The Art of Teaching
Being a good artist is one thing, but teaching others how to be an artist is a whole other story!
I began teaching art about five years ago. At first it was a huge struggle in so many ways. From teaching the completely inexperienced, to the frustrated, to myself becoming frustrated so much so that I almost just threw in the towel. When I started teaching I taught youth exclusively, and that takes a special kind of person, let me tell you!
The beauty of teaching art to children
Kids are great because their notion of art is so pure, that anyone can do it and it's fun to do! I truly believe that everyone is born an artist and it is either lost because they do not tap into that part of their consciousness or they believe that it is some sort of cosmic gift, it's not! Truly if you practice you will get better. So grabbing some scrap paper and glue, so very minimal amounts of art supplies, have endless possibilities to a child! That was one major reason why I began teaching art to kids.
The ugly side of teaching art
Art isn't just all rainbows and butterflies all the time...
When you come up with your lesson plans you are so hopeful and excited! Hopeful that you have the supplies or even have enough supplies and excited to teach the kids something new in hopes of another artist in the making.
Then the time comes, you've invested so much of your time in your lesson plans to present to your class and alas, they aren't interested in the project!
Pencils and beads fly across the room (the very minimal amount of supplies you have) are wasted. You feel like a failure to yourself and the kids.
It's sad, and it poses a question to this new generation of artists : is art going in a different direction?
Crayons and paper aren't enough anymore. Kids are so immersed in the world of technology. How can I compete with the internet?
It all comes down to presentation.
Letting art teach it's own lesson
A good teacher captivates their audience. They try and make every student heard as much as possible. With art you have to try to appeal to every artists needs, so having some knowledge of different types of media helps immensely. You never know what kind of artist you can bring out in a student. Your ultimate goal is to not only teach skill but to teach artists the process.
The process is being able to fail and try again or knowing that you are amazing at one aspect of art and weak in the other. The goal of teaching art is to expand the minds of others, find hidden talents and let art teach it's own lesson.
Currently, I can teach art to anyone in my community in Cleveland through the city. I absolutely love that I can impact my immediate community. By providing this service to anyone and everyone that cares to learn art, whether it be the first time ever or something that they put on the back burner for years.
Art is not just a hobby to me or a ways to make ends meet, it is a passion and a way of life.
*If you are a city of Cleveland resident and are interested in taking FREE art classes please see my home page for current offerings and summer programs