Junction MAE Summer Exhibit

August 4

Aug 4  Rader pp. 220-227 (Chapter 9); Lampert pp. 278-85 (Chapter 27)
           And Kate Lyman: Teaching the Whole Story (pp. 168-175)

Yikes. Sorry about posting so late-- 11.30 am. I had the First Friday Art Trail opening issues all weekend long and this morning. I will post some pics under that heading. I will be checking on blog sites today. Just three class days to blog--and then we will be responding one more time to people's blogs whatever stage they are at--on their blog site.

Lots of posts about ideas for pedagogical changes in our lessons and classrooms on Friday's posts. Lynn--your: Is it kind? Is it true? Is it necessary? questions--where do those come from? Andrea's ideas for  creating/inventing cultural projects is a great idea. Keep in mind that it will take research time to track histories--interviews, mapping, online research, etc. in order to produce that cultural project. Many of us know very little about our own backgrounds and histories--or have to remain silent about them for various reasons.

Andrea posted about where to leave comments--leave it on their blog site. I will see that you have left a comment. Am keeping track of those too. Just that you comment. So make sure you do.

And check out some of the pics from First Friday Art Trail JUNCTION 2014 Exhibit.

August 1

Aug 1  Rader pp. 211-20 (End of Chapter 8/Beg. of Chapter 9); Lampert pp. 269-77 (Chapter 26) 
           And Kate Lyman: Staying Past Wednesday (pp. 199-201)

We are getting close to the end. I will be looking  and commenting on blogger sites tomorrow. If in Lubbock, First Friday Art Trail tonight. COme see MAE Summer Exhibit at TTU Satellite Gallery 6-9 pm. I will take some photos and post on here.

Some reactions to your posts: Thanks for responding to Lynn's post about factions to statue. I have yet to make it to the State Fair. I am going to try this fall and seek out that building and the Women's Building. Statue looks similar to ones Rader critiqued. Sculpture by white people. In 2001, Edgar Heap of Birds was a speaker for TAEA in Lubbock. That was right after 9/11. I recall driving Edgar and two friends in my car. Edgar commented how McDonalds and Kentucky Fried Chicken were white people's visual culture and histories. There are lots of Native museums in OKL and NM. There is the Museum of Contemporary Native Arts in Santa Fe just off the Square across from the Cathedral (I believe). Andrea posted of not connecting to nuclear essay and I wondered if there was a NYC/east coast bias in his articles. So, I counted them: Native Am, slave ships, England, West Coast, NYC (7), Chicago, DC, the south, Depression era, Fed Art, Internment, non-violence (south), Oakland, 2 CA, LA, and China. So about 12 out of 25 were somehow about the east coast. 

Monday is our last chapter in Rader. I liked the one for today, BTW. I'm always learning new things. Hope your week went well. Happy August (means we are back at school soon).

July 31

July 31  Rader pp. 200-210 (Chapter 9); Lampert pp. 263-68 (Chapter 25)
             And Kate Lyman: The Trial (pp. 140-143)

Wow--the Summer II is almost over. I am so very happy that I got to read these marginal histories of artists galvanizing for social and cultural changes. I will be looking at your sites this weekend. I'm at the gallery all day today again and tomorrow evening is First Friday. I will try to take some pics and post them on here--How's that?

Some reactions to your posts: Lynn asked about the Tejas Native Sculpture. I will reply below so everyone can have a say as well. Blair's comment about AIDS is interesting. New AIDS cases are rising the most in young gay men. Here in Lubbock, STIs are very high per capita. Andrea posted about how it seems all of Lyman's lessons go smoothly. What I would like to remind all of us is that her essays document all of the cautions and precautions she did as a teacher, and what incidents/reactions she choses to write about. What I get from her essays are that teaching about anything "real" is almost exhaustingly painstakingly  difficult to create and manage. Often, she wonders if she is a good teacher. And is even doing the right things--when from my perspective she is courageous, visionary and how I should be as a teacher. Lyman always considers what to tell administration. She is never given support--she builds, develops and maintains it--so when she does run into trouble, she has created community allies--that makes administration back down at times. And Lynn, thanks for the Sherman Alexie quote--was that his grandmother? Great quote. 

July 30

July 30  Rader pp. 191-200 (Chapter 7); Lampert pp. 252-62 (Chapter 24) 
             And Kate Lyman: AIDS: You Can Die From It (pp. 149-153)

Wow!!!! What a joy/pleasure/honor to read your posts from yesterday. Mostly because of your nuanced and engaged responses. So, let me get to a few. First off, I became inspired to write a paper on creating change in curriculum by simply making artists we teach reflect the demographics of a school and then what that can mean for teachers, students and learning. It's how I am going to teach students in Art 3360, our introductory class, about engaging students and learning--make the curriculum reflect their lives.

Blair posts that she was embarrassed about some previous judgments and posted that we weren't taught that much (or the latter may be my thought on that). $60 is a deal for anything Native-made. Some of the art/jewelry at the Governor's Palace where Natives-only sell, go for hundred and thousands. It's one way locals can make livings by selling art. And much of that art traces back to Natives relearning crafts to sustain their communities. When I was referring to the HOWE statue, I was intending how we all have seen similar examples somewhere in our lives--that that particular one--sorry if that was confusing. Lynn posted "How do we help preserve culture[s] respectfully?" Great question. Daniels' memory of playing with a slot machine with Indian-motif. Lynn posting again "How do we keep from homogeneity--from losing identity?" I might add that many of us don't even know much about our identities. 

I am glad many of you find Kate Lyman's pedagogical courage and strategies impactful. 

July 29

July 29  Rader pp. 183-90 (Chapter 9); Lampert pp. 242-51 (Chapter 23)
             And Kate Lyman: From Snarling Dogs to Bloody Sunday (pp. 119-125)

Good morning. 9.15 am. As I am posting, it is slowly raining outside--simply delightful. Also delightful, believe it or not, was the Rader reading for today--183-190--about public art. I am going to lead with that post. A few comments about yesterday's posts:

Sarah's post of her idea of creating a mural of deployed parents is very cool in my opinion. Blair posted about when is art finished? was interesting to me. When I taught elementary art in the 80s (don't laugh), I bought a four-part filmstrip series (where there is a beep to tell you to turn to next image) that was called Shoe-view of Art through History, something like that. You looked through the history of arts/mostly paintings looking at shoes that were represented. What I remember was the narrator said that in the very famous Arnolfini Wedding portrait (google it) the artist left the man's shoes unfinished--that there is evidence the artist did not know how to finish the shoes. When is something finished? Could it be that it never is and that everything is temporary? From my perspective as an old man, nothing hangs around or sticks for very long--records, music, buildings, people, rivers--everything seems to be in states of constant flux--that really goes against how I was taught about everything.

Sarah posted she was surprised at subject matter at 2/3 grade age--that's why we are reading Lyman. I was always interested in important things as a kid and teen. Adults seemed to hedge away from anything that was important to me. Lyman is an example of how to begin to bridge those important ideas of students and bring or allow them into the classroom. My WARNING is that all of your colleagues will think you are crazy and inappropriate. That is usually the first, second, third and fifty-eight response. LOL

Andrea's post got me to thinning about in the early 90s when I was a grad TA and teaching an art class for non-art majors (people who were going to be elementary classroom teachers, not art teachers). One female student had her husband assume poses that females do in magazines--like lying on his back with a leg in the air; and she photographed him. Sadly, even in my view, he looked ridiculous--and the bigger question ofr me was why did women not look ridiculous assuming those poses? That's what the Rader article is all about today, what happens when we become immune to what we see and how we see it? Do I see the misogyny? The racisims? Etc. And, it's never comfortable realizing that I participate in cultural racisms, sexisms, etc., especially when I remain silent. 

July 28

July 28  Rader pp. 141-50 (End of Chapter 6/Beg. of Chapter 7); Lampert pp. 235-41 (Chapter 22)
             And Kate Lyman: Girls, Worms, and Body Image (pp. 107-111)

Hope you all had a good weekend. I'm thinking of two posts by Blair that many commented on. One was that she has Indians from India in her school. India has over 1.1 billion people, imagine all of the contemporary and historic artists it has as well. Also, I like the idea posted that Blair gives students choices and input. As Rethinking Our Classrooms says, the best discipline is a good curriculum--and the best curriculum invites the lives and expertises and interests of students. 

I have also noticed that no one is commenting on the Rader book questions. So, for tomorrow, let's skip ahead in it and start Chapter 9, reading pages 183-190. The last two chapters take it back to art. I sense literary analysis is not that interesting to everybody. I would encourage you to check our a Sherman Alexie Film--Smoke Signals--it's a totally different pace and theme than Hollywood films. Or any one of the other ones mentioned if available. 

So--reading change for tomorrow--Rader 183-190--don't forget. 

Also, if I haven't mentioned it yet, if you have never heard of or seen or read The Guerrilla Girls, google www.guerrillagirls.com