loneliness linked to serious health problems and death among elderly. Loneliness Linked to Serious Health Problems and Death Among Elderly | UC San Francisco. Retrieved 2022, from https://www.ucsf.edu/news/2012/06/98644/loneliness-linkedserious-health-problems-and-death-among-elderly Lawton, H. P., Walker, M., Green, M., & Gude, O. (2019). Community-based art education across the lifespan: Finding common ground.

Teachers College Press.

Schlemmer, R. H. (2016). Socially engaged art education: Defining and Defending the Practice. Socially Engaged Art Education, 1–20. https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-5225-1727-6.ch001 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (n.d.). Participating in activities you enjoy. National Institute on Aging. Retrieved December 8, 2021, from https://www.nia.nih.gov/health/ participating-activities-you-enjoy.

Wong, B. (2010, July 22). What seniors get from giving back. Greater Good Magazine. Retrieved May 2022, from https://greatergood. berkeley.edu/article/item/what_seniors_get_from_giving_back

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In the “We” project, I aimed to exhibit the feelings of women from different cultures when holding a black fabric, which symbolizes the oppression that Middle Eastern women, particularly Iranian women, experience in their lives.

Iran, the country of my birth, where freedom of expression is restricted, is not an easy country for an artist, especially when you are a female. I left my home country to study photographic art and video in America. Despite the diversity of cultures in Chicago, I was shocked to find myself continually explaining and educating my audiences

about the complexity of the history of Iranian culture, particularly the societal role of Iranian women. Recognizing the need to speak out about the invisibility of Iranian women, both historically and in contemporary culture, I committed my artistic vision to address the oppression of women in the Middle East and the denial of their identity, their dignity, the significant contributions they have made through centuries, and their representation and misrepresentation in the Western world.

The “We“ project demonstrates the commonality of human feelings and

the necessity of addressing pressing humanitarian issues which transcend community and culture. I reached outside of my own Iranian community in Chicago and depicted the shared pain that all women from different cultures and backgrounds go through worldwide.

However, each and every one of the women in the photographs represents a personal story of agony and oppression when holding the black fabric.

facing page 1. Untitled, 2016, Archival Inkjet Print this page 2. Untitled, 2016, Archival Inkjet Print 3. Untitled, 2016, Archival Inkjet Print

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4. Untitled, 2016, Archival Inkjet Print 5. Untitled, 2016, Archival Inkjet Print 6. Untitled, 2016, Archival Inkjet Print

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7. Untitled, 2016, Archival Inkjet Print 8. Untitled, 2016, Archival Inkjet Print 9. Untitled, 2016, Archival Inkjet Print

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This past year opened a door for me to return to my passion of teaching art to young children. I had been an art teacher for over 10 years when life advanced me into school administration. As a campus administrator, I kept seeing the importance of literacy and need for it to be taught through all subjects. Yet, each content having its own curriculum and each specialty class having its own agenda as well, this integration never truly was embraced. I had always advocated as an art teacher that I could teach anything through my art program, so this year gave me the opportunity to set out and do just that, and what better age to develop this methodology than primary students in pre-kindergarten and kindergarten.

Through a Harris County Department of Education grant, our school district’s visual arts department got involved in a program titled “Literacy and Art”. The direction wasn’t clear to me since I had not written the grant but it gave me the resources to kick off what I had always believed was best practices, using children’s literature to build background while teaching art.

Our students have connected to so many of the books we read and their artwork has only been enhanced by those deeper connections. The importance of reading to young children in their primary language and providing hands-on experiences through the art curriculum for young learners is so valuable.

This philosophy has also prompted community engagement through family nights and parent support meetings on the importance of reading and the arts for young learners. My continual advocacy on the importance of art in developing a sense of self and community for our young learners as well as promote the power of art to shape and extend community awareness for the importance of this integrated approach supports the information I shared during a recent parent engagement event on “Literacy and Art with Primary Students”. The following information what I shared with these parents and what drives my integration of literacy through my art program.

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How do young children learn best?

• Young children learn best through play or by being engaged in fun activities, whether that is with their parents or others in their lives • They learn best in an environment where they can explore materials and do activities that interest them.

• They also learn best through doing active learning; play is the best way of offering them these hands-on experiences and connections to the world around them.

Example; by picking up a funnel and pouring sand through it, kids learn about gravity and their own power. Learning is happening at multiple levels

TREASURE THIS TIME TOGETHER!

Early Literacy is so important!

In the Art Room

Connecting Art to our World

• We are learning about the Elements and Principles of Art: line, color, shape, form, value and texture, along with much more • We read a book or look at a piece of artwork related to the topic of our lesson • We learn to be good artists by using our imagination, being creative and neat, and by following directions.

• In the art room, young artists learn about art, laugh a bunch and love discussing their artwork with others.

• Read the book “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” and have them do a drawing of the caterpillar or butterfly.

• Discuss the life cycle of the butterfly (science) or how something beautiful come from a bug (SEL).

• Discuss healthy eating.

• Take your child to the store and let them count items at the grocery store; math connection • Involve your child in daily household tasks like cooking; building self-worth.

Art supports their learning

Colors and how we feel

Skills to do at home daily

• Young children need to make connections to their world; to what they are learning and through art we support positive experiences while integrating other content.

• Young children do not always have the words to express their thoughts & ideas, or the words to convey what they know or have learned. They can communicate through their artwork and the colors they use to create their artwork • Art gives children an opportunity to illustrate their thoughts & feelings.

• Read to young children often or have them picture read to you than have them draw a picture and tell you about it like a story; write their stories on the back of the picture.

• You can learn a lot by the colors children decide to use.

• Children can tell you how they are feeling with colors when they do not have the words to express themselves.

• Reading a book like “My Many Colored Days” and asking them what color they feel like today and repeating this routinely can give you insight on a child’s emotional state.

• Do this all the time and they will start telling you on their own.

• Read: stop & ask questions about what you have read, have your child retell what you have read & draw a picture about the story will help them develop language and comprehension skills along with pride and self-worth • Math: count & sort anything; toys, groceries, candy, help cook & measure • Writing: practice letters, numbers & their name.

Use a highlighter and have them trace • Parents are their first and most important teacher. They are watching, listening, and learning about the world around them through all their daily interactions. on their own.

• Read daily with your child, ask your child questions about what you have read; builds language and comprehension.

• Allow them to read the pictures in a book to tell you the story; builds confidence.

• Have children retell a story through drawings or stop before the end or even different parts of a story so they can draw what happens next; builds prediction skills.

• Recite and practice spelling high frequency words • Practice writing… their complete name, letters, numbers and sight words.

• Building Confidence as an Artist • It is important that students learn that art does not have to look like a perfect picture • Students need to learn about voice and their own power to create. Learning is happening at multiple levels in the art room; language development, fine motor skills, cause & effect • Using children’s books, pictures/ visuals and art reproductions of related artists, give young learners a reference to build on or refer to during the art lesson • Displaying their artwork builds pride and selfworth.

Arts Education… why is it important?

• The arts enable children to grow in confidence and learn how to think positively about themselves and learning. It also helps develop motor skills, language skills, social skills, risktaking, and inventiveness.

• The arts give children on-hands on experiences to make sense of the world around them or make sense of the information being asked of them to connect to or know.

• Connecting the arts to early literacy allows learning to be fun, provides visual supports, gives students voice when they may not have the language yet to convey what they mean, and helps make real world connections.

• Young learners are often willing to take risks discussing their artwork, which builds selfconfidence and their vocabulary for early literacy.

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community in our backyards In rural Texas towns, the drive-in was one of, if not the only, source of cinematic entertainment. Members from all types of communities—local, near, and just passing through—shared this space, interacted, and found a moment in time to focus on a poorly lit movie and greasy theater food. When the price of admission was by the car, I remember filling our vehicle to max capacity—often involving people sitting on laps or in the trunk. Whatever movie we were watching was secondary to all the great moments of laughing, chatting, and having a great time with one another. It was heaven.

Although drive-ins still exist today, with the advent of social media and the ever-pervasive smartphone, we have new ways to socialize and form a sense of community near and far. We can make our backyards into makeshift drive-ins, invite friends and neighbors over, and make our own cinematic entertainment. Being creative doesn’t have to be relegated to classrooms and studios—the potential for art education is everywhere. Next time you feel nostalgic, build a little sense of community in your backyard. Have an improv moviemaking activity, share your home movies, or just set up an old sheet as a screen and have a good old-fashioned shadow puppet show!

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Figure 1: Students complete the finishing touches of an art car by painting a bright red cherry. (photo credit Lindsay Ripley)

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Introduction: A Mobile Cultural Environment Communities come in a variety of shapes, sizes, colors, locations, and purposes. Some communities defy the idea that they must be sequestered to a permanent location; the art car community is constantly on the move. Like community, art car is a term that challenges any attempt at formal definition. Art cars can be defined as many things: folk art, outsider art, fine art, statement art, or not art at all… and the artists who make art cars are as varied and diversified as their mobile medium. What brings the concept of art cars together as a community is the collective of people who have become provocative participants in creating spectacle by transforming automobiles into something completely unexpected.

Visual art activities and curriculum that promote community engagement extend beyond an art project and focus on viewing art production as a vessel through which students positively influence their communities (Dewhurst, 2010). Collaborative community-based projects connect students to the practice of critical reflection and promote questioning as the basis for art production by translating an idea into a communicative work of art and sharing that idea with the public. Theresa Marché (1998) discusses approaches to community-based art education: taking from community and learning about community, or looking outward, and acting upon community, or looking inward. Art cars are mobile sculptures that communicate an idea to the viewer in a very public way. The creation of a collaborative student art car, along with the participation in art car events, such as the Houston Art Car Parade, integrates Marché’s approaches into a collaborative community-based project. As parade attendees and art car viewers, students take from and learn from the art car community, looking outward at an existing community for inspiration. While students who create art cars and participate in the Art Car Parade become contributing members of the art car community and their own school art car community, looking inward and collaborating with others to develop identity. As art car artists, students inspire others to engage with the

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Figure 2: Sunny with a Chance of Sprinkles created by students at Spring Forest Middle School (photo credit Lindsay Ripley)

Figure 3: Triceratops art car at the 2018 Houston Art Car Parade (photo credit Lindsay Ripley)

Figure 4: Penelope The Purple People Eater at the 2018 Houston Art Car parade (photo credit Lindsay Ripley) Figure 5: The Dragon Art Car at the 2019 Houston Art Car Parade (photo credit Lindsay Ripley)

ever-expanding and mobile art car community, spawning a visual impact on the public’s perception of what qualifies as art and who can be considered an artist.

Community engagement has long been a common theme in contemporary art education research, with a variety of methods that include, community events, mural projects, empty bowls events, and a number of other service-oriented projects (Garber, 2005; Marché, 1998). In order to become most meaningful to students, community-based projects require a certain level of student autonomy. Handing over creative control to students is a daunting task for many teachers, but one that is often rewarded the most. Ultimately, projects that are impactful to students and their communities are projects that are driven by the artists that create them: students (Jaquith et al., 2012, p.147). Teachers are under tremendous pressure to develop a curriculum that meets the needs of their required objectives, while maintaining student autonomy and interest. It is a balancing act that art educators are well acquainted with. Projects like a collaborative art car are time consuming, come with an abundance of roadblocks and challenges, which is why many teachers steer clear of them.

Before I started making art cars with my students, I thought the same way, which kept me from participating in this rewarding

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creative project for too long. I won’t lie and tell you that creating an art car for a world-renowned parade and celebration is an easy task. It’s not easy. But it’s worth it. Collaborative community-based projects have a great impact on students and their communities, and on the educators, who facilitate them.

The Houston Art Car Parade Owning and driving a car is a major developmental milestone for adolescent students. The promise of freedom of movement and volition, the ability to personalize a car is a major draw during a time in a students’ life where they are finding new and exciting ways to express personal identity (Stienecker, 2010). One such mode of self-expression is to create an Art Car. Art Car Artists turn mundane factory-made vehicles into mobile works of art (Roberts et al., 1997). Art Car Artists celebrate their art through gatherings, festivals, and parades. Driven by arts non-profit organization, The Orange Show for Visionary Art, The Houston Art Car Parade is the leading folk art and outsider art event in the nation. The parade weekend brings together artists and community members from all over the Houston area, the state of Texas, with a community of art car artists that extend across the nation. The beginnings of the Houston Art Car Parade can be traced back to the 1980s and has grown in both size and breadth over the decades (Lowe, 2019).

Today, The Houston Art Car Parade encompasses an entire weekend of events centered around the display and celebration of Art Cars.

The parade is a favorite event for Houstonians, bringing in roughly 300,000 spectators each year. What’s unique about the Houston art car parade is that each year spectators are inspired to become participants. Anyone can enter, all you must do is make an art car.

Initially, facilitating the creation of an art car with students may seem daunting, but their engagement in a thriving and welcoming art car community will help students to build essential project management and team building skills, as well as support their creative development, encouraging them to continue making art in weird and wacky ways for years to come.

Student Art Car Creations As a Houstonian, art cars have always had a place in my life.

I attended the annual Houston Art Car Parade with friends and family for as long as I could remember. It wasn’t until 2017 that I finally took the steps to become a participant in this magical creative arts community with my students. As I was packing up after a long day of art teaching at the elementary school I worked at, a friend, colleague, and parent of one of my students poked her head into my doorway and told me she had a deal that I simply couldn’t pass up. Becky Mustachio, who had been

making art cars for the better part of two decades, offered to assist in the development of a collaborative art project for my upper elementary students. Although we did not have access to a car, she had a personal connection who offered to donate 25 bikes, scooters and helmets to my art program for the purpose of turning them into art bikes for the Houston Art Car Parade. It was a lofty project and certainly one that caused a little second guessing along the way, but the thought of providing an amazing experience to my young students completely won me over. I immediately set to work, focusing on making the project as student centered as possible. The design of the art bikes was decided through a school-wide art bike design contest process.

The winner was a spike covered design, which included spiked helmets. I assembled a group of 25 third, fourth, and fifth graders to begin building the art bikes. It was only natural to call the group “The Spike Brigade.” Seeing my students glow with pride as they paraded their art bikes in downtown Houston, surrounded by Houstonians oohing and awing over their student-made project, was a moment in my career I will never forget.

With the success of The Spike Brigade, my school’s Parent Teacher Association purchased and donated a golf cart for the sole purpose of creating an art car with students each year. The

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Figure 6: Stephanie Walton’s student created art car parked outside of the historic Orange Show (photo credit Stephanie Walton)

golf cart has gone on to become a fire breathing dragon to be slayed in the parade by students wearing knight gear, as well as transformed into a giant treasure chest filled with gold coins and gemstones under attack by a great purple octopus. I now teach at a middle school alongside the very friend who dragged me into the art car community in the first place. My friend and colleague was lucky enough to acquire a car donation, an old but sturdy 1994 Suburban. Our students reconstructed it into a melting ice cream car called “Sunny with a Chance of Sprinkles.” Sunny eventually won the Houston Art Car Parade’s “Fountain of Youth Award” for bringing about youthful joy and making everyone in the audience feel young again. In addition to the parade and as a part of the Art Car Weekend events, we were invited to participate in The Main Street Drag, which is an event that brings art cars directly to people who may not be able to attend the parade. Along with many other art cars, we took Sunny with a Chance of Sprinkles to Houston Children’s Hospital, various elementary schools, and to a preschool for students with special needs, making our project more accessible to the community and bringing joy to those who could not attend the parade.

The Big Why Collaborative projects like art cars allow students to learn real world lessons, in a safe, inward community space (Marché, 1998).

Students participate and contribute to a vibrant community that supports all artists. The stress of being the best at art, as well as the entire concept of grading and standards, is off the

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table. The focus, instead, is on the collaboration of a team and their contribution to a large project. Many teachers lead an art car project during the school day as a part of the art curriculum, while others take on a more informal teaching method (Ulbricht, 2005), facilitating an after-school club where students oversee the making of many, if not all, of the creative decisions. Furthermore, this level of autonomy facilitates the development of personal identity within a community (Anderson & Milbrandt, 2005, p.233) and inspires students to make their own art car someday. Through the collaborative creation of art cars, students discover their personal strengths and interests, paving a path toward personal identity.

Middle school art educator, Julon Pinkston, describes an art car project as “the largest single work of art any student and sometimes any adult has ever worked on” and describes his role in the process as “a coach who helps students collaborate to make the art they dream up and ensure that they actually finish.”

Pinkston has spent the last eight years creating art cars with students. He describes his students as “future sculptors, engineers, and mechanics who will probably always like building things with their hands” (J. Pinkston, personal communication, April 13, 2022).

Art cars promote essential competencies that bolster creative thinking and problems-solving skills that will last a lifetime.

Elementary art educator Stephanie Walton creates an art car with her students each year, bringing together the fifth-grade class in their final year and their concluding group project of elementary school.

Walton describes the creative process as “allowing us to be challenged in ways that are not found in a classroom setting.” Walton says the project grants her the opportunity to see growth from her students throughout their time in elementary school. “The students KNOW that their time is coming to work on an art car, so they work to do their very best. There is a sense of pride knowing that the car is created by the students and it represents their campus.” (S. Walton, personal communication, April 14, 2022). Collaborating with a team, sharing the load of decision making, and taking on challenges are all key in the process of collaborative projects and help to further develop the inward-looking communities that art educators have a hand in creating. A collective of students working on an art car not only teaches art skills, but can influence a students’ creative self-esteem (Roberts et al., 1997, p. 41), encouraging them to take even more creative risks in their personal art.

Art Bikes as Vessels for Social Impact The Spike Brigade project was my initial taste of the art car community, and it was also a project that served an important social service, keeping me involved and interested in the community ever since.

After the parade, I met with my school’s principal and our school social worker. Together, we identified 25 students in our own school whose families could not afford a bicycle, and we gave each of them the spike bikes and helmets. Several of the students were members of the Spike Brigade and were thrilled with the prospect of keeping their mobile artworks.

It was an honor to see the bikes chained up to the school bike rack each morning after the students commuted by art bike each day. A defining feature of art education for social justice is the function of an art project enacting social change (Dewhurst, 2010). Collaborative community-based projects, like art cars, are in a unique position to facilitate social justice action. Through the art bike project, not only were my students instilled with a sense of pride, but their mobile works of art became a functional mode of transportation for a student who had never had their own bike before. While not every art car project my students have created has had quite the same social impact as The Spike Bikes did, each project serves a different role in the development of my student’s own inward communities and identity development. I aim to develop art cars that instill the same level of social impact on the local community with future art car projects.

Post Parade: It’s a Wrap!

Exiting the parade route with the cheering parade attendees becoming quieter and quieter, disappearing in the rear-view mirror, is a bittersweet end to an equally exhausting and rewarding project. Until next spring, the hard work is done. As is the stress of meeting hard deadlines and cleaning up endless paint spills and spray foam accidents. It’ll be a break from the apology emails and phones calls to parents for the student who got blue paint in their hair, or the student who ruined a new pair of pants while working on the art car. Until next year, it is all in the past and you can bask in the bright light of seeing your student’s art car on the evening news’ coverage of the Houston Art Car Parade and plastered all over social media by friends and family who saw your student’s masterpiece on the road. You’ll get to hear your students rave about their experience for weeks to come. Until one day soon, and it’ll sneak up on you, it will be time to register for next year’s art car parade and you can do it all again.

While art cars are a fun and exciting way to connect

students to their community, you don’t need to create an art car to facilitate an engaging and collaborative community-based project. Solid community-based projects put students at the center of decision making (Ulbricht, 2005), reflect on the impact of the student on community and the community on the student, and aims to allow students to influence a new cultural environment (Marché, 1998). Furthermore, effective community-based projects have the power to enact positive social change on students’ own communities (Dewhurst, 2010; Garber, 2005; Ulbricht, 2005), and to facilitate the development of students’ personal identity and empathy for others in their community.

Students should be at the center of any communitybased project, looking to their outward communities for opportunities to learn and grow, creating meaningful art, and flourishing in collaboration with their inward community.

References

Anderson, T., & Milbrandt, M. K. (2005). Art for life: authentic instruction in art. McGraw-Hill.

Dewhurst, M. (2010). An Inevitable Question: Exploring the Defining Features of Social Justice Art Education. Art Education, 63(5), 6–13. https://doi.org/10.1080/0004312 5.2010.11519082 Garber, E. (2005). Social Justice and Art Education. Visual Arts Research, 30(2), 4–21. JSTOR. Lowe, R. (2019, August 29). Meet Rebecca Lowe of Orange Show Center for Visionary Arts & Clarity Center for A New Way in East Side/Heights [Interview]. In Voyage Houston. http://voyagehouston.com/interview/meetrebecca-lowe-orange-show-center-visionary-artsclarity-center-new-way-east-sideheights/ Marché, T. (1998). Looking Outward, Looking In: Community in Art Education. Art Education, 51(3), 6. https://doi.org/10.2307/3193725 Pinkston, J. (2022, April 13). Interview with Julon Pinkston [digital form to Lindsay Ripley].

Roberts, M., Harithas, J., & Poole, C. (1997). Art cars: revolutionary movement. Ineri Foundation.

Stephens, P. G. (2006). A Real Community Bridge: Informing Community-Based Learning through a Model of Participatory Public Art. Art Education, 59(2), 40–46. https://doi.org/10.1080/00043125.2006.11651586 Stienecker, D. (2010). Art Cars: Transformations of the Mundane. Art Education, 63(3), 25–32. https://doi.org/1 0.1080/00043125.2010.11519067 Ulbricht, J. (2005). What is Community-Based Art Education? Art Education, 58(2), 6–12. https://doi.org/1 0.1080/00043125.2005.11651529 Walton, S. (2022, April 14). Interview with Stephanie Walton [digital form to Lindsay Ripley].

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3

Ever since I was a little girl, I had the privilege of experiencing art museums and similar cultural institutions as frequently as a child may experience a playground. My first encounter with these institutions was at the Dallas Museum of Art (DMA). My mother brought me on a trip there for a special mom-daughter day. When I saw Monet’s 1908 Water Lilies I was captivated by it more than any toy. The way it was displayed as a circle with all sorts of colors, was so unlike the boring rectangles of the other paintings throughout the museum. When I turned sixteen, my parents divorced. The only good thing to come from their splitting up was that I got a car. Freedom. To escape from everything, I would get dressed up and visit my Monet. I would stand in front of it and feel like a little girl again, letting the world melt away from me and feel a little bit of calm before returning to the storm of teenage hood.

I ran away to Philadelphia for my freshman year of college to be surrounded by culture and interesting people, things I was adamant that Dallas lacked. On my first night, I met Marc who also ran away from the south. We talked for hours the night we met, and he shared how he also would go to the main art museum in Atlanta alone as a 16-18 year-old. He suggested we explore the Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMA) together, since we seemed to be the only two teens that enjoyed spending a day surrounded by art. We eventually visited the PMA together, and although we had very different tastes, he let me lead the way. When we stumbled into the room of Monets, my breath caught as I stared at Railway Bridge at Argenteuil from 1873. I stood transfixed, taking in every detail. I commented how I liked the cloudlike things which he pointed out would be the steam from the train. I wasn’t embarrassed by my mistake but stayed adamant that they were cloud-steam hybrids. We stood there for what felt like eternity, I was staring at the painting, slowly developing my relationship with art, and my

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Details from notebook, watercolor on paper, Allison Gaughan, 2022 opposite: Figure 1: DMA Monet Figure 2: PMA Monet

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This page: Figure 3: PMA Renoir Figure 4: VMFA History Figure 5: DMA Abduction

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camaraderie with the artists who made this work, lending solace to my journey through their own experiences.

I left Philadelphia at the end of my freshman year and wound up at Texas Tech, studying art education. For my 21st birthday, my father gifted me with a trip back to Philadelphia, to see the only US stop of the Discovering the Impressionists: Paul Durand-Ruel and the New Painting exhibit. Stepping into that space took my breath away and made me sink down on a bench to take in the people and space around me. The art I had long adored hung side by side with companion pieces they had not been shown with since the initial creation and exhibitions in the 1800’s. Pieces I only ever had wild dreams of seeing individually, never thinking I would see them all together at once. I observed all the people in the galleries, taking in their expressions and reactions, noticing they all looked the same; older and white. The only people of color in the gallery seemed to be the guards that reminded me many times to stay behind the line that day. On my walk back to my friends’ house from the PMA I cried a little knowing how few people would have transcendental experiences such as that in an art museum, and how few people felt welcome in art museums. I knew then that I needed to end up in an art museum to make my places of sanctuary a welcome place for all.

The summer of 2016, I was interning at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (VMFA) in the youth and family programs department, a first step in getting my foot in the door of a museum. The first time I entered that museum was my first day of work. I was stunned by the piece Art History is Not Linear by Ryan McGuiness that subtly hung high on the left wall when you enter the main entrance. I stood in the middle of the walkway, staring up at it causing my neck to cramp. I took a picture and sent it to Marc, knowing the minute I saw it, he needed to, too. I had never been a fan of contemporary art until that piece, which combined 200 simplified icons from the work in the VMFA’s collection. I spent all summer

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Details from notebook, watercolor on paper, Allison Gaughan, 2022 Figure 6: Brooklyn Dinner Figure 7: Whitney Portrait Figure 8 MoMA Rauschenberg Figure 9: d’Orsay Gaugin

trying to work that piece into lesson plans and activities, never quite finding the right way to teach it. The truth of the matter is that that piece is truly a teacher of art and art history more than any one person could ever do.As I was about to begin student teaching, I went out on a date with my on-again-off-again boyfriend. Although I said I wasn’t ready to share something so important to me with him we ended the date at the Dallas Museum of Art. I pressed a smile on my face and knew the best way to get through the experience was to fake happiness. As we left the Impressionists and entered the standard European gallery, I stood in front of The Abduction of Europa.

My date thought it was a pretty picture and didn’t understand why I had tears in my eyes. As he continued wandering through the gallery barely interacting with the art I tried to pull myself together in front of that painting. I hated how calm she looked and how she looked like an object. I disliked how I was in the company of a person carelessly wandering my sanctuary while I to me, it was my sanctuary from the rest of the world. This was my community—the community of artists past and present, healing old wounds, and nurturing new adventures.

While student teaching, I spent part of my spring break in Brooklyn. Together, with my friend, we went to PS1, MoMA and the Met all in one day. We absorbed art from the minute PS1 opened, until the minute we were told “late-night” was over at the Met. I stayed in Brooklyn and aimlessly wandered the city, and stumbled upon the Whitney. I had never truly thought about the Whitney until the moment I passed through those revolving doors. As I wandered the galleries, I came across Susan Hall’s New York Portrait. She looked peaceful, as though she was revitalizing her soul. She looked sad in a sense, but also powerful. For a fleeting moment, I wanted to be her. I left the painting and wandered out to the top balcony, shivering in the cold March wind. The city was peaceful from up there, and everything began to feel like it was mine--the city, the Whitney, the moment, my life.

I returned to Brooklyn a couple months later and stayed with my friend again while attending job fairs. Together we went to the Brooklyn Museum to see The Dinner Party by Judy Chicago. He held my hand as we made our way around the table, wrapping his arm around my waist as I burst with the excitement of seeing the place settings that I had so

intensely studied and critiqued in various courses for the past two years. He gave me space to cry when we reached Artemisia Gentileschi’s place setting but waited patiently for me to catch up to him when I was ready at the end of the table.

I spent every dime I had to move to Manhattan.

I got a NYC ID my first week to have a free membership at almost all the art museums in the city. I took advantage of this program because I was essentially penniless and could not afford regular admission tickets, let alone memberships. It was worth it. Art was my home, wherever it may be, and this is where I found a sense of community—among the lived experiences dazzling on the walls. I took myself to the MoMA the day I got my ID, mainly to see the Rauschenberg retrospective, but also to have access to air conditioning in the NYC August heat (another luxury I couldn’t afford to put in my Washington Heights bedroom). As I wandered the galleries, savoring the cold air, I was drawn to a painting I had scoffed at in my textbooks, White Painting (Three Panels). I was transfixed and ashamed I had ever thought it to be a joke of a painting. I would say I loved Rauschenberg as an artist, but that White Painting is a shame on his portfolio. I chuckled to myself about how much I had abhorred modern art not even a full five years prior and then began to cry. I let the stillness of the work, seeing the reflection of my shadow intermixed with the shadows of those walking past the “blank canvas” wash over me and felt something new. It felt like fear and sadness and excitement all at once.

I smiled as tears silently streamed down my face. There were hints of pride and loneliness mixed together. As I let the other visitors wander around me, laughing and ignoring the work, I felt the entire spectrum of human emotion. I finally tore myself away from the piece when a museum employee asked if I was alright since I hadn’t seemed to truly move in almost 45 minutes. I went back a few times a week to let the piece’s peace wash over me (and to enjoy the air conditioning).

Nearing my two-year NYC residency anniversary and 25th birthday, I took myself on a solo trip throughout the entire country of France. I had planned out visits to 19 museums in 5 cities in 9 days, the first and only multi visit being Musée d’Orsay. I was determined to see my favorite work from undergrad, one that most of the people in my life thought was interesting and far from beautiful, Cézanne’s

Pastoral. I had studied the map of the museum and memorized the gallery number it resided in for weeks before my trip. On my first night in Paris, I couldn’t sleep. The excitement of seeing Pastoral kept me up all night. I studied google maps to find a cafe midway between my air bnb and the museum with reviews of being kind to Americans, I tried on various outfits hating everything I brought like a girl going on her first date ever. I eventually fell asleep and woke up a few hours later with all my clothes surrounding me on the bed. I hastily got my purse together and got ready.

As I neared the cafe I had picked out for my breakfast, I realized I was running too early, and that the museum would not yet be open. I tried to leisurely eat my breakfast and wound up at the museum steps about an hour before it opened. I sat outside and doodled in my sketchbook. When the time came, I was the first one into the museum and found Pastoral with ease. I stood as close as possible with my hands behind my back, after 10 minutes of close investigation the tears took over.

I sank to the floor crying at the beauty of this mysterious piece, realizing I had never thought about what seeing my favorite piece for years in person would feel like.

Once I arrived back from France, I was asked to consider moving back home to Plano to work. I was in a vulnerable place trying to plan another trip to Pastoral and with the realization that it would not be feasible for me to go back in the next ten years. I moved back home a few months later, leaving New York City behind. I had left teaching students in grades 6-11 for students K-5, still trying to figure out how to work in a museum. Around winter break, a kindergartener, named Lucy, and her mom stopped me in the hallway after school. They had stopped me to share that the weekend prior Lucy got to visit the DMA for the first time. Mom prompted Lucy to share her favorite work from the museum, and she bashfully looked up at me and said the circle painting of flowers. Her mom clarified it was the Monet Water Lilies that was a circular canvas in a square frame. I laughed as I blinked back tears and told them I knew it well. As I drove home that night, I reflected on the journey I had had with art museums over the last 2 decades of my life and hoped Lucy would one day have her own journeys of self-discovery and growth and find her own community among the artists who found their home in museums.

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food builds community One of my favorite activities was going to the local panadería and looking at all the brightly colored pastries, cookies, and bread filling the shelves to the brim. Pan dulce is as synonymous with Texas as BBQ and pecan pie. Almost every town from Amarillo to Laredo, El Paso to Beaumont has access to a local or semi-local pandería. We are lucky. Texas has a rich heritage of food and culinary practices from many different places. Still, to this day, on any trip along I-35, I have to make it a point to stop for kolaches, fried pies, and marranitos— many times, you can find these all in one place. As an educator, I was lucky enough to work in an area with many students from diverse backgrounds. Every year, as a significant project, we would work to create a communal cookbook. Although my original idea was to include family recipes, the students, over the years, added to the project. One year, students thought it would be a great idea to include recipes from their friends who weren’t in the class. Another year, students decided to go out into their neighborhood and collect recipes from friends, family, and neighbors nearby. Finally, the students added stories, memories, and anecdotes related to each recipe they collected. The result was a community cookbook that included a collection of community histories and cultural memories that might otherwise be forgotten.

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1 Figure 1. Holiday themed cardmaking.

Author Image Figure 2. Collaborative cardmaking exchange.

Author Image.

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Art education is continuing to evolve to prepare students to meet the needs of a rapidly changing society. However, art teachers know that art serves more than just students and that their art programs can support relationships to empower community members surrounding the schools in which they teach.

Traditional education throughout the United States is characterized by accountability and standardized outcomes which often bear little relevance to the cultures of communities surrounding schools (Schlemmer, 2017).

Opportunities for authentic community collaboration are missed when classrooms are isolated from the outside world. Schools must strive to become more responsive to the cultural institutions surrounding them that share the same breath and life with them (Fishman, 1991). Art teachers have unique opportunities to bridge the gaps between their schools and communities by harnessing the art room as a space to engage community members in sustainable collaboration through artmaking. This article explores how the art room can be utilized as a creative space to foster collaborative artmaking while simultaneously strengthening community bonds.

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Redefining Community How well students do in school is heavily influenced by what happens outside of the school environment (Hornby & Blackwell, 2018). Students are influenced by numerous individuals outside of the classroom daily including their immediate family members such as parents and siblings, extended family members such as aunts, uncles, and cousins, and non-family members such as family friends and neighbors. The powerful influence of these individuals not only impacts student achievement but also exists as a potential resource for collaboration through the arts. To build a community rich in collective respect for diverse values and beliefs, art teachers must consider who their students interact with outside of school and plan opportunities to link those individuals into the art room. Repositioning the community to encompass individuals within the local context who are influential to the well-being and success of students ensures that the arts belong to everyone and can be used as a vehicle to unite, inspire, and transform. Through this lens the community becomes part of a reciprocal relationship which alters the dynamics of learning and classroom spaces. Embracing these relationships yields a new terrain of ethically sound consciousness though art that encourages fresh ways of seeing the world, expressing, making, reflecting, and social dialog (Schlemmer, 2017).

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3 Figure 3. Applying watercolor to personalized designs.

Author Image.

Figure 4. Completed paintings were matted and displayed on campus.

Author Image.

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Disproportionate Voices Despite acknowledgement of the community as a powerful influence on students, many schools are not adequately addressing the obstacles faced within their local communities and struggle to engage those individuals in involvement that is responsive to their needs (Baker et al., 2016; Leo et al., 2019; Lusse et al., 2019). Schools with economically disadvantaged and minority populations frequently report difficulties in establishing relationships with community members (Leo et al., 2019; Lusse et al., 2019; Quimette et al., 2004). Furthermore, secondary schools provide fewer opportunities for involvement with community members based on the premise that older students seek more independence from adult influences as they mature (Quimette et al., 2004). Because of limited relationships, communities lack access to schools and ultimately miss out on opportunities to engage in meaningful experiences through art.

Connecting the community into the classroom is a complex problem that many schools, including my own campus are faced with. Unfortunately, schools perpetuate this problem by placing the blame on families in the local community, and as stressed by Leo et al. (2019) fail to address the power dynamics and cultural sensitivities that exist within the school.

It would be naïve to blame the community rather than exploring the fundamental causes of why individuals are not engaging with schools. Defining the problem more equitability by identifying the roots that potentially cause it and by viewing the problem from the multiple perspectives of the individuals involved is necessary to obtain a more comprehensive understanding (Hinnant-Crawford, 2020). Therefore, solving this problem requires a culturally responsive stance that incorporates the voices of community members and recognizes the difficulties they experience (Hornby & Blackwell, 2018; Fenton et al., 2017).

Viewing the problem through the perspectives of the individuals involved reveals several obstacles that hinder and prevent their relationships with schools.

First, practical barriers such as time, work schedules, and access to reliable transportation are challenges that can obstruct the relationship between individuals and schools. For example, traditional school hours are often inconvenient for individuals working full time jobs or multiple jobs who want to become involved (Hornby & Blackwell, 2018). Second, communication barriers can discourage involvement because individuals who are not fluent in English or have low literacy

levels may be impeded from initiating or responding to school-based communications. Since students often speak languages other than English outside of school, confining school-based communications to English may not accurately reflect the changing demographics of the surrounding community. Lastly, past life experiences, misconceptions, and distrust often prevent individuals from engaging with schools.

For instance, when individuals have negative past experiences associated with school or may be worried that teachers will criticize them, they are reluctant to associate with educational spaces (Hornby & Blackwell, 2018). Acknowledging these barriers and confronting cultural biases is a necessary step towards forming genuine relationships with community members to empower them to develop more active voices through art.

Shifting to Engagement Recent legislation such as the Every Student Succeeds Act of 2015 indicates the significance of local communities as part of the equation for the success of students and specifies the need to engage families and individuals who are economically disadvantaged in meaningful ways (Fenton et al., 2017). The concept of treating individuals from the community as partners in education (Quimette et al., 2004) indicates a shifting mindset that recognizes not only the impact of these individuals on students,

but also the importance of including them as active decision makers in educational spaces. To be aligned with this shift in mindset and recent legislation, a clear distinction must be made between involvement and engagement moving towards the latter. Involvement entails inviting individuals into a school for events such as open house night or end of year graduations that are directed by the school and happen infrequently, whereas engagement involves the sharing of decisions between individuals and schools to generate ongoing relationships through meaningful activities.

Engagement also empowers individuals to structure their own interactions within school spaces (Fenton et al., 2017). To progress from involvement to engagement, schools must transform how they communicate and interact with their surrounding communities and ensure that their communications and interactions are responsive to the needs of community members.

Moving from involvement towards community engagement within schools creates vast opportunities for art to function as a vehicle for building meaningful relationships thereby pushing art engagement into new capacities. To generate connections through art that lead to meaningful engagement, the perspectives of community members must be recognized, respected, and used as the basis for interactions.

For example, celebrating local customs and what matters most to communities can be used to inform interactions while simultaneously demonstrating

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respect thus repurposing art to become both contextual and situational (Schlemmer, 2017). Shifting towards community engagement also requires art room spaces to be adaptable and welcoming for community members to access. Art room spaces have the potential to nurture collaborative projects through shared resources in which individuals learn from each other while pursuing common goals (Blatt-Gross, 2017). Since collectively generated art is responsive to the stories and lives of individuals by drawing on interdisciplinary approaches to art (Schlemmer, 2017), the art room’s function becomes transformable into a communal artmaking space.

Transformative Spaces in Context My high school serves a diverse population of approximately 4,000 secondary students in grades nine through twelve, of whom 83% are classified as economically disadvantaged. Despite being a large campus located in a busy urban area, there have been few instances of authentic and interactive community engagement at my school in the past. I knew that extending my art room to engage with community members would be a great proactive step towards rectifying this imbalance. I decided to partner with my school’s Family Engagement Center Liaison, Ms. Solis, whose role is to help individuals residing in the school district obtain support and enrichment services such as learning English or earning a high school equivalency diploma. Together we agreed that promoting interactions through artmaking would be a novel approach to engaging individuals from the local community on campus in a non-threatening yet meaningful way. We decided to initiate this process by facilitating collaborative artmaking activities each semester.

Prior to facilitating the activities Ms. Solis surveyed individuals in the local community who had at least one child enrolled at the school to gather input on their availability and interests. Based on the survey results, she selected the dates and times that worked best for the respondents, while I used the feedback to plan collaborative artmaking activities based on their interests. Knowing that the activities would take place during the school day for approximately two hours each, I preplanned how to best arrange the furniture in my art room to create an atmosphere conducive to collaborative artmaking that could also accommodate my students who would be working on their own art at the same time. I gathered and prepared the

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necessary materials beforehand based on the number of individuals who confirmed their intent to participate and ensured that I had extra supplies available.

The goal of the first collaborative artmaking activity, which occurred on a Friday afternoon near the end of the fall semester, was for members of the community to engage in creating handmade cards. Card making was selected based on feedback from individuals planning to attend and on the timing of the upcoming holidays. I initiated the activity by modeling how to create different holiday themed designs including Christmas trees, lights, and reindeer using tempera paint. Everyone worked alongside each other sharing materials to create designs based on their preferences using tempera paints and different colored papers.

Next, everyone added embellishments, such as gold stars on the treetops and lettering into the negative areas of space to give the cards distinctive accents.

This collaborative artmaking activity enabled everyone to create a variety of handmade holiday themed cards. After finishing with the materials, we spread the cards out across the tables in the art room to admire them and voted on the most creative designs. Some individuals even chose to exchange their cards with each other to expand upon their collection. Everyone left that afternoon with several handmade cards that they could give to their loved ones and friends during the holidays.

The goal of the second collaborative artmaking activity, which took place on a Thursday morning during the spring semester, was for individuals from the community to engage in exploring watercolor painting.

Watercolor was chosen as the primary material to appeal to individuals planning to attend who expressed interest in learning how to paint. I launched the activity by modeling how to draw a variety of designs using geometric and organic shapes. Then, everyone created designs using their choice of shapes and took turns sharing and discussing their designs before transferring them using tracing paper into a repeated pattern. Next, I modeled how to mix colors using watercolors and how to change values based on adjusting the amount of water mixed with the paint.

Everyone freely explored mixing colors to paint their designs, and although they had individual watercolor palettes, many proudly shared their color mixtures with each other due to the distinctive colors they created.

This second collaborative artmaking activity resulted in the creation of colorful watercolor paintings that were unique and eye-catching containing shapes

that formed repeated patterns. After completing the paintings, we attached mats to them, which I had precut in advance from black construction paper, before they were taken home from the art room. Some individuals offered to give their artwork to the school, and so Ms. Solis and I graciously displayed them in the school’s Family Engagement Center office. We also followed up with the individuals who attended to get feedback about their experience and to aid in planning for future activities.

Reflections and Conclusions Engaging community members in collaborative artmaking activities in the art room was a reciprocal experience in which everyone involved learned and benefited from the process. Individuals from the community left with personalized handmade artwork tailored to their interests, newly formed social bonds, and a desire to return to the art room space and campus knowing that their presence mattered. In addition to creating meaningful art based on their interests, individuals from the community were able to explore the art room, view students’ artwork, and ask questions about what students were currently working on. Community members were excited to see the types and styles of art created by students and even reminisced together about their own past experiences with art in school. Since none of the individuals who engaged in the activities were parents of my own art students, I was able to interact with a variety of people from the local community without those interactions being tied to discussions about students’ grades or behavior. By having a Spanish speaking colleague in the room that could translate, conversations flowed freely without language barriers inhibiting communication.

I was able to build genuine relationships and hear firsthand about the things that were important to individuals residing in the surrounding community.

Art room spaces have the capacity to empower individuals by extending community awareness and voice through collaborative artmaking. When artmaking is examined as a social action in the art room, art functions as a means for individuals to engage in shared activities that cut across disciplinary boundaries and resonate with their own experiences (Schlemmer, 2017). Collective artmaking helps to generate connections and commonalties (Blatt-Gross, 2017), while at the same time builds trust among individuals and promulgates purpose and identity (Fishman, 1991). Although establishing and sustaining

ongoing engagement with community members requires effort and purposeful planning according to their needs and interests, collaborative artmaking yields vast potential for cultivating authentic community engagement through meaningful interactions in art room spaces.

References Baker, T., Wise, J., Kelley, G., & Skiba, R. (2016). Identifying Barriers: Creating Solutions to Improve Family Engagement. School Community Journal, 26(2), 161184.

Blatt-Gross, C. (2017). Creating Community from the inside out: A concentric perspective on collective artmaking. Arts Education Policy Review, 118(1), 51-59.

Fenton, P., Ocasio-Stoutenburg, L., & Harry, B. (2017).

The Power of Parent Engagement: Sociocultural Considerations in the Quest for Equity, Theory Into Practice 56, 214-225.

Fishman, T. (1991, October). Building Partnerships in the Arts. Art as Necessity: The Cultural Community and Urban School. [Paper presentation]. Center for Arts in Education, Chicago, IL, United States.

Hinnant-Crawford, B. N. (2020). Improvement science in education: A primer. Myers Education Press.

Hornby, G., & Blackwell, I. (2018). Barriers to parental involvement in education: an update. Educational Review 70(1), 109-119.

Leo, A., Wilcox, K., & Lawson, H. A. (2019). Culturally Responsive and Asset-Based Strategies for Family Engagement in Odds-Beating Secondary Schools.

School Community Journal, 29(2), 255-280.

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where bluebonnets bloom When I first came to Texas, many friends talked about bluebonnet season. I had never seen a bluebonnet and was skeptical of the actual hue. I thought this sentiment was more in line with an “everything’s bigger in Texas” folksy hyperbole. Or, perhaps it was because I was used to the more desert flora of the West. I was awestruck during my first trip into the Texas Hill Country one spring.

The sides of the road were indeed blanketed with fields of blue. And not just blue, but swaths of reds and yellows too. It was like walking into a color wheel made of flowers. I wanted to capture the moment and keep a piece of the memory in a tangible form. However, I was never keen on picking flowers as a healthy respect for nature. So I took some quick pictures and committed them to memory. When I taught students in a predominately urban area, my goal was to help them see the unexpected in the world around them as I had during my serendipitous Spring trip long ago. I asked them to walk around their neighborhoods and capture any flora they encountered—a difficult task amongst the islands of concrete. Still, the students managed to surprise me. They took photos of dandelions piercing the cracks of the pavement and of cut flowers from local stores.

They even photographed fake flowers adorning make-shift tire planters around their neighborhoods. We would then print the pictures, in black and white, in various sizes, and then re-colored them with multiple media. Afterward, we’d collaged together a collaborative piece, making our own version of the Hill Country.

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Character is choosing good for bad, beauty over what’s ugly—the connection to Art Education is clear. Art Teachers train students to find beauty and meaning in the world, create images that express those visions, and then present them to connect with others. Connection is a step toward community. Unfortunately, many expressions aren’t healthy or creative and never land. They miss the mark because they lack character. It’s also questionable that artists could even make those kinds of connections count anyway. Community is about mutuality, but art can’t share. It can give, but it can’t receive. In this short essay, I suggest that art should not be an end in itself; instead, art is for a community, and the implications for Art Education are essential, even urgent. I argue that teachers must discourage students from indulging in emotions and instead encourage expressions that facilitate personal relationships.

Art Education began with Plato, the ancient Greek philosopher. He emphasized virtue over vice and pleasure over pain in preparing young people for adult citizenship. Beauty was good, and ugly was bad, and students should learn the difference early on. “If our youth are to do their work in life,” he wrote, they must “make these graces and harmonies their perpetual aim” (Plato, 1999). The pattern for a person’s character was found in nature’s balance and proportion, specifically in music’s rhythm and harmony: “There can be no nobler training than . . . musical training,” where “rhythm and harmony find their way in the inward places of the soul . . . making the soul of him who is rightly educated graceful” (Plato, 1999). For Plato, character training was practicing the arts, not just music, but also “the art of the painter and every other creative and constructive art . . . weaving, embroidery, architecture, and every kind of manufacture” (Plato, 2009). He was convinced that art could make virtue a habit and good choices would follow.

Art Educator Herbert Read, more recently, added a modern perspective to Plato’s philosophy. Humans are organic beings, and “aesthetic laws are inherent in the biological processes of life itself . . . They are the laws which guide life along,” he wrote, “and it is our business as educationalists to discover these laws in nature or experience and make them the principles of our teaching” (Read, 1966). Read believed change came as a result of the students’ expressing themselves: We know that a child absorbed in drawing or in any other creative activity is a happy child, and we know just as a matter of everyday experience that self-expression is self-improvement. For that reason, we must claim a large portion of the child’s time for artistic activities simply because these activities are, as they were, a safety valve, a path to equableness (Read, 1966).

Community is not a place; it’s a people.

It’s “persons” sharing. Artists can make communities more positive because art forms character.

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Art was the release that restored balance or equilibrium to the student. Their artwork expressed “an instinctive knowledge of the laws of the universe, and a habit or behavior in harmony with nature” (Read, 1964).

But are expressions naturally character-forming? Are they even cathartic? Read may be too romantic; in reality, many expressions are unhealthy.

Sociologist Robert Witkin suggests that expressions must resolve, complete, or “cancel out” the impression if they are to be effective. Many of our expressions, unfortunately, are merely reactions, simple reflexes that don’t reciprocate. “By reciprocity,” Witkin explains, “is meant here a relationship in which the response is the counterpart or reciprocal . . . [in the way that] my scratch is said to be the counterpart of my itch.

It is reciprocal and will be effective in the sense of canceling it out” (Witkin, 1974). Flinging paint on a canvas or pounding clay with fists may use up the energy involved in the impression, but they ultimately

lacks mutuality. Artistic expressions are too individual.

Furthermore, the artist is indifferent to whoever receives the message; any audience will do. They give themselves “not to anyone in particular, but the world at large,” Macmurray writes, “That is not a fuller but a narrower experience; because personally, to give yourself to everyone, is to give yourself to no one” (Macmurray, 1995). Artworks may connect with audiences; they can give but can’t receive. They’re too individual and indifferent; without mutuality, there can be no real community.

Art must give way to relationships. If art is contemplative, then “community” is relational.

“Communion is the key word,” Macmurray suggests, “in the same sense that contemplation is the key word of art . . . One must stand aside to contemplate; one must not be personally involved. But a personal involvement is the core of [community]” (Macmurray, 1986).

Character is formed in young people only when they go

fail to satisfy. They disregard beauty and meaning and instead amount to Read’s instinctual obedience to aesthetic laws; they’re “im-person-al.” Only uniquely human expressions can form the character that builds community.

Human expressions relieve what itches because they’re “person-al.” They deal honestly with human emotions, and yet, even when in the depths, they don’t despair—they remain hopeful. Honesty and hope are healthy. Adolescence is complex, and it’s often easier for young people to indulge their feelings rather than try to understand them. But it’s only in understanding emotions that they can be authenticated and expressed satisfactorily.

Additionally, human expressions have the capacity for creativity. Creativity is not being unique or original, as we sometimes suppose—it’s not really about the creator but about things coming together. Healthy, creative expressions aren’t turned in on themselves.

Instead, they reach out to the world; they make connections.

Even healthy, creative expressions that make connections—while positive—are limited, however.

Art is powerfully expressive, but it’s not the fullest expression of our humanity. Philosopher John Macmurray explains, “The artistic attitude is that of the looker-on, admiring . . . but not participating in the life that it contemplates . . . the artist cannot co-operate in his activity. He is solitary in it” (Macmurray, 1995). Art

beyond art and get involved in the lives of others.

Art is for community—the fuller experience, the fullest expression of our humanity. Teachers form character in students by encouraging healthy, creative expressions that connect with others, who then use those connections to build personal relationships.

Young people, who will impact society in some way, have the opportunity to make it positive. Art can help; Art Educators play an essential part.

References: Macmurray, J. (1995 [1935]). Reason and Emotion.

Atlantic Heights, NJ: Humanities Press. ______(1986 [1961]). Religion, Art, and Science. Toronto: Mission Press.

Plato. (2006). Laws, Benjamin Jowett (trans). New York: Dover. ______(1999) The Republic, Benjamin Jowett (trans). New York: Barnes & Noble.

Read, H. (1964 [1943]). Education Through Art. London: Faber and Faber. ______(1966) The Redemption of the Robot: My Encounter with Education Through Art. New York: Trident Press.

Witkin, R (1974). Intelligence of Feeling. London: Heinneman.

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Student Artists and Permanent Art Installations on Campuses Permanent art installations can be designed for indoor or outdoor spaces and are commonly associated with parks, museums, office buildings, airports, and university campuses. These long-lasting displays by professional artists typically take the form of paintings, murals, and sculptures adding artistic beauty and interest and can evoke emotions and promote conversations.

Art teachers at all levels recognize the importance of displaying student art in the classroom and school hallways and occasionally in designated areas at central office; but these bulletin board or repurposed trophy case displays are nearly always for short periods of time ranging from a week to a month.

Campuses are not the typical venue for permanent art installations, and student artists are not the artists routinely selected for such displays. Yet, there are campuses where art teachers have collaborated with their principals to enhance the school community by highlighting the work of their student artists by featuring their artwork in permanent displays in designated areas on their campuses.

Why Display Student Art The Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) call for student self-assessment and exhibition of original artwork, but art teachers recognize that student art is created to be shared with others. This typically takes the form of art displays in the classroom and nearby hallway bulletin boards. Some teachers venture into other parts of the campus and display student art near the main entrance or along other school hallways. Larger school districts often have designated art display space in

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central office or near the board meeting room, as well. Kuhnert (2014) notes that through displaying student art teachers affirm their students’ ideas and interests and document students’ learning journeys. Christenson (2021) states that by displaying student artwork teachers empower students as artists and cultivate a community of artists. Whether displayed for a week or a month, there is power is displaying the creative art of students.

Permanent Art Installations It is common practice for art teachers to display students’ art for short periods of time, it is much less common for student art to be included in permanent campus installations.

Such permanent art displays were noted in five schools within the Lubbock Independent School District. Two such displays at Hardwick Elementary School include: a painted Caldecott Award book characters mural in the library (1994) and a clay relief sculpture with literary, science and social studies related themes in a hallway (1994). Roscoe Wilson Elementary School features three permanent displays: fired painted tiles border the hallways (1996-98), fired clay ceramic relief mosaics above main doorways (2002-04) and framed student artwork is displayed throughout the school hallways (19942021). Hutchinson Middle School displays department related murals mounted above and beside doorways in the hallways (2008-2019), framed student artwork in the entry hallway (2006-2010), and a painted Buddy Holly mural in a stairway (2005). Additionally, Bayless Elementary School has a fired tiles hallway display (1993). Estacado High School highlights a tile mural outside the administrative offices (1974-75) and painted murals line the arts hallway (2001-2022). These highly visible installations led to questions about the benefits of these unusual displays to the original student artists.

Research Steps The faculty advisor is a former Texas public school teacher and administrator currently teaching elementary and

secondary education classes at Lubbock Christian University.

The student researcher is an early childhood/elementary education major with interest in teaching math. Neither the faculty mentor or student researcher teaches art or plans to teach art, but both were intrigued with the possible impact of the permanent art displays they viewed at each of these campuses.

The researchers reviewed available literature addressing the display of student artwork. While the literature supported displaying student artwork, the literature did not address the effects of permanent art installations on students or school cultures.

The faculty advisor and student researcher visited three Lubbock ISD campuses (Hardwick Elementary School, Roscoe Wilson Elementary School, and Hutchinson Middle School) where permanent student art installations have been in place for over twenty years.

For this pilot study, the student researcher developed an open-ended five-question survey. This was designed for administration to the former student artists who are now adults and have agreed to participant in the study. A different set of questions was created for use with the art teachers who were instrumental in the original student art installations.

The faculty advisor assisted the student researcher with the Institutional Review Board (IRB) process required at Lubbock Christian University.

The faculty advisor assisted with locating former students who attended the three campuses and had their artwork permanently displayed in those locations. This art included individual framed art, mounted art tiles, and wall murals. Two of the art teachers who started the permanent displays were contacted and agreed to participate in the study. The openended responses from the former students and the teachers were reviewed and analyzed by the student researcher.

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Pilot Study Results This study was conducted to determine the potential impact the permanent display of student art had on pupils during their time in school and beyond. The student survey asked questions concerning the feelings the students experienced after seeing their artwork on the wall and how it impacted them both academically and artistically.

All of the students indicated that seeing their art in the hallways led to an increase in confidence. The students also brought up feeling proud of themselves for their artistic accomplishments. Feelings of being appreciated and valued by their teachers and peers were also mentioned.

When students observed the art of their peers permanently displayed, they reported being motivated to work more diligently on their original artistic creations in hopes of seeing their own artwork on the walls of their school.

Former students participating in the survey indicated a sense of ownership and feeling of belonging to the school as a result of the selection and permanent display of their art. All of the participants in the study were pleasantly surprised to hear their art was still on display in the hallways of their alma maters.

Many were brought back to that specific period in time, with the return of positive memories.

Along with the students, the researcher also surveyed two art teachers who were instrumental in the creation of the permanent student art installations on their respective campuses. The teachers indicated that their motivation for the permanent displays was initially a desire to highlight what was happening in their visual arts classrooms. Family members, administrators, stakeholders, and other visitors would be able to see and enjoy these displays when they walked through the school hallways.

The two art teachers had front-row seats to the initial reactions and responses of the students. Both teachers indicated that the student artists were proud and excited when they saw their artwork permanently displayed in the halls. The art teachers articulated that displaying student art is important because it validates students’ efforts and makes them feel important. For children to reach their maximum potential, they must have positive self-esteem. Self-esteem derives from confidence, achievement, and recognition. All three of these traits can be addressed by displaying student art, in this case, as permanent art installations.

Recommendations for Further Study The sample size for this initial pilot study was intentionally small, two teachers and eight students. It would be interesting to replicate the study with a larger student sample size to further identify the feelings associated with the experience and the academic benefits related to having art selected for permanent campus installations.

Additional insights might be provided through a survey of non-fine arts faculty members about their impressions and perspectives concerning how the permanent art displays translate into self-confidence for the student artists in other academic subjects.

The parents of the former students might contribute an interesting perspective if included in a follow-up study.

Another option for additional study is to survey the principals at these campuses to gain insights into how the permanent art displays contribute to creating and promoting campus culture.

Conclusions Planning a permanent art installation requires collaboration with the principal and other district leaders. Questions about purpose, proposed design, location, financial costs, adult roles in the project, and sometimes maintenance must be addressed.

Principal Heidi Dye (personal communication, March 12, 2022), noted that the permanent art displays “make a statement about what is valued in the school and gives visitors insight into the caliber of education that students receive from everyone involved in programming.”

Former principal Paula January (personal communication, March 21, 2022) stated, “Beyond just the overall appearance and beauty…engagement in and exposure to arts can improve school climate, empower students with a deeper sense of purpose and ownership, and enhance mutual respect for their teachers and peers.” She also noted that the permanent displays “transcend cultural, social, ethnic, and economic boundaries to create a culture of community, connectedness, and unique humanness of children as they are processing their world as revealed through their art.”

As observed in the Lubbock ISD examples, permanent student art installations can enhance the school community by adding to the aesthetic value of a campus. The art can highlight student art and serve as an indication that the visual arts are appreciated and valued in this environment. As the pilot study indicated, student self-esteem and self-confidence are direct benefits associated with such projects. These may indeed be projects worthy of consideration by art teachers and serve as another vehicle for enhancing the arts within a school and a district.

References Christenson, M. (2017). The Power of displaying every student art piece. Retrieved from https://theartofeducation.edu/2017/02/21/power-displayingevery-student-art-piece/ Kuhnert, M. (2014). Displaying children’s artwork. (Unpublished master’s paper). University of Wisconsin River Falls, River Falls, Wisconsin.

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3 Figure 1: Framed student art and short-term art display, main hallway, Hutchinson Middle School.

Figure 2: Mounted art tiles and framed art, hallway, Roscoe Wilson Elementary Figure 3: Departmental mural above the library entrance, Hutchinson Middle School

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Anyone currently working in public education at this time can speak to the inundating challenges that continue to mount like a swelling ocean relentlessly gathering in size and frequency poised to capsize even the most formidable educator. Truth be told, our mourning for what was lost and the state of our now not-so-new reality is something we must all wrestle with. The scars of the past have yet to heal, and still we are asked to carry on, buoyed by perhaps nothing more than our love of learning, passion for people, or the hope that a calmer seas may lay ahead.

Although the tunneled light has yet to shine through, the one truth I personally have witnessed, is that the educators who by choice, desperation, or default have somehow found a way to tether themselves to joy, appear to be the healthiest. In truth, it seems everyone’s joy is rooted in something different, but the fact that they have found it is key. For this I ask you dear educator, to find your joy. The joy of wonder in something new. The joy of hope for a better, brighter, more compassionate tomorrow. The joy of enthusiasm for something newly uncovered that could illuminate a way forward. The joy of connection to another, to others like and unlike us. The joy of laughter for something unexpected or ridiculous that previously seemed impossible. The joy of completion when a task is done and knowledge that you were the right person at the right right time to complete it. The joy of diverse thought, experience, and expectation. The joy of knowing that you may be that safe harbor for someone lost. The joy of recognizing that the tears that fall validate and vindicate your purpose.

If ever there was a time to choose joy, it is now. It is my hope that every school, district, and educator make the installation, spread, and promotion of joy a top priority. As we know the arts typically are the greatest conduit to joy. Expression, creativity, voice, critique, and envisioning are all rooted in the arts and so often linked to joy. Educators I ask you to lean into the arts and trust the healing joy inducing power they hold. Arts teachers wave your wand of voice, brightness, composition, texture, and motion. Elucidate willingly to those who will listen, see, and feel. We may believe our boats are too small or limiting, or too old, too convoluted, or without vision. It may seem that the world of education is too rigid, divided, and broken that the problems and solutions are never on the same plane. No doubt we have work to do, but let us be rooted, committed, and fortified by joy.

As the school year continues to unspool, revealing the very last bit of rope that holds and tethers your anchor, please find joy in knowing that many seeds you have planted will someday grow into amazingly resilient flowers that will in turn fill our world with beauty, color, and joy.

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Theme: Culturally Responsive Teaching Art educators, whether in public schools, community programs, museums, galleries, or other spaces where art happens, require awareness of the divergent and diasporic cultural experiences of the individuals we seek to educate. Limiting educational experiences can sometimes promote a homogenized understanding of artistic practices prioritizing one way of doing and knowing art over others. When individuals are provided curricular experiences that expand how they engage with meaning-making through art, they are allowed to change their understanding of who they are and how they are linked to others. Approaches to art education that disrupts sameness can help students see differences not as obstacles to be overcome but as opportunities to see the world differently.

Addressing “otherness” can be a benefit to art pedagogies by shifting fear of the unknown to understanding the pluralities of cultural identities that people engage with every day.

Art education has the unique perspective to highlight and investigate the complex relationships between artistic and educational opportunities that advantage some and disadvantage others.

Artistic vision provides powerful conceptual and analytical tools for engaging with divergent perspectives within a pluralistic society. Expanding beyond an emphasis on race and gender to other intersections of difference highlight the vast and diverse artistic expressions in Texas. Art is a space through which we can focus on the multiplicity of expressions of self and others and address the world’s inequities through a lens that not only engages with the consequences of ignoring justice but also provides the possibility to imagine solutions. Art is a creative force to enact change. The editors for Trends invite submissions that focus on diasporas, divergence, difference, intersectionalities, and representation.

We encourage submissions that address how we, as art educators: • Work against reinforcing stereotypes • Move away from the homogenization of curricula • Provide opportunities to engage with cultural heritages • Encourage exploration of uniqueness Some questions you might consider are: • How does my artistic/pedagogical practice impact all learners?

• What policies, resources, and other supports are needed to create equitability across different populations?

• What might art pedagogies, research, and practice create an adverse impact on any identifiable population?

• How might adverse impacts from being culturally illiterate be avoided?

• What precautions should art educators take to move forward?

• How might personal or community politics affect how we engage with art education?

• How do we monitor our work to ensure comparable high outcomes for all students?

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