February 28th

Residency-Juxtaposition Arts-Drew-3hrs

We continued perspective drawing of the VALT interior space. Wednesdays I work with Drew and I was thinking about how hard it is for me to articulate my thoughts like yesterday. I asked Drew if he would be able to allow me to shadow him and listen to the way he speaks and articulates the process of perspective drawing. Anytime I was getting tripped up while talking to a student and trying to articulate what they should do, I asked Drew to help assist or take over and I just listen. I was talking to Leslie yesterday about my confidence in speaking and she said it took her a year to really get used to speaking. I just don’t want to misguide anyone or take over the drawing because I didn’t know how to explain things well.

Next week, on Wednesday I’ll be doing the lesson on self-portraiture. I have to come up with a presentation and talk about the history of portraiture. I’m a little nervous but I think everything will be okay.

 

February 27th

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Residency-Juxtaposition Arts-Leslie-3hrs

Saturday was the introduction to perspective, students were given a demo on the horizontal line, vanishing point, and vantage point. I keep stumbling on my words and how to articulate certain things or processes, I find myself struggling to find the correct vocabulary to explain things.

Anyways, students have been taught the rules to learning how to draw perspective in interior and exterior spaces. They were finishing up their drawings of the benches today, making sure they got all of their angles and planer correct. After their break, Leslie did a demo on the perspective drawing of interior spaces. She demonstrated with the VALT room.

I was left alone for a moment because Leslie had a meeting but I was able to manage. I was running all over the place but it was nice to be able to help everyone.

February 21st

Residency-Juxtaposition Arts-Drew-3hrs

Since we missed Wednesday’s session that means we’re a day behind drawing-wise. However, everyone’s Gordon parks value drawings are looking amazing.  This group has been able to move fast in terms of getting a full sketch down in one day and the next step going into values of their drawing. There are some students who have a harder time but being aware of that has allowed me to check up on those students more so they can be caught up and not too far behind.

 

Today we have a field trip to go see Jacolby Satterwhite

February 20th

Residency-Juxtaposition-Leslie-3hrs

Session Canceled

Community Based Practice/Community Reflection

Although class was canceled today, my art in community class got me thinking about teaching and what it is I want to teach specifically and how I want to teach it. In this class I’ve been thinking a lot about healing and different ways of healing through art.

These are some notes I took on the subject:

In terms of art as a mode of healing, participatory art can be immaterial or have intangibility. The intangibility of participatory art means it can never be completely “documented” or “conserved” but it can be expressed or reenacted.

I want to be a teacher that engages in social practice work since I really enjoy listening and getting to know others and trying to be understanding. I want to be able to learn from the way others respond to how information is presented to them since I would like to—one day, be able to create a school or organization of my own where the students are learning what they feel they need to in order to prepare for being out in the world. I’m thinking about Healing, Teaching, Social work, and Art Making occupying the same space.

Important questions I’m asking myself:

Who’s my community?

What do they need/want?

What does it take to be a leader?

What are you responsible for?

Is my purpose to create long lasting change?

Immediate change?

Helping people build towards an eventual change?

February 13th

Residency-Juxtaposition Arts-Leslie-3hrs

Today was nice. I was able to talk with some of the students today before session started. As the students were trickling in we had a fruitful conversation about global warming and how money can’t buy us happiness, however we were able to come up with a healthy agreement that money could buy happiness, but only to an extent.

I enjoy that Juxta is a space where we can have real conversations, it just fills me up with joy and I’m happy they feel safe enough to speak on their opinions and everyone respect and listen to each other.

After session officially started the students started back up on their Gordon Parks Drawings that they were introduced to on Saturday. Since I don’t go to Juxta on Saturdays, I missed the intro and demo to the lesson. But coming in it was nice to see how far everyone got. The students are required to read a little article about Gordon Parks and what his photography consisted of since they were going to be using his pictures in order to draw from.

February 14th

Residency- Juxtaposition Arts- Leslie-Drew-Kristen-5hrs

I had a couple meetings today. One consisted of the monthly checkup to make sure everything is going well. In this meeting we discussed the book Drew had put together in order to create a guide book for upcoming teaching artists to use as a resource. We went over the things each of us felt needed to be edited or fixed in terms of layout so that the book could be the best it could be.

In the second All Team Meeting DeAnna opened up session with a warm up activity in which we all were separated into groups to collaborate on a love story in light of valentines day. We took time in the meeting for all leads from each lab to do a presentation on the work they’re doing in terms of lessons, attendance, any issues that may occur during class (which there weren’t any), field trips and things we wish to have happen in future VALT sessions or for the future of Juxta.

After the meeting it was close to time for VALT to start. There was a low attendance because of the random snowfall. The students continued to work on their Gordon Parks drawings right away as they knew they had one more day to work on them.

One thing I took mental not of today was

-Active Listening

-Empathy

-Ask Students what strengths and weaknesses are

-Empathy Building

February 12th

Shadowing- Melodee Strong-2hrs

At Simpson housing I helped set up for the printing project Melodee was going to have the children do. They were going to be printing using foam core, which they would carve into by poking holes with wooden skewers and rolling ink onto brayers and then printing on paper.

Melodee when showing the demo was explaining how the kids should punch the holes into the foam core in order to make their images show. She explained how to put the ink on their “plate” and then print it (transfer onto paper).

She did it step by step, the children were very attentive and one of the kids was very adamant about helping her in leading the demo. I think he was just really excited. I thought it was really nice when Melodee acknowledged that he was being helpful and seeing that exchange of respect going both ways.

February 7th

Residency-Juxtaposition-Drew-3hrs

No session due to whether.

Session was cancelled again due to the extreme snowfall. Drew sent emails and texts to all the students to let them know session was cancelled so they didn’t show up for their safety. Pretty soon I’ll be teaching the class a lesson all on my own and before the thought used to scare me and make me nervous but I’m actually pretty excited. The students are really kind and comfortable with me as their supporting teacher and I believe It’s because I come off as being confident and when I’m not I’m honest about it. I’d like to think they appreciate my honesty.

February 6th

Residency-Juxtaposition-Leslie-3 Hrs

Today at Juxta we are starting week 4 with a new project. Value was the next skill we were going to be imploring in our new project. Leslie did a demo on how to capture value using a still life that we had set up again. After Leslie finished the demo, the students were free to get started.

I find myself talking really slow and clarifying to the student I’m speaking to and asking them if they understand what I’m saying. I ask them if what I’m saying makes sense or if I can explain it in a better way.

The mood of the classroom even on this snowy and cold day, was full of conversation and good energy.

January 23rd

Residency-Juxtaposition Arts- Leslie- 3 Hrs

We are letting the students draw independently on their still lives, as it is their third day working on this project. Leslie and I did our routine of walking around and helping any of the students if they have a specific question about their drawings or offered any positive or constructive feed back as they were finishing up. Every session we play nice music that is very calming or positive. Occasionally some of the students favorites, but it allows the students to stay focused and creative. Some of the students ask about different techniques they can use in order to make something “look better” and I always try to give them the best advice I can. I get nervous sometimes because I’m also learning about art…I’m always learning new things about art and how to draw so I get a little hesitant and second guess myself when giving them feed back. However saying it out loud and hearing my words makes me think about what I’m saying therefore allowing me the opportunity to give accurate feed back that is in their pictures best interest. A lot of the students trust me to give them inout and even feel comfortable letting me draw on their pictures in order to demonstrate what I might be trying to say to them. I find myself talking very slowly and thinking about the words I’m using to speak to the students. Words mean a lot and can translate differently to someone else, I’m trying to be as straight forward as I can without using too many words to complicate what I’m saying. I’m trying not to underestimate the power of less being more.

Something I’ve caught myself doing was nonchalantly using academic words such as “value” or “contour”. Although Drew and Leslie have covered these words, I realized that these terms aren’t always going to stick right away, and even though we’re using these terms often they might forget what they mean. After I realized this I started catching myself saying these terms and then doubling back and asking the student if they knew what I meant when I said “…”.

For example I was speaking to a student who needed help and I used the word value, I paused and asked if the student knew what that word meant and they said no. In that moment I took the time to explain what I meant and clarified what “value shift” meant, after that I believe she had a better understanding of what I meant.

February 5th

Shadowing-Simpson Housing- Melodee Strong 2 Hrs

I went to Simpson Housing to shadow Melodee and assist her in her lesson for the art project. Because our class was canceled last Tuesday I was able to join her today to be able to make up for that day. It was still really snowy outside but while I waited for her, one of the women who worked there who also sits and helps with the children during Melodee’s sessions, showed me around the building and told me about what this particular program does for women and children who might be fleeing domestic violence or are single parents looking for affordable housing and can provide support for their child(ren’s) education.

I’m really grateful to have been assisting Melodee at this housing facility because of the work that they do. I find that I’m going to have a better learning experience if I’m doing something for a cause I believe and stand by opposed to something I’m not interested in or passionate about. After meeting the staff of Simpson, I helped Kate, an MCAD faculty, prepare the space before the students started to trickle in. We put their snack on the table which consisted of a Clementine and a cheese stick with water, (I think it’s great that they provide a snack for the kids) and then we put water colors and paper on each table.

Once all the kids ranging 5-10 had entered, Melodee told me that she wanted me to introduce word association to them since she would get there a little later due to whether. I asked the kids what they think about when they see the color Red…Blue…Yellow etc. I asked them to think about these things before painting using the water colors. We discussed what colors had a temperature associate with it. Once we finished thinking about these words and what imagery we associate them with, we let the children start on their first image which was supposed to warm them up for the next project once Melodee got there. This first project we asked then to paint something that makes the happy. Once Melodee arrived, she had all the students sit down in the middle of the room. She talked about word association again but she wanted the children, opposed to thinking about the objects that words reminded them of, she wanted the children to think about certain objects can be expressed through line and how certain gestures in mark making can represent the feeling of an object. In order to illustrate what she was saying she had the children watch a clip from Ratatouille. In these clips, Remi (the main character) , is associating the flavors of certain food with certain lines, whether that be colors, bold or thin lines swirling and dancing together depending on what the food tasted like.

This example and listening to Melodee explain how line, boldness and color are used to represent different feelings or tastes, was interesting. It was interesting in the sense that she didn’t say too much, she explained what she was talking about and then had imagery to better illustrate and the children understood from that point on. Also hearing the way the kids responded to Melodee and participated seemed very natural, they seemed very comfortable. That could be because they’ve seen her many times before then but It was reassuring.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLXYILcRoPQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLXYILcRoPQ

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January 24th

Residency-Juxtaposition Arts-Drew- 3 Hrs

We’re starting a new project which happens to be Drews favorite project to prepare for. It’s the beginning of gesture drawing with a still life. The still life are an assortment of flowers that Drew curates specifically, and very particularly for this project. We had a couple tables placed in the middle of the room and about 6 vases dispersed on the tables so the students can get a good view on any vase no matter where they sat around the still life.

As student’s started to trickle in and it was time to get ready for class, we went over a couple vocabulary words that they were going to be hearing as apart of this lesson. Drew touched on the definition of what gesture and expression means, in drawing. After going those vocab words, he sat down at the horse and did a demo of the exercise.

For me I try to pay attention those most when one of the teachers I’m working under is doing a demo. It sets the mood for the exercise and it also sets a precedent for how I should be going about demos. In this case Drew would start drawing and talk as he was going. He didn’t talk to much, only when he felt it was necessary to point out certain parts of the exercise that he wanted to put emphasis on. He talked about the quality of the line, how using the graphite in different ways, can get you different line qualities and expressive marks. Once Drew was done with the demo the students grabbed their materials and got started on their still life drawings.

Something I continue to think about when I walk around the classroom, is how my constructive criticism might aid or confuse students. I get a little nervous when explaining things because I’m not the best at articulating my thoughts. I’ve been getting better but I’ve realized that my insecurities when it comes to speaking and giving students constructive criticism, sometimes prohibits me from giving feed back all together.

I’ve also realized that artistic vocabulary isn’t the largest, I’ve always been a little forgetful when it comes to remembering vocabulary from the artistic world. As long as I continue to remember and build my artistic vocabulary I think explaining and articulating myself will become less and less of an insecurity.

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Early Start: December 18th

Residency-Juxtaposition Arts-Leslie, Drew, Roger and Kristen 1.5 Hrs

Session planning meeting

Today was the day we planned a meeting before the winter VALT session was to take place. I met with Roger Cummings, one of the founders and artistic directors of Juxta, Kristen Murray the program director, Leslie and Drew who are the VALT lab leads. In this meeting we discussed some of the new things that Leslie might want to bring to the session in order to help the students develop their skills more.

One out of the multiple things I love about Juxta is the creative reign lab leads are able to have over the curriculum, as long as they follow the VALT principles and still help students gain the skills Lab has set out to obtain by the end of session.

We talked about how to keep students motivated when some of the sessions feel longer than others and students might be feeling taxed from the long day. We thought about games that the students could play during breaks or healthy food options to bring so that they can gain energy. In the VALT sessions, students are given break ranging from 15-20 minutes. Students are allowed to leave the building in order to get food if they are over the age of 15, if they are younger they have to be escorted by one of us. Roger encouraged us to tell the students on the day of orientation that we try to enforce healthy eating habits in order to keep the mind motivated and positive.

Another thing I love about Juxta is the implementation of ethos in the structure of the program and the overall organization. In regard to food Roger suggests that if students get food and bring it to session, it should be healthy.

We spoke about my role as a teaching artist assistant and how comfortable I feel about guiding some of the lessons. I felt nervous thinking about being more involved given I get nervous when it comes to explaining things (I’ve always been a terrible explainer) and I care about students being able to learn from me. Although I was nervous I feel as though there’s no easier way of stepping into the role as a teaching artist other than doing it and learning as you go. I feel good about working with Leslie and Drew because they’re really nice and very personable. I know I won’t have any problem asking them for help or advice.

Roger closed the meeting off with the following ethos:

-If there is a mouse or a spider in the space, don’t kill it, try to get it out some other way. We want to encourage advocating and helping those that are smaller than us.

-Be excellent, eat healthy, have a healthy art practice. Encourage healthy life style practices

-Support local vendors, suggest healthy options to eat from in order to preserve energy.

Early Start: January 10th

Residency-Juxtaposition-Drew-5.5 hours

1/10/19

Today before session I was invited to attend the lab leads meeting, which consists of all the leads who teach the different labs on campus plus the director of JUXTA and other faculty members. I’m really happy I was able to attend because I got the chance to meet most of the leads that I don’t normally see. The meeting started off with a group activity that required everyone to be involved, it consisted of all of us standing around a small hoop placed on the floor. In the hoop was a little soccer ball that could balance in the hoop when lifted. Attached to the hoop were a bunch of strings that were different colors, either solid black or neon pink and green. Each team member was instructed to grab on or two if enough strings were available. After each member had a string in hand we would all have to close our eyes accept for those holding a different colored string, so those who were holding the black string had to close their eyes, that included me. In this instance we were told not to speak and we had to somehow lift the ball in the center of the hoop off the ground without making it fall. The leads who didn’t have their eyes closed had to instruct us on who needed to tighten their string in order or the ball to stay leveled. After we accomplished this, the task got harder once we were told to that we had to walk outside of the building without dropping the ball, and while half of the lab leads had their eyes closed. With the help of the other lab leads trying to navigate those with their eyes closed outside of the building, we successfully accomplished the task. Once we reached outside of the building, those who had their eyes open and were communicating to the rest of the team, then had to have their eyes shut. Those with their eyes closed could now open their eyes and had to navigate the team back into the building by communicating in order to successfully lead the team back into the building without dropping the ball and placing it back down in its original position. After we successfully accomplished this task, one of the faculty stated that this activity was able to represent how each of us play a very important role in keeping the organization moving, that everyone is important and with communication and support we can achieve great things together. To me, things like this really make me happy to be apart of JUXTA, and to be apart of an organization that resembles a real family in many ways.

Early Start: January 9th

Residency-Juxtaposition Arts- Leslie and Drew-3hrs

Week 1. 1/9/19

For the first day of the VALT session Leslie, Drew and I presented the syllabus for the class. I stood as they presented so that I could take attendance and hand anyone who came late a syllabus and fill them in quickly so that Leslie and or Drew didn’t have to stop talking. The students in the room ranged from 13-20, most students were being attentive to their instructors and actively listening.

Once we finished going over the syllabus each of us presented our work to the class, so they could get to know us a little more through our art. We briefly spoke about our work and showed a few pieces and pictures of spaces our art had been exhibited. We present so that students understand what it is fine artists are capable of doing outside of an educational institution.

Once we finished presenting out work we allowed the students a break and transitioned into one of the icebreaker games. It’s important that we get to know each other and be able to address each other by name since this is a community art space and we want to create a safe, friendly and respectful environment. We played a ball game that would help begin the process of remembering 2o student’s names. I know the game definitely helped me remember most of the student’s names after a couple rounds of playing the ball game. Once we finished playing the game we went into a quick drawing activity before the class was over for the day. Each student was given a partner and they were each instructed to draw their partner while asking get-to-know-you questions. After 20 minutes of letting the students draw they presented their drawing and the name of their partner along with the answers to the questions we came up with as a class. The activity went really well, and I think the students enjoyed it although some were critical of their drawings if they didn’t turn out the way they wanted it to. All together it was a great first session.