Presentation Analysis

Jessica and I focused on environmental awareness in our motivational presentation. It was extremely important for us to provide a strong, purposeful introduction to our students so they would have a clear understanding on why we were introducing these two artists; Janet Nolan and John Dahlsen. We were teaching our students the importance of this theme and we considered the artists as our ‘supporting actors’ to help emphasize this importance. Although teaching a lesson with another person is not common inside a classroom setting, we wanted this unique experience to feel as organic as possible. For this to happen, we thought it would be best if we knew exactly what we each wanted the class to get from the information we were providing and use this to bounce off each other to create a comfortable dialogue.      

Looking through our assessment sheets most of the students found our introduction to be useful and engaging, however others felt it was too lengthy and was not specific enough to our theme. Putting this feedback into consideration, we feel it is important for a teacher to find a middle ground in order to teach a successful lesson to their students. Guiding the students into a discussion which explains the rationale of the lesson will give them a better understanding on what to expect from the artists and the work they are about to be shown. It was also said that our first slide, Canopy Flight (1978), was a difficult slide to begin with. We could not provide a larger image of this composition because of its poor image quality. Knowing this, we now realize how important it would’ve been to either begin with the Canopy Flight (1983) composition or find another resource to sight this earlier work. However, with these minor hiccups in our presentation, we feel like we were quick to improvise and restate questions if it was not easily understood the first time.  We also had some issues with voice projection and time management. Although we got cut off at the end of our presentation, we both feel as if we led our discussion to where it was supposed to go even without the last slide. Our discussions provided enough insight and also engaged our students to the point where they were asking to see more. This showed us that even though we were not able to finish fully, we were able to connect our students with our theme and the artists we introduced.

A Free Art Curriculum

After reading the article Principles of Possibility: Considerations for a 21st- Century Art & Culture Curriculum by Olivia Gude, I have learned the most important foundation to a successful art curriculum is to not be limited within a particular structure or framework of teaching. Students need to explore and experiment freely with various art materials and techniques in order to learn and understand the art world. Students hold the voice of what is being taught inside the classroom, the changes to better their community, as well as their future. It is up to us, the art educators, to encourage our students to use their voice and express themselves freely, in ways they never knew they could which in turn, could potentially impact and make a difference in the world. By creating a free curriculum for our students, they can soon discover more about themselves, the person they want to be, and the people who they come into contact with. It provides a meaning of self-worth and appreciation for all of those who are culturally, ethnically, racially, spiritually, and so on, different from themselves. A free art curriculum will truly provide opportunities and an understanding that art is the universal visual language we all share.  

Surrealist Games

Surrealist Games allow students to use their creative subconscious in various ways they might not have known about. Rorschach Plots, for example, is a creative way to help students expand on what they see in an image, or in this case, an ink blot. Here are some Rorschach Plot examples.

 Ink Blot 1

 Ink Blot 2

Ink Blot 3

Students can also explore their creative subconscious by using language. Creating Dadaist Poems can be a good way to start a project without having the students write about something specific. I included a how-to video although there can be numerous accomodations to this project.