Examples-+Art

=EXAMPLES of PBE- ART =

Summary
For those who reside in the small community of Springfield, Utah, art has become a main source for educating students about local history and their community. For this to work, teachers and community artists have joined together, sharing the responsibility for the education of Springfield’s youth. It is a common belief in Springfield that a child must know, appreciate, and understand the history of the community before becoming an active member in that community (Gray & Black, 2007).

 The art museum provides lessons for any students K-12. In the elementary school, students learn how to create a collage of personal life in Springfield. Using a local artist’s collage as an example, students are able to make connections between their own stories and those of the artist. At the same time, young students learn about the tradition of quilt making in Springfield, as well as visualize the history of Springfield by examining different collages. What seems like an art project, where children use symbols to make a collage, is really a lesson in building cultural and ethnic identities. As children mentally plan their collage “they physically assemble images and symbols of their own lives, families, and community, [and] they bring their cultural and ethnic identity into clearer focus” (Gray & Black, 2007, p. 279-280).

 For middle school aged students, landscape and self-portrait paintings are considered the essential tools in learning and understanding history. Students walk through the museum with their educators and peers, and silently take in the vast amount of pictures representing home life. Whether it is a picture of the desert, or just a child on a bicycle, the children are able to relate to the paintings. After each viewing, museum educators provide historical accounts to the children, as well as ask them to closely examine and discuss the ways in which the artists use “colors, lines, textures, and space in sharing the land in both visual and emotional ways” (Gray & Black, 2007 p. 281). Incorporating history and art into one lesson provides the student with the ability to visualize the community throughout history, while also relating to the painting on a personal level.

Academic Impact / Ties to Standards
This program includes four academic impacts: promoting the whole child, learning about history and land, developing and expressing creative thought, and becoming a knowledgeable local and global community member.

 When describing what it means to educate the whole child, one must first understand that “young people are part of schools, their families, towns, streets, fields, and local landscapes” (Gray & Black, 2007, p. 278). To educate a child, one must incorporate the community into the school. When children go to the art museum and look at different paintings of landscapes, they are examining art that is familiar to them, for it has meaning in their lives. The children can relate to the landscapes, because they have been there themselves. Talking to and sharing ideas about the artwork with classmates and museum employees provide an education for the whole child. The children use art and their personal stories to understand their culture, and identity within a community.

 The museum in Springfield is a place where local and state history is kept preserved and remembered. Paintings depict the hardships of the early settlers, and portray historical traditions common in the community. At the local museum, children are able to discuss and view the works of art and get a sense of the history. However, at home, students are encouraged to learn more through interviews with parents, grandparents and neighbors. As the article states, “the museum preserves the history; museum education personalizes it” (Gray & Black, 2007, p. 280).

 Not only does the museum provide an historical account of Springfield through art, but it also expands creative thinking. Art has the ability to “provide direct experiences that encourage students to create knowledge rather than merely to consume knowledge that others provide” (Gray & Black, 2007, p. 282). Students write narratives, short stories, and poetry, based on the art they viewed and their personal experiences. In addition, students are able to understand how much or little has changed in their own community, and what circumstances cause change to take place. In the end, students studied, conversed, and created their own art, while also learning about the history of their community.

 Lastly, this place-based program prepares students for the responsibility they will have as future local and global community members. Students use art to express social identity and social impact, as well as to learn how to make a difference using various expressions of art. In one art class in the area, students designed storyboards and scripts for a PSA that supported a conservation campaign. Throughout their education, students participated in, and learned, that they could wield significant influence over the direction and quality of community life.

Assessment
The outcomes were measured through group discussion and participation in the community. It was important for students to be able to incorporate art, personal experiences, and historical references in order to learn how to become active community members. The outcome of this project was that “via the museum, former generations are remembered and current generations are nurtured and educated” (Gray & Black, 2007, p. 285). Today, citizens of Springfield "know their heritage- including history, geography, lifestyle, education, and art" and are able to give a personal account of what that history means to his or her own lives (Gray & Black, 2007, p. 277).

Funding
Grants and donations were mentioned as being the source of funding, but the total amount of financing was never mentioned in the article.

References
Gray, S.R., & Black, S. (2007). Welcome to Art City: Place-based education through a local museum. //The Museum Journal, 50//(3), 277-286.

Summary of example approach
In this article, an example of a participatory public art is explored in Frederick, Maryland. The example is called the //Community Bridge// project, and can be further investigated at ([]). This artwork was created by American artist William Cochran who designed the renovation of the bridge based on the ideas contributed by the community of what should be included in the final design. In this way the artwork of the bridge represents the multifaceted identities of the surrounding community in one art piece and thereby achieves unity. Stephens (2006) suggests that schools should use participatory art projects such as this to engage students in meaningful, relevant learning that revolves around the community. Stephens also promotes the development of a collaborative relationship between the students and the community.

**Academic Impact / Ties to Standards**

 * Relevant, real-life learning;
 * Socialization;
 * Engagement;
 * Higher order thinking in order to develop ideas;
 * Development of intellectual character;
 * Increased feelings of civic and community responsibility.

Thoughts on the article
This was an interesting article, which spoke of using participatory art as a way to unify a community. I do not believe Stephens was explicit enough about how schools and the community could work together to collaborate in such a way. This project was not actually the product of students and the community but of community members in general. Stephens mentioned a school in Virginia, which was following Cochran’s idea ([]) of participatory art but she did not explain how they planned to do this or the nature of the project. In general, the idea she explains is a good one but more information is needed as to how to do it.