PS9: Exposes students to art and design related careers.
Evidence 1: Field trip to Burlington City Arts (BCA) Gallery.
Description: Our field trip to BCA was a combination of a gallery visit, art workshop, and tour of the building. Students were shown the gallery, studio space, and offices. We met the gallery curator, the art instructor, the development director, and the arts coordinator. Each person introduced themselves, shared with the students their role at BCA, and what they were in charge of within the organization. Students had the opportunity to ask questions about these different roles and what their duties included.
Analysis: Exposing students to different arts related careers is an important part of an art education. Without an intentional lesson or opportunity for students to learn about the possibilities of a career in the arts, students are left to believe that unless you become a famous painter, there are no careers in the arts. While visiting BCA, my students learned about several different roles that people have within the organization, none of which were the role of artist. We did speak about the artist's role of creating art so that it could be installed and viewed by the public, but the students learned that in one place, they could find a gallery curator, the art instructor, and the development director, and the arts coordinator - all essential roles to the operation of an integral part of the Vermont arts community: Burlington City Arts.
Evidence 2: Art Room Careers Display and Activity Wall.
Description: This is a plan for a display wall in my future classroom. It is centered around the poster: Careers for Art Students that I acquired in graduate school. The sections are repeated on the wall around the poster so that students can use the space to interact with the sections.
Analysis: This interactive display can be used for learning about careers in the arts and get students excited about using skills they have learned in the art classroom in a future career. My idea for this activity is to have students choose 1-2 sections on the wall at the beginning of the year. Towards the end of the school year, I would ask students to revisit the career sections and have them either choose to stay where they are, or select 1-2 new possibilities. I would then have them share why they chose these career paths and what they think it might be like to have a job in the arts industry. We could then create art pieces around that chosen career, or even have members of the community working in those careers to visit the classroom and share about what their job is like on a day to day basis.