Goodbye, for now.

I have lost my job teaching art at this school.  I wish all my students the best, in their efforts in high school, college and the future.  I miss teaching, working, and most of all, talking with you.  Please feel free to contact me if you need any recommendations.

"The arts reaffirm our humanity. They are the glue that holds society together. While improvements in the three Rs may enable us to compete more efficiently, economically. and technologically, it does not feed the human spirit. The most vital stages in the history of any society are marked by a flourishing of the arts. And when most material goods have turned to dust it is the arts that remain as a testimony to dreams and passions of the past." -Harold M Williams

Stop AB2446

Herein is ALL the information about AB2446 as gathered on the web.  This bill is not YET a done deal, and it needs help from everyone who has a vested interest in the arts.  
The following links will provide comprehensive information:AB2446: The bill as written, presented, and voted on.

Joe Landon, CAAE Policy Director, Direct Testimony to the CA State Ed. Hearing Committee

Richard Kessler, a member of the New York City Department of Education's Chancellors Advisory Council for Career and Technical Education (CTE) and a self described "big supporter of CTE" called AB 2446 "completely backwards to a 21st century career and technical education." Read his statement about how the bill would hurt CTE and arts education.

LA Times Art Critic Christopher Knight weighed in on AB 2446 in a blog last week describing it as a "foolish bill." Knight lauded efforts to provide Career and Technical Education, bu...

Letters that need be sent to appropriate committee members (copy, paste in Word and send to these addresses) :     (There are TWO letters here.  The first one was sent by several educators in April.  The second one is a tweak of the first.  You may use either one with date adjustments....)

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April 15, 2010

Dear Honorable Committee Member, (Fill in name from list)

This letter is in regards to AB2446.  The consequences of this bill will be devastating to art education in the public schools of California. While Career Tech classes are valuable options for students, this bill will eventually pit one curriculum against another. We support strong arts programs taught by certified teachers. 

Arts education offers all students the preparation they need to meet the challenges of our global economy. 

I must include an impassioned plea for the value and power of the arts in public education.

1.   The arts teach 21^st century skills, those skills most needed by students entering contemporary work environments.  Those skills include resourcefulness, innovation, problem solving, collaboration, and independent thinking.  Few classes in public school curriculum offer this education today.

2.   The arts teach empathy and the consideration of multiple perspectives, an imperative skill in our global and sometimes contentious world.  Learning empathy in regards to world cultures teaches citizenship in ours and supports the democratic values we embrace.

3.   The arts improve academic achievement on many levels: test scores, attendance, attitudes toward learning, social skills, and critical thinking.  They employ the higher thinking skills of analysis, synthesis and evaluation. 

By adding Career Technical Educational courses as another option for graduation, arts education programs will suffer, courses will be cut, and jobs will be lost. Once an arts class is replaced, it is not likely to return. Consider the meaning of a well rounded education that teaches the whole child.  

Please vote no on this AB2446. 

Sincerely,

 (sign your Name, address, email, and phone number)

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May 9, 2010 

Dear Honorable Committee Member, (Fill in name from list)

Please consider:

• Arne Duncan, Education Secretary of the United States under President Obama says, “The arts can no longer be treated as a frill,” yet California continues to diminish access to and viability of the arts, particularly with AB2446.

• While career-tech curriculum continues to gain momentum, particularly with STEM emphases, the arts must not only remain be actually be enhanced.  Twenty-first century skills for 21^st century education and careers demand the building of higher thinking skills: analysis, synthesis and evaluation as well as skills in resourcefulness, innovation, problem solving,
  collaboration, and independent thinking.  The most powerful arena in which to teach and foster these skills is the Arts.

• Global citizenship and commerce is creating a new platform upon which our students must participate in order to craft successful personal and democratic futures.  The arts teach this citizenship; they teach empathy and consideration of multiple perspectives. 
  

For these and innumerable other reasons, I ask you to vote NO on AB2446.  This bill sends not only the arts but a well rounded education for California school children reeling back to the industrial age of education.  Let us NOT go backwards.

Sincerely,

Name, address, email and phone number.

Happy Birthday Josef Albers!

Josef Albers was the grand pooh-bah of color.  He taught at Bauhaus, Black Mountain College, and Yale.

Part of what Albers taught was regarding the perception of color.  For example, look at the picture below.  Most people would say that the green grid in the center of each rectangle are two different colors.  However, they would be wrong.  The green grids are only one color, but because of the background colors, they look like different colors.

If you like doing this kind of stuff, you'll love your color theory class in college-and if you want to continue to test yourself, visit here.

Happy Birthday William Henry Johnson!

Johnson is mostly known for his work in this style, but did you know he also created more realistic work?

To learn more about Johnson, visit here.

Sites for Breadth 10

In your sketchbook, you need to draw 20 patterns, motifs, symbols and lettering from the cultures you identify with.

Here are some sites to check out:

General information on Chinese Embroidery

More information on Chinese Embroidery

Information on Filipino Embroidery, read about Draped in Silk: The Journey of the Manton de Manila

More Filipino Embroidery

Additional Filipino Embroidery

Historical information on Kente cloth

Examples of Kente cloth

Additional examples of Kente cloth

Korean Textiles

Indonesian Batik

Japanese Shibori

Mexican Textiles

Information on traditional Vietnamese clothing-with examples of patterns
More info on Vietnamese clothing
Hmong/Vietnamese Quilts

Yemeni textiles
Another example of Yemeni textiles

Of course, you may want to go to google images and search there, as well as creativecommons.org and search using words like textiles, ceramics, patterns, motifs and embroidery.

You may also want to check out the Victoria and Albert Museum as well!

Breadth 10

For 2D/Drawing:
You will be creating a self portrait that explores your cultures, utilizing patterns, symbols, lettering and motifs from the cultures that you identify with as a textured background.

Materials: printmaking, color pencils, collage and gouache

Requirements:
-Must include 5 patterns/symbols/motifs/lettering in the background.
-Self portrait must not be in the center of the page and must take up at least 3/5ths of the paper.

For 3D:
Using your culture's traditional ceramic forms or clothing, you will add modern elements that are autobiographical.

Materials: clay or fabric

Requirements:
-Must include 5 patterns/symbols/motifs/lettering on the piece
-Avoid cliches for your modern adaptation

In your sketchbook:
1.  Sketch 2 piece of each artist:  Hung Liu, Enrique Chagoya, Faith Ringgold and Brendan Tang.
2.  Critical reflection of these works of art-analysis of elements and principles of design, investigation of the sociopolitical and culture issues of the work and artist.
3.  Ask your guardian what province/state/region your family comes from-get as many specifics as possible.
4.  If you have any textiles (scarf, robes, scraps of fabric) from your family's culture, draw these in your sketchbook-include detail!

To review the powerpoint, visit my other site.  Also, if you want to watch the film on Hung Liu again, go back to my post on February 17th.

Happy Birthday Diane Arbus!

To learn more about Diane Arbus, visit here.

Happy Birthday John Rhoden and Georges de la Tour!

John Rhoden above, sadly there are no websites dedicated to his work, only his obituary.  Below, Georges de la Tour.

Happy Birthday Elaine de Kooning!

To learn more about Elaine de Kooning, visit this site

Happy Birthday David Smith!

To learn more about David Smith, visit his site.

Happy Birthday Piet Mondrian!

In the beginning of his career, Mondrian's work was realistic, but as time went on, his work became more abstract.  To learn more about Mondrian, visit here.