The Mythology of Art Education

When I was a little kid I always hated that feeling of not knowing what was going on because I had missed a day of class. Usually I'd have a moment of confusion and would wrack my brain to try to figure out what was being talked about, until I would realize "oh I was absent that day."

Interestingly enough, these feeling didn't go away even after I became a full-fledged "adult." In college and grad school and then into my first few teaching gigs, I would often see other artists and educators getting grants and having impressive shows and I would say to myself, "where did they learn how to do that? Was I absent the day they taught this?"

Now as an educator myself, I have come to realize that the fault lies more with a disconnection between the expectations of education and the way art pedagogy is handled.

So what are the myths of Art education?

1. Art critics will "discover" you and your artwork will become famous
   
2. Getting into art galleries is easy and means that you have "made it"

Sadly, these ideals are quite removed from what students actually experience in their classes, and these concepts of exhibition and exposure remain as abstract concepts rather than experience and practice. Instead, students are left with a success strategy much like that of the Southpark underpants gnomes.

Art education focuses on the process with the promise of future success, but very little, if any instruction focuses on the practice of how to reach success. Art students, like the underpants gnomes, are left without a phase 2.

So what is Phase 2? For me it has been the integration of as much "real life" experience as I can fit into my classes. My department offers a capstone course called Professional Skills which I get to teach this term. This course focuses on our graduating seniors by asking them to develop an artist statement, a cv and put together an exhibition of their work. I have also integrated portfolio development into the course and I am requiring that every student create a website and develop a web presence. Today every artist needs a website, not just digital media designers.  Additionally in another course I teach, Creativity and the Internet (see my post from March 17th), the focus is on examining and participating in the developing "user driven" Internet environment.  While some skill and technique are covered, the focus of the class is on aesthetic development, creative expression and community interaction.

The goal here is twofold. Art educators should focus more on "phase 2" in their classes. But we should also reconsider the original mythology of art education. Part of social media is a restructuring of success. I don't have to get into the Gagosian to be considered a "good" artist. I'll never be "discovered." While art education has to shift, so does our perception of success in the arts.