Meditation/Breathing

Find a quiet place at home & meditate every day (luxury bath)

What would you do on the first day of class?
Ideas:

One thing I’ve thought about doing is laying out different materials on the table in front of each student’s chair. One might half scissors and paper. Another might have a chunk of fresh clay or paint. No matter the age I assume that the students will have a desire to touch or explore the materials in front of them. In the midst of that tension I would briefly explain that that impulse is why they are in my class. Whether it be a required class or not, each human has the power and urge to create. I would then have them try to make a visual in five minutes that will help them introduce themselves (a student might make a basketball out of clay or cut out a silhouette of the number of people in her family, etc.)

My introduction would be a Power Point of a few of my works from when I was their age leading up to now (shown below.) I’ll discuss the difference between skill and art and how I’m still learning to combine the two. I’ll let them know that I only just started to do art when I was 18 and believed that I had no skill in anything. I had one incredible teacher and great peers that helped me develop—I hope to be able to aid them in their own progress.

First Hour

During the first hour, we would finish up introductions, cover the syllabus with an emphasis on how I will be evaluating their work. In the first hour I would also like to have a meaningful discussion with the students about why art matters. I want to hear why art matters to them and why it matters to the world (hopefully we would discuss how it can be interdisciplinary, represent a society, help ask important questions and even solve problems, etc.) To help the discussion I might ask them questions like, “What would the world be like without art?” or “What might happen if we stopped teaching art?” Hopefully that discussion would last for most of the class (I’m thinking high school ages) and then I would briefly cover our first project and any preparations needed for the next class.