Urban, Suburban, and Rural

As a student, I have been engaged in many clubs and associations.  In middle school, I ran for ASB (Associative Student Body).  I was the secretary of this club and was in charge of leading my middle school.  In middle school, I was also involved in the club SRLA (Students Run LA).  In this club, we ran everyday for the LA marathon.  In high school, I was involved in three sports all four years.  I was involved in cross-country, soccer, and track (hurdles).  Being a member in these sports allowed me to make many of the friends that I am still close with today.
By being on a team, you find out how to be a team player.  I learned how to listen to other peoples point of views and be more collaborative.  You must realize that you are not the only one in this group and that you need to feed off each others strengths and differences.
In art, I am used to doing things on my own.  By working in groups, you have to accommodate your other group members ideas and visions of how the art project should go.  This can make for an interesting end project.
Using the urban, suburban, and rural project, you can discuss citizenship and the different social situations.  The children can break up into groups and research what contributes to these different communities.  At the end of the project, the children will come in front of the class and show why they had different buildings then people of other groups.  This will lead to a discussion of why this is so.  This will allow the students to learn about people who live in different areas of them, and what their day to day life looks like.

New Children's Museum

Going to the New Children's Museum was a new experience for me.  I have never been in a museum centered around children.  I loved my time at the museum.  I enjoyed the hands on interaction with the art.  You could go in the barn and dance or take some blue paint and paint on a whale.  You can jump through a rainbow or you can swing on a rope.  All these things represent art, but it is more meaningful and easier to grasp concepts for children.  My favorite part of the museum would have to be the rain room.  I loved sitting in their and listening to the rain hit the metal roof.  I can definitely see myself in the future bringing my class to this museum.
I believe that they have successfully integrated new media into art at the New Children's Museum.  In the barn house, you could listen to music and flip on and off lights.  As you walk through the museum, you are listening to whale and bird noises.  In one room, there is a delay video recording that children can play with.
I believe that the museum is not just for entertainment.  The museum tries to get the children to also think critically.  By each piece of art, there are cards with commands and questions that the children should either perform or answer.  I believe this takes the museum beyond just being some place to play.

Luz Chung

From watching the video clip of John Stewart on the Daily Show, I am shocked to find out that this had been going on in Texas.  I am surprised that ordinary people (like the dentist) are allowed to be on a school board that concerns the type of education that children are receiving.  Most of these people on the school board have no experience in education.  I believe that this should be outlawed.  I think that people who are inexperienced with education should not have a say on what should be put in state textbooks.
The quote by Paulo Freire is very moving.  I believe that what Freire wrote is the absolutely true about "Pedagogy of the Oppressed."  You can see how "Pedagogy of the Oppressed" takes place throughout history.  One example of this is the history of California.  The Native Americans of California faced this oppression from Spanish missionaries.  They made the Native Americans leave their homes and tradition to live in the missions.  This continued on with the Mexicans taking over California, and later the Americans.  The Native Americans were constantly oppressed.
One way you can use art in the classroom to create a common ground among your students is through self portraits.  This allows children to love their bodies and their skin.  You can have the student paint themselves creatively, emphasizing their favorite aspect of themselves.

Children and Their Art

Media art is starting to take a major role in art today.  The invention of photography caused this shift into this new style of art.  One example of this is the Tribute in Light.  This is a photograph of the two lights that represent the twin towers of the World Trade Center after they fell.  This is an example of media art because it is taking the use of photography to bring across a message or meaning.  Another example of this is Sandy Skoglund's Radioactive Cats.  In this photograph, the artist paints the room a certain color and places certain objects in certain places to make art.  This is a unique way to create art through the use of media.
Media art can also be implemented in the classroom.  One way to do this is through self-portraits.  (Like what we did in class) you have the students dress up and pose like a character that they identify with.  This is an easy to create media art in the classroom, and it is also fun for the children.  This also allows children to be creative in the type of outfits and materials they decide to use to reflect the character they are trying to portray.

Visit to SDMA

I greatly enjoyed our trip to the San Diego Museum of Art.  I have always been interested in visiting this museum, and was so excited when we finally did.  Looking at all the different artwork was an amazing experience.  The most interesting part of the museum was on the artist Howard Hodgkin.  Hodgkin's painting Leaf showed me how complex an art piece can be, when on the surface it looks so simple.  I never thought that art could be so simple and yet so complex with meaning at the same time.

 
I also liked looking at different types of art from different countries.  You could see the similarities and differences from artwork done in India and those done in the United States.  I really enjoyed how the tour was showing us how we, as teachers, can use art in our classroom in many different subjects, including mathematics.  I found myself beginning to visualize what it would be like to bring my future class to SDMA.
The San Diego Museum of Arts is a viable place for elementary and secondary students.  I believe that SDMA would be a positive learning device for children to think more critically.  At the museum, the students and teachers could use VTS to begin thinking on a deeper level for the artwork that they are perceiving.  As much as I would like to say that the San Diego Museum of Art is accessible for elementary and secondary students, in some cases I do not believe it is.  I feel like some schools that are located in a low-income community will have a harder time getting the students to the museum.  Transportation is obviously the the problem with making SDMA accessible.

Sculptural Headdress

In class, we read Cinderella and The Rough-Face Girl.  Cinderella was the traditional Disney story with Cinderella, the god-mother, the prince, the evil step-mother, and evil step-sisters.  The Rough-Face Girl was similar to the story line of Cinderella with some exceptions.  This book was a Native American version of the story with the introduction of the invisible man instead of a prince and other minor differences.
When we were asked to make headdresses that were related to the stories we just read, I immediately wanted to do something along the line of the The Rough-Face Girl story.  My first thought was to create something that involved nature and wildlife.  Native Americans are strongly connected with Mother earth and animals, so I believed that flowers would be a good representation of this.  I also decided to use bright colors to represent how the "Rough-Face" girl transformed into a beautiful girl.  I decided to add grass to the background of the flowers as well.  I finished the headdress with the addition of braids and feathers, which made it look like it had more of a connection with the book.
I strongly believe that this is a positive teaching lesson to use in a second grade classroom.  This lesson allows children to think critically and reflect on details that were discussed in class about the fairy tale.  I would read my students a couple of fairy tales, which apply to both genders and different cultures.  After the reading of the books, I would open up the class to a discussion on the differences and similarities among the stories.  After the discussion, I will ask the students to make a headdress or hat about their favorite fairy tale that we read.  I would ask the students to include major themes from the fairy tale to help distinguish what book they did their headdresses on.  I would then allow each student to share their headdress in front of the class.

California Content Standards:
Key Ideas and Details- #1 and 2
Integration of Knowledge and Ideas- #7 and 9

VTS (Visual Thinking Strategies)

When showing a work of art to students, it is important as a teacher to facilitate VTS.  Visual Thinking Strategies are implemented in the classroom when the teacher challenges the children to look at a piece of art critically.  When a student makes a comment about the artwork, the teacher may ask the student why he or she sees that.  This allows the student to think more elaborately and critically.  VTS is important in the classroom because it leads to deeper thinking in the students.  Children are permitted to give their opinions and observations about the art piece, but are required to give evidence to why they believe it to be so.  By the teacher using VTS, he or she is creating continuous conversation, allowing the students to bounce ideas off one another.  Visual Thinking Strategies creates deep learning, which can seep into other core curriculums.

Nighthawks (1942) by Edward Hopper
My friends discussion about this piece of art using VTS:

• Kirsten Allan (Age 20): She believes that the painting takes place in the 1930s, during the Great Depression.  The bartender in the painting looks old.  He kind of resembles an old scientist with the white coat.  It doesn't look like he belongs because he is blending into the white background.  It looks like it takes place during the Great Depression because everything outside is dark and empty, and the restaurant/bar is the only thing that has any light to it.  The guy by himself seems to have had a bad day or trouble with the stocks, since he is sitting alone at the bar.  The date couple look like their dates had problems, which led them to end up at the bar together.  She believes that this takes place in Philadelphia because of the name on the outside of the bar/restaurant.
• Lexi Deol (Age 20): She believes that the painting takes place during the Great Depression because there is not a lot of people around and the stores across the street are empty.  There is also no one in the streets.  The guy at the bar with his back turned looks morose, alone, and sad because of the shadows that are casted on him.  She believes that this takes place in a city, probably New York City or Chicago because in the 1930s it was either rural or urban, no really in between.  

Art Inside the Classroom

During my years in elementary school, art has held a major role in the classroom.  Unlike many schools that I have read and heard about, my elementary school classes strived to make art a core curriculum in the classroom.  Many of our classroom projects were centered around art projects.  When reading a book in History or English, we were required to draw pictures of what we imagined when reading these stories.  One major project that I had that included as much art as writing was my poetry project in third grade.  We had to create an art piece for every poem that we created.  Each art piece had to be unique and involve different type of drawing utensils.  This project was elaborate and expanded my knowledge of poetry and art simultaneously.
Besides art in the day to day classroom, we also had "Meet the Masters."  "Meet the Masters" was when an artist would visit the classroom and teach the students about a particular artist.  After learning about the artist's life and drawing style, the students would draw in the same matter that the painter would have.  This event allowed me to learn more about artists and the different drawing and painting styles that each one contributed to our world.
When listening to Morgan Appel's lecture, I realized how much art can have a role in the classroom.  Art brings  improvement in creativity, critical thinking and reading into the classroom.  When children are thinking creatively, they are going to have an easier time of recalling the information.  This moves past rote memorization, which is practiced in most classrooms.  Rote memorization does not allow information to move from short-term memory into long-term memory.  By also using art in the classroom, it allows for deep thinking with teacher participation as well.  By applying Morgan Appel's suggestions for art in the classroom, I know my future students will flourish.

Focus Activity

Chapter 2:

A         There are areas of (and content students need to know within) curriculum       A
            that could benefit from arts-activity infusion.


A         I am able to imagine what arts activities I would use in arts-infused lessons      A
              across the curriculum.


A         Pre-planning and linking arts activities to big ideas and content standards         D
              will take a great deal of effort and time.


D         I am concerned that I am not artistically talented and it will adversely affect      D
                my planning for arts-infused lessons.


Chapter 3:

A          I need to know what students already know about a topic before planning           A
                    my instruction.


D          I know of multiple ways to easily find out what students already know about       A
                    a topic before instruction begins.


A          Knowledge is "understanding."                                                                         A

A          I can imagine ways in which arts activities could help fill the gap between            A
              what students already know and what they need to know about a chosen 
               topic.

Analyzing Peers' Drawings

(Girl, age 20):
She learned how to draw when she was in kindergarden.  She stopped drawing when she was in eighth grade.  She decided to draw a person dancing.  She decided to draw in a more simplistic approach.  She used a "stick figure" design to show the person dancing.

(Girl, age 20):
She learned to draw from her mother when she was younger.  She stopped drawing when she was in seventh grade.  She drew a person dancing as well.  She used a "stick figure" design for her drawing, but elaborated it with clothing and shoes.  She also drew a background as a stage for her person.

(Girl, age 20):
She began drawing in sixth grade in an art class in middle school.  She has never stopped drawing.  She doodles randomly.  She drew her person running.  Her drawing is more realistic drawing of a person compared to the two previous drawings.

Multicultural Art and Women's Art

Multicultural Art:
http://www.multiculturalart.com/

National Museum of Women in the Arts:
http://www.nmwa.org/

Women's Art:
http://www.ibiblio.org/cheryb/women/resource/wmart.html

Women Artists in History:
http://www.wendy.com/women/artists.html

Multicultural Arts Center:
http://www.cmacusa.org/

Sojourner Truth Multicultural Art Museum:
http://www.sojoarts.net/

Crop Circle

This is a picture of a crop circle.  You can see these in crop fields in America and across Europe.  Crop circles take time and energy to create.  When I see these on television or in magazines, I think about the artistic mind that created this masterpiece.  Although this is not done with paint and paper, it is still something that can be viewed as art.  I believe that different cultures will find crop circles to artistic as well.  I think that because this kind of art spans across the Atlantic, it shows the great appreciation of art around the world.

Balboa Park

This is the Shade House in Balboa Park, San Diego.  The architecture of the Shade House can be seen as a thing of art.  I run past this every week for cross-country.  I am always mesmerized by how beautiful it looks.  I think that the architect for the Shade House could be considered an artist for the bold design that he or she did here.  I believe that other cultures and socio-economic backgrounds will see this building as a thing of beauty and art.

San Diego Sunset

This is a photo of a sunset in San Diego, California.  Sunset can be seen as art.  When looking at the sun go down, it creates different colors against the sky.  In cities with more pollution, when the sun is at the horizon it reflects colors of pink or purple against the clouds.  Living at the beach, I get to see this almost every night.  People from different cultures might not see the sunset as art.  People from different cultures might not have the same beautiful sunset that I get to see every night in San Diego.

Art in Nature

This photo was taken for the magazine National Geographic.  This a picture of lightning being mixed with the ash of an erupting volcano in Japan.  Looking at this photo, you can see how nature can make art as well.  The colors and lines that are being shown in this photo can make an argument about being an art piece.  Different cultures may argue that this is not art.  Some may believe that this photo is not art because there is not artist creating this.

Screenshot Zebra

I found this while surfing the Internet.  The piece is made on a black background.  The artist uses white font to create this image of a zebra.  From this piece you can see how art is evolving.  Art is being transformed into something that just does not involve a piece of paper and paint.  I believe that people from different cultures will see this photo as a thing of amazement.  I believe that they will be shocked to see something so beautiful be made from a computer.  I believe that it will be something that not a lot of cultures have seen before.

Amazing Food Art

http://www.toxel.com/inspiration/2008/05/16/amazing-food-art/

I found this photo in a magazine.  I think that this is a new and interesting way to look at art.  This  coffee was transformed into a piece of art because of the way they added the foam to it.  I would call the person who designed this foam in the coffee an artist because of the amount of skill it took a person to create it.  I believe that people from different cultures and socio-economic backgrounds would see this as a piece of art as well.