Budding Artists (04-06-08)

This week I got spend some time with Mr. Jackson and our K-8 art program. First, I was able to apply my technical expertise and help Mr. Jackson post some of amazing art work to the school web site. Then, I had the privilege to spend most of Friday serving as his substitute teacher. Both experiences taught me much about this excellent school program.

If you go to http://www.usd281.com and look along the left hand side, you will see a new entry under Longfellow Middle School called “Art Gallery.” I set this up for Mr. Jackson when he told me that he had brought to school his home scanner and was enthusiastically scanning in completed art projects.

“These kids have done such amazing work,” he told me. “I just want a way for people to see what they have done.

When you click on the “Art Gallery” link you will first think that you are looking at a display of photographs. The artwork Mr. Jackson has thus scanned are pencil and pen drawings of animals where the students practiced their shading technique, especially in regards to recreating animal fur.

The results are stunning. The pictures just pop with bold color and intricate detail. You can only see that they are hand drawn when you click on the picture and see it displayed in a bigger format.

And this is just the beginning. I am meeting with him on Monday to show him how to continuously add new artwork. Eventually, our on-line art gallery will be a comprehensive record of artistic talent combined with good old fashion hard work.

I observed this hard work first hand as Mr. Jackson’s sub. The classes came in and immediately got out their supplies and projects. Two of the classes were working on perspective pieces (not like my perspective, but like 3-D perspective) and their efforts were evidence of many drafts and much attention to detail.

The eighth graders were glazing their clay whistles. Now, of all the projects I have seen come out of Mr. Jackson’s art studio, these clay devices intrigue me the most. Not only are they beautiful and exuberant, they are functional musical instruments, complete with finger holes to allow the whistles to play a variety of musical notes.

I never would have imagined that creating a musical instrument could be so simple, and yet allow for such artistic aptitude. I saw turtles, fish, sharks, and other other animal shapes, crafted with such intricate detail that I could hardly believe that I was looking at work produced by fourteen year olds. To do this project justice on our web site, I will have to try to find a way for the pictures of these ingenious little instruments to be accompanied by an audio track of the student playing their creation. You not only have to see to believe, but you have to hear to believe as well.

I am more than a bit jealous of the art education these students are receiving. When I was in middle school, my work with clay consisted of a lopsided mug and cracked plate, neither of which were nice to look at or functional to use. Granted, I am no artist, but I believe that part of my failure rests with the fact that I had art once a week from a traveling teacher in an overcrowded classroom.

I just hope our middle school art students know how lucky they are to have both the time and the instructor to produce artwork of real substance and aesthetic value. So I now invite you to either visit USD281.com or visit Mr. Jackson’s classroom to see (and hear) the artistic gifts of some amazing budding artists.