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Arts News from COCA: Students reflect on the intersection of art and peace
Students reflect on the intersection of art and peace
Council on Culture & Arts
Established in 1981 by unanimous United Nations resolution, the International Day of Peace is observed around the world each year on September 21st. Shannon Takacs’ art students at Lincoln High School commemorated the occasion as part of a larger unit introduced by her art intern, Ryan Robinson.
Robinson is seeking a master’s degree in Art Education from FSU and, because of her own exploration of book making and journaling, she was inspired to develop a unit for high school students that featured both. She said, “we spent two and a half weeks making the books. We cut out the cardboard, made the cover, and sewed them all together. It’s been a long process.”
Takacs added, “together we figured it out, what the requirements would be and how we’re going to grade it.” As Robinson’s supervising teacher, Takacs’s goal is to guide her through the real world scenarios of the art room. Part of that includes developing meaningful curriculum and assessment methods.
Every Friday, Robinson provides students with a prompt for journaling in their handmade books. To highlight the International Day of Peace, Robinson asked students to contemplate what peace means to them. She shared information and resources like the online Global Conflict Tracker map which is constantly updated to illustrate the impact of civil war, sectarian violence, and political instability. Robinson also asked students to think about conflict in their own country and community and how they could represent peace through art.
Students had access to a wide variety of art media and they were challenged to select at least three different types for inclusion in their work. Tenth-grader Haleigh Maynard composed a tranquil outdoor scene. “I decided to use my own markers and I figured watercolor would be great for the sky because I like mixing the colors and making it vibrant.”
Eleventh-grader Erica Driver, made similar media choices. “This is my third time using watercolor, I’m still learning. I thought I could do a rainbow, because rainbows remind me of peace and of equality.” Reflecting on the intersection of art and peace, Erica added “art is a universal language. You can look at a painting made by someone thousands of years ago and still know what they meant. You can still feel the message they were trying to convey which I think is really important if we’re trying to attain world peace.”
With similar sentiments, tenth-grader Victoria Emata shared “in my perspective, peace is something that is hard to achieve in this world because we have a lack of understanding with each other. Although we can’t always communicate our feelings properly with words, the feelings of an artist can be portrayed with colors, symbols, and lines. Every viewer has their own interpretation and, whatever the connotation may be, it’s something that can be understood by everyone.
Ninth-grader Zyon Conguista enjoyed the week’s journaling prompt. He believed that reflecting on peace “draws out positivity.” He said “I try to be supportive of everyone no matter what and keep open-minded about things. I feel like, in art, we’re able to express ourselves a bit more and say what we’re feeling to get our message across and spread that positivity that we obviously need.”
Takacs is pleased with the way the unit is progressing and she recognizes that the students are too. “They can enjoy it in the moment, explore their creativity, and reflect.” After twelve years of teaching art at Lincoln and supervising art interns since 2011, the practice of reflection is one that Takacs embraces. Speaking about her oversight of Robinson, Takacs said “paying attention to how she teaches, taking notes on that, following her movements in the class makes me go back to what is good teaching and am I doing all those things even when she’s not here?”
Just weeks into her internship, Robinson has experienced some revelations about the profession. “I’m learning a lot about the system. You’ve got 50 minutes teach them and also have them create art, review, and reflect. There’s not enough time. I guess I didn’t think it would be this much work.”
With a clearer understanding of the challenges, Robinson remains committed to her career choice and is grateful for Takacs’ guidance. “We work well together and it’s awesome to have someone like that as a role model. My art teachers, they were always there to talk to me and help me and I feel teaching is a way to give back. That’s why I chose art because it’s a fun place to be and it helps you become a better person.”
Amanda Karioth Thompson is the Education and
Exhibitions Director for the Council on Culture & Arts. COCA is the capital
area’s umbrella agency for arts and culture (www.tallahasseearts.org).