Artists
Artists
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At some point, in some place students will be exposed to popular cannon artists like Picasso and van Gogh or Monet and Michelangelo (heck most kids at least know he is a Ninja Turtle, right?). Does that time and place need to be a K-12 classroom? Abi and Leah do not think so. Instead, we believe that representation matters. Students should be exposed to contemporary artists that look like them. If students from a young age only see cannon artists, they internalize that to be a successful artist means you must be a dead white guy. This type of exposure does not do justices to the vast diversity of living working artists that students can look up too and think "I can be an artist like them!". When showing students artwork, first look to see if there is a live local artist from a marginalized group that you can show and get to the same learning outcome.
For example, if teaching students about portraiture was the vector to get students to the learning outcome of prioritized standard: 2/3 VA:Cr1.2.2 Make art or design with various materials and tools to explore personal interests, questions, and curiosity. Instead of showing students a van Gogh or Picasso portrait, local to where Leah resides on the traditional land of Dena'ina (Anchorage/Dgheyaytnu) is artist living working artist Linda Infante Lyons who is registered Alutiiq Alaska Native, whose family is from Kodiak, AK. Linda explores portraiture through the lens of culture in her Icon Portraits. “By combining elements of Christian iconography with Alutiiq tradition, the artist suggests that they are equally important. She is asking us to consider traditional Alutiiq beliefs on the same level as Western beliefs.” The Alutiiq Museum and Archaeological Repository, Kodiak, Alaska.
Rationale: “When you ask, “Why do we do it this way?” and the only answer is “Because that’s how it’s always been done,” that rule deserves another look.” - Will Guidara, Unreasonable Hospitality. Just because Abi and Leah were taught mainly using canon artists, does not mean that the world hasn't changed and now that we know better, we can do better. Students show be exposed to living, working artists, that look like them. The intentionality of choosing what artists students are exposed to is a heavy weight and it should not be taken lightly.
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Tangible Tools (cheese and meat Krupa and Ashley)
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