David Holicky: A Short Story

Throughout my early teen years, I was exposed to different mediums of art and discovered that I could express myself through more channels than just paper. Although Barry found comfort in her 11 x 17 newsprint and some paint, I was able to focus my energy on making music and taking photographs. Without my art teachers, I wouldn’t have the expressive outlet I do today. My childhood was not filled with unhappiness as Lynda Barry’s was, but from both backgrounds, we found a warmth from the exposure of art that the educational system gave to us.

“For many years I taught art to reluctant students who never appreciated the detail required to communicate meaning behind the subject. You, however, seem able to do this.”

I’m sitting at my computer, ignoring pages of economics homework and mugs of cold tea now strewn about my desk, as I search for a direction to go with my life. Such was was my predicament several months ago. It’s undeniable that I’m an artist, hard and true, for a pencil found its way into my hand as a child, and no desire of mine nor of the universe ever tempted it to pry away. Throughout my earliest years and memories, I maneuvered with graphite, paint, and crayon every adventure that I ever dreamt of pursuing. Oh, I was a resilient child, as well, who refused to take part in any art class at school or as an extracurricular for an abundance of years, as I was invariably convinced that I could learn all I wished on my own accord! Consequently,

Ever since the late 1990s Cari Casper-Bassler, Rob Thornberry, and Dan Krause have been a positive and productive teachers in the Belleville West Art Department. Each sharing load of teaching Photography, Ceramics, Intro To Graphic Arts, Graphic Design, and Painting. Those who are apart of the art community know very well what each teacher teaches, However a sudden change this year is shaking things up and leaving many students confused.

Always sporting a camera around his neck, a mason jar mug, and his signature beard-cardigan-tattoo combo, Michael Gaffney was the youngest and therefore hippest teacher at The Harley School. Gaffney (as he was known to all the students) was the school’s Digital Media teacher for three years, and during his short time at the school he became my mentor, my advisor, and my friend. Of all my teachers, it was Gaffney who had the greatest influence on who I am and what I want to be.

Teaching might even be the greatest of the arts since the medium is the human mind and spirit.” During my past career as an art teacher at Intel Academy, introducing and demonstrating aesthetic techniques and materials have thrilled me as much as completing an art piece. Through workshops and demonstrations, I learned how to communicate and suggest better ways of developing their ideas and expressions. Some children had difficulties encountering art due to their behavioral problems; however, respecting their accomplishments and encouraging their process of following the curriculum became a part of the solution. My decision to apply to masters program in art education was pursued as I faced these

“We are in the twilight of a society based on data. As information and intelligence become the domain of computers, society will place a new value on the one human ability that can’t be automated: emotion (Jensen 84).” Fine arts is a way for people to express themselves. It is a way to show emotion and creativity, in a world filled with an abundance of accessible information. Everyone should have the chance to find something they are passionate about and can excel at, although, they must have the opportunity to discover these passions in the first place or these gifts would be held useless. Therefore, high schools should keep fine arts classes to motivate all students to learn, to interest students in future careers, and for a more well-rounded curriculum.

A quote by James Truslow Adams (1929) in the essay To “Be” or to “Do”: A Note on American Education “There are obviously two educations. One should teach us how to make a living, and the other how to live.” Many people debate what a school’s responsibilities to their students are. As an Art Teacher, I have given a great deal of thought to what my role is in a child’s education. My goal for teaching is to show students opportunities and give them the abilities to choose the life they want to live, so that each is empowered to make their own decisions. In the art room the hope is to provide a learning opportunity to all students, while allowing them to think, create, and grow. Art has a unique ability to offer something for everyone

The author wants to let the spectators know that without trial and error they’ll never learn off of their mistakes. That the artist needs to practice their position and understand which avenue they want to take their career. In the excerpt “ Letters to a Young Artist” it states, “Well, I believe that fundamental to becoming an artist is understanding the position of an artist, rehearsing that position, and practicing the position.” Other people might say that to create great art work you need empathy and knowledge but it clearly is that you need to be born with it. To sum up, an artist needs to fail and learn off of their mistakes in order to reach there

The first Senior Presentation I went to was on November 18th and there were eight people presenting that night. The person that stood out the most to me, and the person that this paper is over, was G. Gamache. At the beginning of the night, everybody was given artist statements that were written by the artist. The artist statements were meant to tell a little about the artist and why he/she does art. G’s statement starts off as follows,“I have noticed that over the past 6 years as a painting student that every time I begin something new I have no idea how to paint. This is maybe just telling of the way I work-nothing I do is exactly picking up where one thing left off. I don 't think that my work is without a certain voice, or certain common elements, yet each one feels kind of like something I 'm doing for the first time. This is good, probably. While artists’ having a signature style makes them easier to learn about in art history class, I don 't think people should really necessarily have a ‘thing” that they “do””. That is the first part of his statement and that alone got my attention even before he got to speaking. He is straightforward about things and doesn 't try and paint a pretty picture to make him seem more interesting, which I like. At one point in his statement, he even referred to himself as a “big dumb man-child” which I found to be refreshing and totally hilarious. His artwork that he showed was almost comical, but in a good way, and it helped to showcase

Ever since I was a little kid scribbling in Microsoft Paint, or an elementary school student crafting a finger-painted masterpiece, or middle school on the yearbook staff, or even professionally designing today, I’ve always been thinking, constructing, and creating. Coming from a self-employed family without a weekly paycheck, I’ve had to work for everything I have. I remember when I saved up all my birthday and Christmas money in fifth grade to finally purchase an ancient refurbished laptop. Because of our financial state, aside from school instruction and contracted positions, this is the first opportunity I’ve ever received to collaborate and grow in an extracurricular yet educational environment. I’ve yet to experience a place where I’m

Shelby was bullied in middle school and experienced a lot of stress because of it. Art had been used as a stress reliever for her after a rough day. She would spend lots of time in the art room painting away her thoughts and emotions. “Whenever I’m feeling upset or angry I usually pick up a pen or paint brush and just fill my sketch book with some form of art.” Shelby has made a lot of friends with fellow artists and enjoys hanging out with them regularly. Artists have a special connection with each other that someone like you or I wouldn’t be able to understand. “It’s definitely a tight knit community. You can’t just take up drawing and expect to understand everything we’re doing.” No one can really learn to draw, it’s just kind of a naturally born

It began with an idea, a God-sown seed that germinated and took root in the minds of the staff at CSCL—allow our students in grades 6 – 12 to express themselves in a corporate setting on one massive blank canvas. As in any educational institution, we had an ultimate objective: to amalgamate each individual student’s current divine revelatory experience into a singular artistic expression.

“Ouch” I yelped for the third time. But the elbow that had poked me, darted back under a canvas. I sighed as I put down my paintbrush coated in yellow. I loved art, but lately it had been tiring to sit down and focus. “ Come on Neena”said my best friend Ana. Ana was also the one that had been poking me with her elbow. “You could at least try something new once in awhile” she said. “Fine” I replied. “Maybe I'll go ask Ms. Zana if I could go to photography with you for a couple months.”

As a visiting artist for three years at The University of Iowa Hospital Schools, Thunder-McGuire had the opportunity to work with a student named Chris. Thunder-McGuire tells a narrative about how Chris interacts with the world and if he is truly making art. My take away from this piece was more of the personal interactions that Thunder-McGuire had with Chris. During