National Art Education Association

Teaching Art as If the World MatteredAuthor(s): Paul E. BolinSource: Art Education, Vol. 52, No. 4, Teaching Art as if the World Mattered (Jul., 1999), pp.4-5Published by: National Art Education AssociationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3193766 .

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SPECIAL

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Iborrowed the theme for this issue of the journal from the title of Chapter 7 in Suzi Gablik's book The Reenchantment ofArt (1991): "Making Art as if the World Mattered." This theme captures the essence of

what our direction and effort in life ought to be. Questions and musings about the world, and each person's place within it, should become central to art education. A pivotal question to ask ourselves is, "How can art be taught in a meaningful way if we as teachers fail to recognize the influential world in which art is made and also disregard important issues of the world wherein we live?"

Gablik (1991), in Chapter 7, submits multiple examples of artists who fuse life and work, as they use art to help under- stand and shape meaningful relationships in the world. Gablik tells of KrzysztofWodiczko, who through his Homeless Vehicle Project, attempted to design a vehicle "based on the shopping cart, that could be used for transport and storage" (p. 100), according to the needs of the homeless. John Malpede moved from New York to Los Angeles and founded a theater group composed of people from Skid Row, so that these participants could express through "direct experience ... what it means to be a homeless person" (p. 105). Gablik also discusses Tim Rollins and the students he works with, (known as K.O.S.), to offer a glimpse of meaningful art educa-

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tion with inner-city teenagers. Suzanne Lacy's Whisper, the Waves, the Wind and Crystal Quilt are presented by Gablik as examples of collaborative artwork by women that go beyond the works themselves, as Lacy believes their "success" is measured "by whether or not the process of networking among the women continues once the performance itself is finished" (p. 111). Prisoners, a video-documentary by Jonathan Borofsky and Gary Glassman, was produced "to lis- ten to prisoners in order to try and understand their plight, so they [Borofsky and Glassman] could know for themselves what it means to lose your freedom and live your life locked up in a cement box" (p. 111).

Concluding this discussion of artists who explore art and confront conditions in the world, Gablik (1991) writes: "What is compelling to me about these artists is their ability to respond to the cries of the world as artists, proving that being an artist and working for social change do not have to be at odds" (p. 114). So too, the goal of responding "to the cries of the world" as teachers, working toward educational and social change, is reflected in the ideas and practices of many art edu- cators, some whose work is highlighted in this issue.

The theme 'Teaching Art as if the World Mattered" is embodied in this issue first by Peggy Albers, who tells what

ART EDUCATION / JULY 1999

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emerged from a 2-year ethnographic study in a sixth grade art classroom, in which she investigated how stu- dents become literate in art and therein explored the socio-political beliefs these students brought to their art- works. The difficulties and rewards of teaching art to chil- dren who are recent refugees to the United States is the challenge described first-hand by Lisa Brunick. The harsh realities encountered by these students and their teachers must not be ignored. Michelle Wiebe Zederayko and Kelly Ward bring us to face the challenges of teaching students with physical limitations. The authors' practical information comes out of their deep desire to see that all students succeed at learning. Elizabeth Delacruz examines the world of folk art and offers insights into how art educators can employ folk art, and issues surrounding this art form, as catalysts for learning. These ideas are carried on by Simone Alter Muri as she extends the discussion of folk art into the realm of outsider art, supporting a case for the inclusion of these topics within the art classroom. This issue of the journal concludes with John Hicks's engaging discussion of contemporary aesthetic education, presented through some "real world" examples- among them, eyeglasses and bathrooms.

Willie Birch (1990), a dynamic visual artist/teacher who presented a keynote address at the NAEA conference in 1997, describes his ambition as an artist:

My work is rooted in the notion that art can provoke social change. I do not believe that my art-or any art- can eliminate racism, apartheid, drugs, sexism, AIDS, or nuclear war. But when experienced, art can raise the peo- ple's consciousness, which is the first step in achieving social change. (p. 138)

The same is true for teachers of art. As an art educator, I cannot through my own efforts elimi-

nate any of the social ills prevalent in our world. Yet, recogniz- ing this, I must not turn away from and ignore the critical territory outside the school by using the art classroom as a "safe" haven from the surrounding world. The art room should be a dynamic location within the world-a place where meaningful art learning and world understanding take shape. It is to be a site where students meet head-on the issues and concerns they face in the world. What are their battlefields in life? Who do they desire to be? What matters most to them? Why should they care?

Without question, no one can change the entire world through art education. But, each of us should strive to make a

significant difference for those we educate, no matter how large or small that sphere of lives may be. We must engage the teaching of art as if the world and its inhabitants mat- tered-because, rightly so, they matter deeply.

Paul E. Bolin Editor

REFERENCES Birch, W. (1990). Knowing our history, teaching our culture. In M.

O'Brien, & C. Little (Eds.), ReimagingAmerica: Tle arts ofsocial change (pp. 137-143). Philadelphia, PA: New Society Publishers.

Gablik, S. (1991).The reenchantment ofart. New York: Thames and Hudson.

JULY 1999 / ART EDUCATION

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