Jefferson Forest High School

WEBVTT
1
00:00:10.080 --> 00:00:13.320
Hello everyone, and welcome to Behind the Bower. I'm Ryan Stephan,
2
00:00:13.359 --> 00:00:15.400
the executive director for Bower Center for the Arts in
3
00:00:15.400 --> 00:00:20.000
beautiful Bedford, Virginia. This podcast is all about inspiring conversations,
4
00:00:20.079 --> 00:00:23.280
exploring the arts in our community, and shining spotlights on
5
00:00:23.320 --> 00:00:26.960
the incredible individuals and organizations that make the Bedford County
6
00:00:27.039 --> 00:00:30.320
arts scene so vibrant. This week is one of my
7
00:00:30.399 --> 00:00:33.240
favorite all time art shows and it opens. It is
8
00:00:33.280 --> 00:00:37.200
the Bedford County Public School High School Art Show, sponsored
9
00:00:37.200 --> 00:00:40.640
this year by the Bedford Area Educational Foundation, and this
10
00:00:40.719 --> 00:00:43.679
show highlights artists from all three of our local high schools,
11
00:00:43.679 --> 00:00:46.880
Stanton River High School, Liberty High School, and Jefferson Forest
12
00:00:46.960 --> 00:00:49.280
High School. It opens this week. We'll be in our
13
00:00:49.320 --> 00:00:53.000
galleries through Friday of next week. And I'm so excited
14
00:00:53.000 --> 00:00:56.479
today to welcome several guests from Jefferson Forest High School
15
00:00:56.560 --> 00:00:58.920
Art Department to talk to us a little bit about
16
00:00:58.920 --> 00:01:03.439
this show and this art Welcome everybody, Hi, thanks for
17
00:01:03.520 --> 00:01:05.519
joining me today on your day off from school. You're
18
00:01:05.519 --> 00:01:08.239
out of school today, right, yes, yes, so you came
19
00:01:08.319 --> 00:01:11.560
to school anyway. We'll remember that in the future. All right.
20
00:01:11.599 --> 00:01:13.480
I'd love to take just a minute to start by
21
00:01:13.480 --> 00:01:16.400
going around the table and introducing ourselves. So Maya, I'm
22
00:01:16.439 --> 00:01:18.120
gonna start with you. I just want you to tell
23
00:01:18.159 --> 00:01:20.319
me a little bit about yourself, what kind of art
24
00:01:20.359 --> 00:01:22.799
you do, and maybe how you found art or how
25
00:01:22.879 --> 00:01:23.480
art found you.
26
00:01:26.079 --> 00:01:29.319
I kind of just found it when I saw my
27
00:01:29.359 --> 00:01:32.519
brother's art because he was really into anime and like
28
00:01:32.640 --> 00:01:35.920
dragons for a good while, and that is like when
29
00:01:35.959 --> 00:01:37.719
I started it, and I was just like, wow, I
30
00:01:37.760 --> 00:01:40.640
want to do that. And so from there I was
31
00:01:40.680 --> 00:01:44.959
just like absentmindly drawing until like I found art in
32
00:01:45.079 --> 00:01:48.760
like an art class in school. Okay, I was like, whoa,
33
00:01:49.120 --> 00:01:49.959
I can actually do this.
34
00:01:50.159 --> 00:01:52.439
Yeah, I'm good at this. I like it. Yeah nice,
35
00:01:52.840 --> 00:01:54.519
All right, Sam, I introduced yourself for us.
36
00:01:55.120 --> 00:01:59.079
I'm Sam. There isn't really a time where I got
37
00:01:59.120 --> 00:02:02.079
into art. I've been into art since I was a kid,
38
00:02:02.359 --> 00:02:05.519
Like in elementary school, we would take art classes and
39
00:02:05.719 --> 00:02:10.479
I would just enjoy creating in that environment and.
40
00:02:10.599 --> 00:02:14.240
Yeah, yeah great. And it's Tonkins.
41
00:02:14.840 --> 00:02:16.919
Yes, my name is Jennifer Tonkins. I'm one of two
42
00:02:17.039 --> 00:02:20.520
art teachers at JF. This is my twelfth year teaching
43
00:02:20.599 --> 00:02:23.039
at JF and my twenty second year teaching art at
44
00:02:23.080 --> 00:02:26.400
the High school level. At JF I teach Art two,
45
00:02:26.680 --> 00:02:29.400
Art three, Art four, Art five, three D one, and
46
00:02:29.439 --> 00:02:34.159
three D two. My favorite art style is surrealism and
47
00:02:34.360 --> 00:02:37.319
actually abstract art, and the kind of media that I
48
00:02:37.400 --> 00:02:39.960
like to work with is painting and ceramics.
49
00:02:40.280 --> 00:02:42.439
Great. Yeah, So I don't know if you all know.
50
00:02:42.479 --> 00:02:44.919
I'm a former high school teacher. So I actually was
51
00:02:44.960 --> 00:02:47.360
a high school theater teacher for twenty one years before
52
00:02:47.400 --> 00:02:50.319
I moved here, so I understand that whole art side
53
00:02:50.319 --> 00:02:53.560
of the brain. While I'm not an artist, I am
54
00:02:53.599 --> 00:02:56.400
a set designer, so that would would be you know,
55
00:02:56.400 --> 00:02:59.039
I would always tell people I create life size, three
56
00:02:59.039 --> 00:03:01.400
dimensional sculptures that I build and then I rip them
57
00:03:01.439 --> 00:03:04.560
all back down after the show's done. So you know,
58
00:03:04.759 --> 00:03:07.080
I love talking to artists. I love talking to students.
59
00:03:07.120 --> 00:03:10.319
I think sometimes students have way more packed behind their
60
00:03:10.319 --> 00:03:12.840
eyes than everybody thinks they do. So I'm excited to
61
00:03:12.840 --> 00:03:14.599
talk to you all a little bit about just your art,
62
00:03:14.639 --> 00:03:17.800
yourselves as artists. So what I want to say to
63
00:03:17.800 --> 00:03:21.680
ask first is why art? Why art?
64
00:03:22.000 --> 00:03:24.840
Because it I feel like it lends more through like
65
00:03:25.000 --> 00:03:28.599
expression of the brain, Like where you can't like express
66
00:03:28.599 --> 00:03:31.240
things with words, you can just like put it in
67
00:03:31.280 --> 00:03:34.439
color or put it in like a sketch or something
68
00:03:34.599 --> 00:03:38.240
like and have people visually see what you're feeling or
69
00:03:38.319 --> 00:03:39.120
how you're thinking.
70
00:03:40.400 --> 00:03:41.599
Do you feel like that works for you?
71
00:03:42.039 --> 00:03:44.000
Yeah, definitely, And I feel like it also works for
72
00:03:44.039 --> 00:03:47.360
people who just don't know how to say something.
73
00:03:47.199 --> 00:03:50.240
Or Yeah, I think that's very insightful. How about you?
74
00:03:50.280 --> 00:03:52.479
Why art? You said it's been around in your life forever?
75
00:03:53.159 --> 00:03:54.520
So why Well?
76
00:03:54.560 --> 00:03:57.879
I think it allows people to It allows a way
77
00:03:57.919 --> 00:04:02.240
to express yourself in a way and discover yourself. It
78
00:04:02.280 --> 00:04:04.680
allows them to show like a creative side of them,
79
00:04:05.080 --> 00:04:11.599
and it allows them to find like a tool for
80
00:04:11.680 --> 00:04:18.240
them to express their own self and how to have
81
00:04:18.319 --> 00:04:24.279
like a way to to enjoy life.
82
00:04:24.519 --> 00:04:26.759
So Sam, telling me a little bit more about your art.
83
00:04:26.759 --> 00:04:28.480
What kind of art do you like to do?
84
00:04:29.160 --> 00:04:29.360
Oh?
85
00:04:29.439 --> 00:04:34.360
I love realism, Okay, I love enjoying working with charcoal
86
00:04:34.399 --> 00:04:39.120
and gruffite, and I like challenge myself like them.
87
00:04:39.279 --> 00:04:40.560
How do you challenge yourself with it?
88
00:04:41.000 --> 00:04:41.959
I make everything harder.
89
00:04:43.000 --> 00:04:46.199
That's what artists do, right, And how about you, Maya,
90
00:04:46.279 --> 00:04:48.319
what kind of what medium do you like to work
91
00:04:48.360 --> 00:04:49.680
in the best? What kind of art do you like
92
00:04:49.759 --> 00:04:50.000
to do?
93
00:04:50.680 --> 00:04:55.839
I really like like using markers, I'm really bad at
94
00:04:55.839 --> 00:04:58.199
it them like digital and like also using markers on
95
00:04:58.319 --> 00:05:02.680
traditional once God is also really challenging, and I like
96
00:05:02.759 --> 00:05:05.920
making things harder around myself with both of them, because
97
00:05:05.920 --> 00:05:08.560
as much as I like doing them, I'm extremely not
98
00:05:08.639 --> 00:05:09.720
skilled at them at all.
99
00:05:09.879 --> 00:05:12.079
Okay, you say you're not good at them, I'm gonna
100
00:05:12.079 --> 00:05:15.160
rewind and say you're not good at them yet yet yet.
101
00:05:15.560 --> 00:05:17.240
I'm just going to work with it. And sometimes you
102
00:05:17.279 --> 00:05:19.360
find your individual voice through it, and what you think
103
00:05:19.480 --> 00:05:22.120
is not great, somebody else will look at you.
104
00:05:22.160 --> 00:05:22.240
Know.
105
00:05:22.319 --> 00:05:25.560
It reminds me. I made this joke that when the
106
00:05:25.600 --> 00:05:28.000
middle school show was in last week, there was somebody
107
00:05:28.040 --> 00:05:29.959
and I don't remember this artist's name, and I wish
108
00:05:30.000 --> 00:05:34.839
I did. Who did a croissant out of alcohol markers
109
00:05:35.240 --> 00:05:37.399
that was waving And I told somebody I was like,
110
00:05:37.439 --> 00:05:39.839
if that was for sale, I would buy it, Like
111
00:05:39.959 --> 00:05:43.120
I that piece brings me joy when I look at it.
112
00:05:43.199 --> 00:05:45.839
I think it is joyful. I think it is thoughtful,
113
00:05:47.160 --> 00:05:49.079
and I hope that that person knows that they have
114
00:05:49.240 --> 00:05:52.399
their art has that effect on other people. Yeah, so
115
00:05:52.439 --> 00:05:55.920
I know that you both probably create art for yourselves, right,
116
00:05:56.639 --> 00:05:59.040
So I would say, what do you like to explore
117
00:05:59.040 --> 00:06:01.759
when you're when you're looking yourself, what are you exploring
118
00:06:02.759 --> 00:06:04.240
through your art? Either one of you.
119
00:06:05.279 --> 00:06:07.279
I have this thing where I just like don't know
120
00:06:07.319 --> 00:06:09.600
who I am, and so when I finish a piece,
121
00:06:09.720 --> 00:06:11.920
I'm just like, Okay, so that's who I am because
122
00:06:11.959 --> 00:06:14.279
I express that on paper, And like, I didn't know
123
00:06:14.279 --> 00:06:17.399
how I was feeling for like while I was making it.
124
00:06:17.560 --> 00:06:20.519
But afterwards, I'm just like, okay, so that's where I
125
00:06:20.680 --> 00:06:21.680
was at the moment.
126
00:06:22.439 --> 00:06:24.600
That that's a huge I'm going to come back to
127
00:06:24.600 --> 00:06:25.759
that in just a second. How about you.
128
00:06:26.639 --> 00:06:30.000
I like expressing my health issues. Actually, okay, I have
129
00:06:30.079 --> 00:06:32.600
some sort of health issues I have, like scoliosays, I
130
00:06:32.639 --> 00:06:35.480
have a connective tissue disorder, and I like making little
131
00:06:35.519 --> 00:06:37.160
references in my works.
132
00:06:36.959 --> 00:06:39.600
About that, and there are probably people who can relate
133
00:06:39.639 --> 00:06:42.959
to that, we can empathize, who probably see that. You know,
134
00:06:43.040 --> 00:06:45.279
one thing I love about art is that you know, obviously,
135
00:06:45.319 --> 00:06:48.240
there is the story. There is the story that you're developing,
136
00:06:48.560 --> 00:06:51.399
there's the story that you're telling, but then there's also
137
00:06:51.439 --> 00:06:54.000
the story that your viewer brings to the piece as well.
138
00:06:54.360 --> 00:06:55.879
You know, so they're going to look at it and
139
00:06:55.879 --> 00:06:58.639
they're going to infuse what they know in their own
140
00:06:58.680 --> 00:07:01.720
life and what they can connect with, you know, and
141
00:07:01.759 --> 00:07:04.240
what kind of happens is this collective story that the
142
00:07:04.360 --> 00:07:08.519
artist and the patron kind of create together. I love.
143
00:07:08.560 --> 00:07:09.959
One of the things that you said is you didn't
144
00:07:10.000 --> 00:07:12.040
know what you thought until you put it down. That
145
00:07:12.120 --> 00:07:14.560
was one of my favorite phrases as a teacher is
146
00:07:14.600 --> 00:07:16.800
I also taught English, so I taught theater in English,
147
00:07:16.879 --> 00:07:18.839
and I would tell my students all the time, you
148
00:07:18.879 --> 00:07:21.480
don't know what you're thinking until you write it down
149
00:07:21.560 --> 00:07:24.120
or say it out loud. And I need you all
150
00:07:24.160 --> 00:07:26.560
to feel safe enough to think that nothing you say
151
00:07:26.680 --> 00:07:30.399
is dumb and nothing that you write is wrong because
152
00:07:30.399 --> 00:07:33.240
it's what you're thinking in the moment. And I feel
153
00:07:33.279 --> 00:07:35.839
like that has been the encouragement you've gotten in your
154
00:07:35.920 --> 00:07:36.680
artwork as well.
155
00:07:36.920 --> 00:07:41.519
Yeah, definitely, because like what I said about, it's an
156
00:07:41.519 --> 00:07:44.360
expression of those who can't like speak for themselves. Like
157
00:07:45.079 --> 00:07:47.360
I just don't know words very well. I don't know
158
00:07:47.399 --> 00:07:49.600
what but I don't and so when I see it
159
00:07:49.680 --> 00:07:52.199
on the paper or like afterwards, I'm just like, Okay,
160
00:07:52.800 --> 00:07:53.199
I got this.
161
00:07:53.360 --> 00:07:55.639
Yeah, So you know lines and you know color, and
162
00:07:55.680 --> 00:07:59.439
you know a different way to express than the worst. Yeah, yeah,
163
00:07:59.480 --> 00:08:03.519
that's awesome. I didn't mean to ignore you misstoppings. It's
164
00:08:03.560 --> 00:08:05.720
all about them. It's so fun to listen to that.
165
00:08:06.000 --> 00:08:08.600
So would you say that is your philosophy is an
166
00:08:08.680 --> 00:08:14.720
art teacher as well, to take risks, to not worry exactly.
167
00:08:15.079 --> 00:08:18.040
Yeah. So I think that I'm open enough for students
168
00:08:18.120 --> 00:08:20.439
to take those risks. And I don't want to be punitive,
169
00:08:21.759 --> 00:08:25.279
because you're not going to learn unless you try. And
170
00:08:25.319 --> 00:08:28.519
I don't really believe in failures, so I always tell
171
00:08:28.519 --> 00:08:31.120
my students it's like if they do something in their
172
00:08:31.160 --> 00:08:33.960
composition that they didn't really plan for, it's like, make
173
00:08:34.000 --> 00:08:36.799
it work. And you know, art is just you know,
174
00:08:36.879 --> 00:08:40.159
a long process of just solving problems visually.
175
00:08:40.039 --> 00:08:42.000
Right, I mean, make it work or look at it
176
00:08:42.039 --> 00:08:44.240
and learn from it, like you could say, you know,
177
00:08:44.360 --> 00:08:46.440
half the time as an artist, at least for myself,
178
00:08:47.159 --> 00:08:49.440
you would do it and say, well that didn't work.
179
00:08:50.000 --> 00:08:52.240
And then you might discover something that's better than what
180
00:08:52.279 --> 00:08:53.679
you play exactly exactly.
181
00:08:53.720 --> 00:08:56.000
I remember I painted a set once and it was
182
00:08:56.039 --> 00:08:58.120
for a show Anything Goes, which is not that exciting
183
00:08:58.159 --> 00:09:00.159
of a show, and I painted it white and I
184
00:09:00.200 --> 00:09:03.159
was like oh wow, that is an iceberg. That is
185
00:09:03.200 --> 00:09:05.240
a whole iceberg on the stage, and that's not what
186
00:09:05.279 --> 00:09:07.759
I was looking for. And then, you know, I had
187
00:09:07.799 --> 00:09:11.039
a student who was like, yes, but like what if
188
00:09:11.080 --> 00:09:14.440
we do this and went up and took a picture
189
00:09:14.480 --> 00:09:16.399
of it or drew it out and started drawing all
190
00:09:16.399 --> 00:09:17.960
these things he wanted to add to it, and he's like,
191
00:09:18.039 --> 00:09:20.639
so it's not an iceberg anymore. Yeah, And you know,
192
00:09:20.879 --> 00:09:23.600
it was great to have, honestly a student come back
193
00:09:23.639 --> 00:09:26.000
to me and say, here is what we've learned from this.
194
00:09:27.039 --> 00:09:30.039
I've also painted sets awful colors. So I put it on,
195
00:09:30.080 --> 00:09:32.240
I turned on the lights. I was like, wow, that's
196
00:09:32.799 --> 00:09:34.360
that was a choice and not a good one. So
197
00:09:34.360 --> 00:09:36.360
I'm gonna go buy some new paint. So you know,
198
00:09:36.440 --> 00:09:39.200
sometimes you work with it and grow, and sometimes you
199
00:09:39.240 --> 00:09:41.039
know it's not gonna work and you move on.
200
00:09:41.480 --> 00:09:41.759
Yeah.
201
00:09:41.840 --> 00:09:45.320
Yeah, yeah, So tell me about I'll start with you.
202
00:09:45.360 --> 00:09:47.840
Tell me about the Do you have a favorite piece
203
00:09:47.879 --> 00:09:50.799
you've worked on, like a secret favorite piece, secret favorite piece.
204
00:09:51.279 --> 00:09:52.799
You don't have to name it or tell anybody what
205
00:09:52.840 --> 00:09:54.600
it is, just picture it in your head.
206
00:09:55.039 --> 00:09:58.159
I think it's a piece that I finished on Friday. Actually,
207
00:09:58.639 --> 00:10:00.960
I think that's my favorite is like a teapots that
208
00:10:01.279 --> 00:10:03.159
made of turckle and with me forever.
209
00:10:03.360 --> 00:10:04.480
So what about it do you love?
210
00:10:05.799 --> 00:10:08.840
Maybe how complex it was and the process of making it.
211
00:10:09.600 --> 00:10:14.440
So what did you learn that I should stop being
212
00:10:14.559 --> 00:10:19.360
perfect and just admire the progress that I've made?
213
00:10:19.759 --> 00:10:21.360
So what makes it your favorite piece? Then?
214
00:10:22.200 --> 00:10:22.759
Not too sure?
215
00:10:23.159 --> 00:10:25.639
Okay? I mean sometimes we're not sure. We just love it.
216
00:10:25.720 --> 00:10:27.879
Sometimes we're proud of what we were able to accomplish
217
00:10:27.879 --> 00:10:30.279
because we didn't know it was there until it's there
218
00:10:30.279 --> 00:10:32.480
in front of us. How about you? You got a favorite piece?
219
00:10:34.399 --> 00:10:37.840
Try to think, not exactly a favorite, but I think
220
00:10:37.919 --> 00:10:43.519
it was the reflection drawing i'd with graphite last year
221
00:10:43.559 --> 00:10:46.840
because I learned a lot more because I had fallen
222
00:10:46.960 --> 00:10:50.399
back on my skills as an artist in realism, and
223
00:10:50.440 --> 00:10:53.039
so it helped me gain more skill in that area
224
00:10:53.559 --> 00:10:56.080
and so I appreciate it the most out of all
225
00:10:56.200 --> 00:10:56.600
my art.
226
00:10:57.080 --> 00:10:59.480
Yeah, I think that's important to stretch yourselves in the
227
00:10:59.559 --> 00:11:02.080
arts that are not in your comfort zone to see
228
00:11:02.080 --> 00:11:04.720
how they inform the art that is in your comfort zone.
229
00:11:05.159 --> 00:11:08.600
You know, it's we have an artist, it's a Vmeister
230
00:11:08.759 --> 00:11:11.399
artist in residence. So it's a an artist that is
231
00:11:11.600 --> 00:11:14.240
just begetting their career and she's a mosaic artist and
232
00:11:14.279 --> 00:11:16.279
a painter, and she talked to me and she's like,
233
00:11:16.279 --> 00:11:18.399
I think I really want to take clay. I want
234
00:11:18.440 --> 00:11:20.279
to learn how to throw on the pottery wheel. And
235
00:11:20.320 --> 00:11:22.159
I was like that sounds great. Why And she's like,
236
00:11:22.200 --> 00:11:24.759
because I think I will better understand what I'm painting
237
00:11:25.200 --> 00:11:27.720
if I have to work with it in three dimension first.
238
00:11:28.399 --> 00:11:28.639
Yeah.
239
00:11:28.679 --> 00:11:32.080
And I thought that was such a smart, introspective way
240
00:11:32.120 --> 00:11:34.600
to look at that. And I feel like both of
241
00:11:34.639 --> 00:11:36.559
you were kind of saying that, like you're learning from
242
00:11:36.639 --> 00:11:38.639
other things and bringing it to the table when you
243
00:11:38.639 --> 00:11:43.200
create a new thing. I love that. So as an artist,
244
00:11:43.600 --> 00:11:47.519
is what is your favorite like element to play with?
245
00:11:47.639 --> 00:11:50.039
Like do you love to play with lines? Color, texture?
246
00:11:50.039 --> 00:11:50.919
What do you like to play with?
247
00:11:53.840 --> 00:11:57.399
Sadly, it is color, which is like the worst once again,
248
00:11:57.480 --> 00:12:00.399
my worst area. I love colors much.
249
00:12:00.240 --> 00:12:02.879
Because that's why you play with it, yeah, Like it speaks.
250
00:12:02.519 --> 00:12:05.799
So much to the emotions into like the tone of
251
00:12:05.840 --> 00:12:09.799
the painting. And that's why I'm just like always trying
252
00:12:09.840 --> 00:12:13.360
to at home, like work with it so that I
253
00:12:13.360 --> 00:12:16.919
can actually put it into like serious art because it's
254
00:12:16.960 --> 00:12:17.919
so important.
255
00:12:17.679 --> 00:12:20.960
Color, and color is so complex and every time you
256
00:12:20.960 --> 00:12:22.960
think you have color figured out, you just don't have
257
00:12:23.039 --> 00:12:25.120
color figured out. How about you, what's your favorite one
258
00:12:25.399 --> 00:12:27.159
favorite element to manipulate a little bit?
259
00:12:27.720 --> 00:12:30.399
I'd also say color. I also suck at it. I
260
00:12:30.440 --> 00:12:35.159
think I just sometimes can't get the color right. But
261
00:12:36.159 --> 00:12:37.200
we all make mistakes.
262
00:12:37.320 --> 00:12:39.159
You. I love that both of you said that you
263
00:12:39.240 --> 00:12:41.080
love to play with color, but when we talk about
264
00:12:41.080 --> 00:12:44.799
your favorite artworks, they were all graphite and black and white.
265
00:12:45.360 --> 00:12:48.080
I'm going to encourage you leap into the color. Jump
266
00:12:48.120 --> 00:12:50.320
into it, play with it, put it on the paper,
267
00:12:50.399 --> 00:12:53.039
put it on a project. See what happens. The worst
268
00:12:53.080 --> 00:12:55.639
that you have to do is cover it up right right?
269
00:12:56.320 --> 00:13:00.840
So before I, before I transition a little bit more
270
00:13:00.840 --> 00:13:04.600
into theoretical stuff, what would you say has influenced your
271
00:13:04.679 --> 00:13:07.799
own artistic journey so far? I know it's a new journey,
272
00:13:07.799 --> 00:13:11.279
it's an early journey for you. But what has what
273
00:13:11.360 --> 00:13:13.080
has affected that journey the most?
274
00:13:15.399 --> 00:13:20.159
I feel like you'd hear this a lot with teens anime, honestly,
275
00:13:20.559 --> 00:13:24.279
like underrated, I'm gonna be so real, Like if you
276
00:13:24.360 --> 00:13:28.080
look past that, like the way it affects the culture,
277
00:13:28.120 --> 00:13:30.799
if you look at the animation and the skill that
278
00:13:30.879 --> 00:13:34.639
it takes to make the characters act how they are
279
00:13:35.120 --> 00:13:38.279
and to like be on that line of reality and fiction.
280
00:13:38.919 --> 00:13:41.240
It's so interesting to me and I want to be
281
00:13:41.279 --> 00:13:44.000
able to be skilled enough to have that like be
282
00:13:44.080 --> 00:13:44.639
on that line.
283
00:13:44.720 --> 00:13:46.799
Yeah, how about you?
284
00:13:48.320 --> 00:13:52.039
As I previously said, I think my health issues it
285
00:13:52.200 --> 00:13:56.960
allows me to connect with people and allows to show
286
00:13:57.159 --> 00:14:00.200
other people, Hey, this is what I'm going through. Maybe
287
00:14:00.240 --> 00:14:01.639
you can connect with me, right.
288
00:14:01.720 --> 00:14:03.600
And it's hard to say how you feel, but sometimes
289
00:14:03.600 --> 00:14:05.720
it's a little bit easier to show how you feel. Yes,
290
00:14:07.519 --> 00:14:10.080
So I want to talk about art education in general,
291
00:14:10.720 --> 00:14:12.679
because you know, arts has been under fire for a
292
00:14:12.720 --> 00:14:15.799
while in schools. You know, it's not it's not the
293
00:14:16.320 --> 00:14:18.720
core you you know, it's not reading, it's not writing,
294
00:14:18.759 --> 00:14:22.679
it's not math, it's not science. Why do you two,
295
00:14:22.879 --> 00:14:26.559
as art students believe that art is important in.
296
00:14:26.480 --> 00:14:31.039
Schools because for me personally, it taught me a lot
297
00:14:31.039 --> 00:14:34.679
of empathy because of how much you have to really
298
00:14:34.720 --> 00:14:39.080
read into every piece you're looking at. You have to
299
00:14:39.159 --> 00:14:42.399
really understand where the original artist was, where you as
300
00:14:42.399 --> 00:14:46.039
a viewer are in like how this may affect the
301
00:14:46.080 --> 00:14:48.960
culture around them. So it's like a lot of you
302
00:14:49.000 --> 00:14:52.440
have to be very empathetic to understand and do art.
303
00:14:52.840 --> 00:14:56.279
Yeah, yeah, I think it gives like a creative and
304
00:14:56.279 --> 00:15:01.440
emotional outlet for students and people and how they can
305
00:15:01.519 --> 00:15:03.919
understand each other. And it also gives like some sort
306
00:15:03.960 --> 00:15:08.200
of freedom, like, hey, you can create anything and as
307
00:15:08.240 --> 00:15:11.039
long as you put your mind into it, and it's
308
00:15:11.080 --> 00:15:13.759
like a tool to help you discover yourself.
309
00:15:13.799 --> 00:15:17.039
Further, I love the so the teachers and us are
310
00:15:17.039 --> 00:15:19.720
we're loving part of this because we're seeing the whole
311
00:15:19.840 --> 00:15:22.879
range right now. Like there is definitely comprehension, but there
312
00:15:22.919 --> 00:15:27.600
is also analysis, there's a valuation. You're synthesizing multiple parts
313
00:15:27.600 --> 00:15:30.120
of your world and trying to put them together into
314
00:15:30.279 --> 00:15:33.720
one communicative piece. You know, those are the skills at
315
00:15:33.759 --> 00:15:35.879
the end of the day that we need human beings
316
00:15:35.919 --> 00:15:38.080
to have. Like, yes, I need people to know how
317
00:15:38.080 --> 00:15:39.879
to do math, but I also need them to know
318
00:15:39.919 --> 00:15:42.559
how to communicate. Yeah, and so I think that that
319
00:15:42.799 --> 00:15:45.279
you know for me is one of those really important parts.
320
00:15:45.600 --> 00:15:49.120
Let's shift the gears to the teacher. I know why
321
00:15:49.440 --> 00:15:51.120
you know you are an art teacher. So this is
322
00:15:51.159 --> 00:15:53.960
a biased answer, But why do you think art is
323
00:15:54.000 --> 00:15:56.519
important in schools? Oh?
324
00:15:56.600 --> 00:15:59.159
For a myriader of reasons. I think that the it's
325
00:15:59.200 --> 00:16:05.360
emotional release. I think that you know, art has been,
326
00:16:05.559 --> 00:16:08.480
you know, important to humanity for thousands of years. Our
327
00:16:08.519 --> 00:16:12.480
first evidence of prehistory was not in written form, so
328
00:16:12.559 --> 00:16:15.399
it was in visual form. And so that's something that's
329
00:16:15.480 --> 00:16:20.000
unique to humans versus animals, is you know, our art.
330
00:16:20.080 --> 00:16:23.320
So that's something that should be celebrated and studied and
331
00:16:24.240 --> 00:16:26.399
continue to be researched and practiced.
332
00:16:27.440 --> 00:16:30.440
It's sometimes easy as a teacher to feel lost or
333
00:16:30.480 --> 00:16:34.960
forgotten sometimes, you know, you know that you said through
334
00:16:35.120 --> 00:16:39.159
sometimes these these data analysis workshops, and you're like, that
335
00:16:39.639 --> 00:16:44.120
doesn't really apply to me. So how do you find
336
00:16:44.159 --> 00:16:47.120
that balance of you know, there are some people who
337
00:16:47.320 --> 00:16:49.799
would view, and I've heard this from my own experience,
338
00:16:49.919 --> 00:16:52.039
that I didn't teach a real subject. The theater wasn't
339
00:16:52.039 --> 00:16:55.039
a real subject. And I'm sure that there is somebody
340
00:16:55.039 --> 00:16:56.720
out there who thought, well, art, it's not really a
341
00:16:56.759 --> 00:16:59.120
real subject, but it's a very real subject.
342
00:16:59.159 --> 00:17:02.759
How do you respond, Well, you know, art taps into
343
00:17:02.759 --> 00:17:07.799
one of the seven intelligences, and so that was first
344
00:17:09.119 --> 00:17:15.640
purported by this artist's named Howard Gardner. So this is
345
00:17:15.680 --> 00:17:18.160
like in the early nineteen eighties and his book Frames
346
00:17:18.160 --> 00:17:22.519
of Mind, The Theory of Multiple Intelligences. So many schools
347
00:17:22.559 --> 00:17:27.119
just focus on verbal, linguistic, and mathematical spatial, but there's
348
00:17:27.160 --> 00:17:33.400
actually five more. So art hones in on the visual.
349
00:17:34.039 --> 00:17:35.839
And so this is you know, one of the ways
350
00:17:35.839 --> 00:17:40.319
not only that we learn, but also the methods that
351
00:17:40.400 --> 00:17:42.759
we that we grow and that we can exercise students
352
00:17:42.799 --> 00:17:50.039
brains in and are also taps into different ways of knowing.
353
00:17:50.599 --> 00:17:57.119
So you have non discursive and discursive knowledge. So non
354
00:17:57.119 --> 00:18:01.200
discursive knowledge is nonlinear and and so this is a
355
00:18:01.319 --> 00:18:05.599
universal knowing that comprises feeling and content and much of
356
00:18:05.640 --> 00:18:10.599
our understanding, learning, and appreciating of art involves non discursive knowledge.
357
00:18:10.759 --> 00:18:13.519
So that is something that anybody can relate to. So
358
00:18:13.559 --> 00:18:16.920
if people are listening to the Oh to Joy by Beethove,
359
00:18:17.000 --> 00:18:19.160
it doesn't matter what culture that you're coming from or
360
00:18:19.200 --> 00:18:21.960
what language you speak, everybody's going to be affected by
361
00:18:22.000 --> 00:18:23.240
it and they're going to be exalted by it.
362
00:18:23.519 --> 00:18:26.279
Yeah. Yeah, and art has this weird thing where it
363
00:18:26.319 --> 00:18:29.079
just moves us sometimes. Yeah, you know that is you
364
00:18:29.119 --> 00:18:31.240
know one of the things that today was the first
365
00:18:31.279 --> 00:18:33.240
day you got to really take a very strong look
366
00:18:33.240 --> 00:18:35.880
at the exhibit mostly because I was, you know, working
367
00:18:35.880 --> 00:18:38.400
out all the forms and getting everything ready. So I
368
00:18:38.480 --> 00:18:40.720
was just kind of going through and exploring piece by piece.
369
00:18:40.720 --> 00:18:42.279
And I'm not going to lie. There are some pieces
370
00:18:42.640 --> 00:18:46.119
that make me feel lots of things, and I'm especially
371
00:18:46.200 --> 00:18:48.920
happy again to see that those are high school student pieces.
372
00:18:50.039 --> 00:18:52.359
And I'm also happy to say, and I don't even
373
00:18:52.400 --> 00:18:54.680
know if you know this story, the very first piece
374
00:18:54.759 --> 00:18:57.400
I bought from the Bauer Center was from a high
375
00:18:57.400 --> 00:19:03.039
school art show. It wasn't for sale, however, I knew
376
00:19:03.039 --> 00:19:04.839
the teacher and I said, hey, I want you to
377
00:19:04.880 --> 00:19:07.480
ask this kid, would they sell me this painting if
378
00:19:07.519 --> 00:19:10.640
I bought it? And so she put me in contact
379
00:19:10.680 --> 00:19:13.680
with the student. I asked how much she would like
380
00:19:13.720 --> 00:19:16.640
for her painting, and she said seventy five dollars and
381
00:19:16.720 --> 00:19:19.119
I responded back that I would pay her no less
382
00:19:19.160 --> 00:19:20.960
than two hundred dollars and I need her to learn
383
00:19:21.000 --> 00:19:23.680
to take price or art better good for you, And
384
00:19:23.720 --> 00:19:26.200
so like it moved me enough, like like the middle
385
00:19:26.200 --> 00:19:28.240
school piece, if it was for sale, that chroissant would
386
00:19:28.279 --> 00:19:31.400
be in my kitchen. You know, this piece is in
387
00:19:31.480 --> 00:19:34.279
my house because as I said, it just brought me joy.
388
00:19:34.319 --> 00:19:36.880
And you know, I hope. This is my hope for
389
00:19:36.920 --> 00:19:39.440
anybody who comes and sees the show in the next
390
00:19:39.440 --> 00:19:42.400
two weeks, is that they really take some time with
391
00:19:42.440 --> 00:19:46.119
the pieces that they stop, they examine, They try to
392
00:19:46.160 --> 00:19:49.519
piece together your story, they try to piece together their
393
00:19:49.559 --> 00:19:52.960
own story and how that story fits together, and be
394
00:19:53.119 --> 00:19:55.720
moved by the pieces, because there are many many pieces
395
00:19:55.720 --> 00:19:58.599
there that are very moving. Yeah, and that's that's a
396
00:19:58.640 --> 00:20:01.319
compliment to the teachers. That's compliment to the students and
397
00:20:01.359 --> 00:20:04.559
the artists. You know, it is a I cannot praise
398
00:20:04.599 --> 00:20:06.960
this show highly enough. Yeah.
399
00:20:07.000 --> 00:20:09.799
Now, I've noticed, like over the years since I've been teaching,
400
00:20:09.920 --> 00:20:14.440
that students' artistic skill and intelligence has increased just exponentially.
401
00:20:14.880 --> 00:20:16.839
And I do think that that goes back to the
402
00:20:16.920 --> 00:20:21.000
anime because ever since students have had access to the
403
00:20:21.000 --> 00:20:23.799
Internet and they see all these visual forms, So whether
404
00:20:23.839 --> 00:20:27.519
it's videos or just you know, practicing like different cartoons
405
00:20:27.519 --> 00:20:31.359
and anime, they come into Art one and Art two
406
00:20:31.480 --> 00:20:34.079
with really high skills that they didn't used to have.
407
00:20:34.680 --> 00:20:37.599
So it helps them with proportion, with contour, line, et cetera.
408
00:20:38.960 --> 00:20:41.400
But I have a lot of people who remark about
409
00:20:41.400 --> 00:20:43.079
their like, wow, we can't believe that these are high
410
00:20:43.079 --> 00:20:46.799
school students that do this work, and they're incredibly skilled.
411
00:20:46.799 --> 00:20:48.599
I mean, they're already some of them are already at
412
00:20:48.599 --> 00:20:51.519
a professional level. And also I think the benefit of
413
00:20:51.559 --> 00:20:54.319
being a teenager or in high school when you're young
414
00:20:54.480 --> 00:20:56.799
is that you're willing to take those risks. And so
415
00:20:56.839 --> 00:20:59.240
they're willing to really push themselves and go out there
416
00:20:59.279 --> 00:21:01.880
and do it where people would be hesitant. Yeah, and
417
00:21:01.920 --> 00:21:03.640
because they're willing to take that risk, that it gives
418
00:21:03.680 --> 00:21:05.079
them that extra edge.
419
00:21:05.160 --> 00:21:08.160
And they live such interesting stories right now. Yeah, you know,
420
00:21:08.599 --> 00:21:11.400
I you know, there's something it's a scary part. When
421
00:21:11.440 --> 00:21:14.559
you get older, you realize that your world shrinks much smaller,
422
00:21:15.480 --> 00:21:18.920
you know. And I never really experienced that because I
423
00:21:18.920 --> 00:21:21.720
went straight from school to being a teacher, and so
424
00:21:21.799 --> 00:21:23.880
my world was always big and large. And then I
425
00:21:23.920 --> 00:21:26.640
stepped out of the teaching world and I realized how
426
00:21:26.799 --> 00:21:29.799
narrow my world had gotten, and how narrow my frame
427
00:21:29.839 --> 00:21:33.920
of reference of story and experience had gotten. And you're
428
00:21:33.920 --> 00:21:37.240
at a perfect time to collect all of these stories
429
00:21:37.279 --> 00:21:40.680
and perspectives and ideas that I think that maybe we
430
00:21:40.759 --> 00:21:43.079
forget about until it's gone.
431
00:21:44.000 --> 00:21:46.759
Yeah, it's like hosting, you know, like five five art
432
00:21:46.799 --> 00:21:49.000
parties every day, So I get to work with all
433
00:21:49.039 --> 00:21:51.359
of my students and I learn from them, and I
434
00:21:51.400 --> 00:21:53.279
walk around the classroom and I look at what they're
435
00:21:53.279 --> 00:21:55.599
doing and give them advice. But I also ask them questions,
436
00:21:55.880 --> 00:21:57.920
and so that stimulates me and I learn as much
437
00:21:57.920 --> 00:21:59.319
from them. They might say, oh, I went to this
438
00:21:59.440 --> 00:22:02.680
museum more, you know, I went to this college and
439
00:22:02.720 --> 00:22:05.200
saw this and so it's so it's so fun and
440
00:22:05.480 --> 00:22:06.240
inspiring to me.
441
00:22:07.000 --> 00:22:10.160
What do you two think art teaches you that other
442
00:22:10.279 --> 00:22:11.079
subjects don't.
443
00:22:11.440 --> 00:22:14.799
I feel like analysis I've learned more in art than
444
00:22:14.799 --> 00:22:20.359
an English ironically, because I have to, like we have
445
00:22:20.480 --> 00:22:23.000
this thing for our assignment where we have to like
446
00:22:23.200 --> 00:22:26.640
say what we feel and like why when we're like
447
00:22:26.680 --> 00:22:30.960
writing the research part why this person might have made
448
00:22:30.960 --> 00:22:33.920
this painting. So like when I am like trying to
449
00:22:34.000 --> 00:22:36.680
really write down a whole paragraph or like a whole
450
00:22:36.720 --> 00:22:40.000
few paragraphs and how I feel, I'm just like, okay,
451
00:22:40.160 --> 00:22:42.200
so this is why I feel this way because they
452
00:22:42.200 --> 00:22:46.720
did this troke of black on their painting. So it's
453
00:22:46.720 --> 00:22:50.440
like really trying to analyze what this is, what's happening here?
454
00:22:50.519 --> 00:22:52.759
Right? It really makes you look at it, It makes
455
00:22:52.799 --> 00:22:55.599
you think about the motion makes you think about the pressure.
456
00:22:55.640 --> 00:22:58.200
It makes you think about every choice that you know
457
00:22:58.359 --> 00:23:01.279
you make as an artist. You know, because your lines
458
00:23:01.319 --> 00:23:04.279
are not accidental, your color choices are not accidental. Neither
459
00:23:04.359 --> 00:23:07.160
were theirs. Yeah, and so it is fun to put
460
00:23:07.200 --> 00:23:11.240
yourself in that ideal of like why why did they
461
00:23:11.319 --> 00:23:13.160
do that? How did they do that?
462
00:23:14.160 --> 00:23:14.599
Yeah?
463
00:23:14.680 --> 00:23:16.759
And then how can I do that?
464
00:23:17.200 --> 00:23:17.319
Right?
465
00:23:17.759 --> 00:23:23.400
Yeah? So why do you think I jumped here? So
466
00:23:24.359 --> 00:23:27.079
how would you say? Over the last several years, you've
467
00:23:27.079 --> 00:23:31.160
seen your students change because of art.
468
00:23:32.720 --> 00:23:36.200
Well, and I think especially since after COVID, I had
469
00:23:36.240 --> 00:23:40.559
a lot of students were very introverted. Students were wearing
470
00:23:40.640 --> 00:23:44.160
masks five years ago when we were coming out of COVID,
471
00:23:44.720 --> 00:23:46.559
and I think some of them were very affected by it.
472
00:23:46.880 --> 00:23:51.519
And when you come into art, you're not just sitting
473
00:23:51.559 --> 00:23:55.039
there facing the front like you would in another classroom.
474
00:23:55.240 --> 00:23:58.240
You're sitting at tables, so you're facing like other students.
475
00:23:58.240 --> 00:24:00.319
And then we started taking the masks off. It's like,
476
00:24:00.319 --> 00:24:03.880
I think that students really enjoyed the community, the socialization.
477
00:24:04.079 --> 00:24:06.839
So I've seen some students really come out of their shelves.
478
00:24:06.839 --> 00:24:09.480
And then I have some students where art is really
479
00:24:09.480 --> 00:24:11.240
like their only skill or the only thing that they
480
00:24:11.279 --> 00:24:14.160
really identify with, and so that's really their only way.
481
00:24:14.279 --> 00:24:17.440
Reason that they come to school is for both you know,
482
00:24:17.519 --> 00:24:19.359
to be able to do the projects using their skill
483
00:24:19.400 --> 00:24:21.039
and also for the community that they have in the
484
00:24:21.119 --> 00:24:21.759
art room.
485
00:24:21.960 --> 00:24:24.839
Yeah, it is. It is the one class in school
486
00:24:24.839 --> 00:24:27.759
where you encourage to make a mess and as long
487
00:24:27.799 --> 00:24:29.720
as you keep it under control, you're encouraged to have
488
00:24:29.720 --> 00:24:32.599
a conversation, you know. And so many times I think
489
00:24:32.680 --> 00:24:35.000
we feel in school like the little soldiers, where we
490
00:24:35.079 --> 00:24:38.039
have to sit still, a face forward, be quiet and
491
00:24:38.119 --> 00:24:41.200
don't don't make a mess, and like that's it. Lets
492
00:24:41.279 --> 00:24:44.599
us dick into the whole opposite side of that. Yeah, yeah,
493
00:24:45.359 --> 00:24:48.799
so is it working on anything? Here's the train, because
494
00:24:48.799 --> 00:24:51.279
they might be working on anything that they're really excited about.
495
00:24:52.119 --> 00:24:57.160
I'm finishing up a charcoal thing and I was really
496
00:24:57.359 --> 00:25:00.400
upset about it for a quick moment because I was like,
497
00:25:00.960 --> 00:25:05.920
I do not like charcoal, And then I'm getting.
498
00:25:05.599 --> 00:25:07.680
It now and I couldn't keep my hand up. I
499
00:25:07.799 --> 00:25:08.799
was drug over in charty.
500
00:25:10.519 --> 00:25:12.559
But yeah, like now I'm getting it and it's becoming
501
00:25:12.640 --> 00:25:13.519
more enjoyable.
502
00:25:15.079 --> 00:25:19.519
Anything you're excited about, I'm about to start my personal
503
00:25:19.559 --> 00:25:23.480
reflection with charcoal. Oh, I haven't started yet because the
504
00:25:23.480 --> 00:25:24.680
projector isn't available.
505
00:25:25.599 --> 00:25:28.240
Back to black and white. Both of you. You love
506
00:25:28.279 --> 00:25:30.119
the color, but you're leaning when I'm with you. Know
507
00:25:30.839 --> 00:25:33.519
what's exciting for you right now?
508
00:25:33.559 --> 00:25:35.039
Well, we're kind of at the end of the year,
509
00:25:35.119 --> 00:25:37.359
so I'm kind of winding down, and so my main
510
00:25:37.400 --> 00:25:39.960
focus right now is just I'm so excited about this
511
00:25:40.079 --> 00:25:43.240
art show. It was so fun to put it, to
512
00:25:43.599 --> 00:25:47.319
package it all up and bring the students to the
513
00:25:47.319 --> 00:25:49.359
Thatwer Center yesterday and to put it up. So I'm
514
00:25:49.400 --> 00:25:52.000
really excited about just seeing kind of the the end
515
00:25:52.079 --> 00:25:54.400
result of all the work that we've done the show.
516
00:25:54.440 --> 00:25:57.039
But we still have projects that we're doing in all
517
00:25:57.079 --> 00:26:01.839
of my other art classes. But I'm always about like
518
00:26:01.960 --> 00:26:04.000
right now, in three D two and Art two, we
519
00:26:04.039 --> 00:26:07.559
are finishing up are anthromorphic pots, which are these ceramic
520
00:26:07.640 --> 00:26:12.039
pots that have to feature human features and so there's
521
00:26:12.079 --> 00:26:13.839
lots of different results that come with that. So some
522
00:26:13.880 --> 00:26:17.000
of them choose colors, some of them don't, And it's
523
00:26:17.000 --> 00:26:18.759
fun to see them working with clay because a lot
524
00:26:18.759 --> 00:26:20.240
of them don't get a chance to work with clay.
525
00:26:20.359 --> 00:26:22.400
Yeah, yeah, I want to back up to something you
526
00:26:22.440 --> 00:26:25.079
mentioned that I meant to ask about, and then I forgot.
527
00:26:26.480 --> 00:26:28.680
One thing that I love about this art show and
528
00:26:28.839 --> 00:26:32.880
the high school level specifically is watching you all come
529
00:26:32.920 --> 00:26:36.039
in and putting it up. So I want to ask you,
530
00:26:36.160 --> 00:26:38.839
as a teacher, why is that part important to you?
531
00:26:39.480 --> 00:26:41.759
That it's not you bringing their artwork and putting it up,
532
00:26:41.839 --> 00:26:44.119
or you dropping their artwork and me putting it up,
533
00:26:44.319 --> 00:26:46.799
but it's them doing it. Why is that important?
534
00:26:47.160 --> 00:26:49.880
Well, I think it's like the it's the whole agency
535
00:26:50.240 --> 00:26:53.680
of making art, you know, that's really like the final results,
536
00:26:53.680 --> 00:26:56.119
so you know, the planning for the art, the executing
537
00:26:56.160 --> 00:26:59.880
the art, the matting, the framing, prepare for exhibition, and
538
00:27:00.039 --> 00:27:02.960
then actually bring it and exhibit it. So I think
539
00:27:03.000 --> 00:27:05.880
that they can value the whole process more when they
540
00:27:05.960 --> 00:27:08.640
get to finish that final part of exhibiting, and that's
541
00:27:08.680 --> 00:27:11.279
really exciting, and it's exciting to see them all working
542
00:27:11.319 --> 00:27:13.799
together and with the other students and getting to meet
543
00:27:13.799 --> 00:27:16.759
the art teachers and coming together, you know as a
544
00:27:16.759 --> 00:27:19.359
whole art department in the school system.
545
00:27:19.559 --> 00:27:22.000
Yeah. Yeah, it's you know, like I said it as
546
00:27:22.000 --> 00:27:23.599
an English teacher, and so as a writer, you know,
547
00:27:24.160 --> 00:27:26.240
it's so hard because so many kids all the time
548
00:27:26.319 --> 00:27:29.240
just write for themselves always, or they write for the
549
00:27:29.319 --> 00:27:31.920
teacher only. You know. So I'm writing this paper and
550
00:27:31.920 --> 00:27:33.440
the only person that's ever going to read it is
551
00:27:33.480 --> 00:27:35.200
going to be my teacher or maybe my mom, who
552
00:27:35.200 --> 00:27:38.000
I asked approfate at once. But there is something much
553
00:27:38.039 --> 00:27:41.839
more authentic and invigorating about the fact that you're taking
554
00:27:41.920 --> 00:27:45.160
these pieces and publishing them to the world. Like it's
555
00:27:45.200 --> 00:27:47.640
not just to your teacher, it's to anybody who wants
556
00:27:47.720 --> 00:27:50.519
to walk through those doors and anybody that wants to
557
00:27:50.519 --> 00:27:50.920
come by.
558
00:27:51.319 --> 00:27:53.119
Yeah, it can be it's exciting, but it can also
559
00:27:53.160 --> 00:27:55.440
be very vulnerable. So they're very brave to do that.
560
00:27:55.480 --> 00:28:00.279
Absolutely. Yeah, I was terrified to enter art shows because
561
00:28:00.279 --> 00:28:02.000
I also didn't think I was good enough. I would
562
00:28:02.000 --> 00:28:03.880
compare myself to the person next to me and be
563
00:28:03.920 --> 00:28:07.200
like but like his. And you know, it took a
564
00:28:07.240 --> 00:28:09.519
really great art teacher that said, I'm so glad it
565
00:28:09.559 --> 00:28:12.519
doesn't look like his, because I don't want carbon copies.
566
00:28:12.559 --> 00:28:15.440
I want individual I want you and this piece, not
567
00:28:15.559 --> 00:28:18.839
what you think his version of your piece would be.
568
00:28:19.599 --> 00:28:21.519
And it was actually a really kind of eye opening
569
00:28:21.519 --> 00:28:23.519
way for me to think about, like I've got to
570
00:28:23.559 --> 00:28:26.839
engage it on myself. All right, I'm looking at my time.
571
00:28:26.880 --> 00:28:28.559
We could probably talk for another half hour if I want.
572
00:28:29.079 --> 00:28:33.759
This is fun, So before we wrap up, I do
573
00:28:33.799 --> 00:28:37.519
love to ask just the question broadly. You know, we
574
00:28:37.599 --> 00:28:42.119
run an art center. Why is art important at all?
575
00:28:43.240 --> 00:28:46.960
Okay, Okay, I wasn't trying to steal those from his towkins,
576
00:28:47.000 --> 00:28:50.960
but I said basically the same thing. It's like been
577
00:28:51.000 --> 00:28:54.559
with us since we've gained consciousness as humans, like for
578
00:28:54.759 --> 00:28:57.759
like since the dawn of time, Like we've had art
579
00:28:57.839 --> 00:29:01.799
with us, and it's like an expression of our community
580
00:29:01.799 --> 00:29:06.359
and our history, and like wherever corner you turn on
581
00:29:06.400 --> 00:29:08.839
this earth, you're gonna see art because you see it
582
00:29:08.839 --> 00:29:12.599
in our buildings and our songs, in our like advertisements,
583
00:29:12.759 --> 00:29:15.000
and like in how we dressed like us as people
584
00:29:16.000 --> 00:29:18.559
like arts everywhere. So that's why it's like so important.
585
00:29:18.559 --> 00:29:21.319
That's why it's like I think it's like the top
586
00:29:21.359 --> 00:29:21.519
of it.
587
00:29:22.680 --> 00:29:25.359
I think, I mean you mentioned COVID, and that's what
588
00:29:25.400 --> 00:29:28.519
we turned to during COVID, right, like when we were
589
00:29:28.519 --> 00:29:30.960
stuck with ourselves, we watched the movies, we listened to
590
00:29:31.000 --> 00:29:33.759
the music. All of a sudden, we everybody learned how
591
00:29:33.759 --> 00:29:37.799
to crochet. You know, like we turned to the arts
592
00:29:37.839 --> 00:29:41.519
because we needed something, some outlet, and that was what
593
00:29:41.559 --> 00:29:44.400
we turned to when we were stuck the most. How
594
00:29:44.400 --> 00:29:46.319
about you, why why do you think art is important?
595
00:29:46.480 --> 00:29:49.200
I think it's important because it acts like a universal
596
00:29:49.279 --> 00:29:52.599
language for like the whole world and allows everyone to
597
00:29:52.640 --> 00:29:58.359
see and connect with different experiences, and it exposes like
598
00:29:58.440 --> 00:30:02.839
different perspectives for other people, and it allows us to
599
00:30:02.960 --> 00:30:06.119
understand the different communities and cultures, and it gives like
600
00:30:06.319 --> 00:30:09.200
a way to preserve the story of humanity itself.
601
00:30:09.319 --> 00:30:13.960
Yeah, yeah, how about for you, you've got a different answer.
602
00:30:14.000 --> 00:30:17.559
I'm sure just as a more life experience and as
603
00:30:17.599 --> 00:30:21.920
a as a person who helps people consume the arts
604
00:30:21.960 --> 00:30:24.359
and produce the arts, why do you think it's important?
605
00:30:24.599 --> 00:30:27.680
Well, I'm going to take an existential stance, and I
606
00:30:27.680 --> 00:30:31.640
think they're going to appreciate this. I think that art
607
00:30:31.720 --> 00:30:37.839
celebrates the individual, and I think it's the ultimate anti ai. Okay,
608
00:30:37.960 --> 00:30:42.359
so as ai is starting to become more prolific. It's
609
00:30:42.400 --> 00:30:45.960
like art I think can can give students the edge
610
00:30:46.519 --> 00:30:50.079
of being more competitive against it, to think outside the box.
611
00:30:50.160 --> 00:30:54.440
And it's you know, essentially we're souls inside of a body.
612
00:30:54.759 --> 00:30:57.039
And so this is something that we have the AI
613
00:30:57.160 --> 00:30:59.799
doesn't have. So is that very existential?
614
00:31:00.160 --> 00:31:02.960
Is I mean because AI can copy a whole lot
615
00:31:02.960 --> 00:31:04.599
of things that it can't create anything.
616
00:31:04.599 --> 00:31:06.880
It can't do that right, It doesn't have that spark,
617
00:31:07.599 --> 00:31:09.240
It doesn't have that spark of inspiration.
618
00:31:09.400 --> 00:31:13.039
It doesn't And you know, it's it's always going to
619
00:31:13.119 --> 00:31:15.279
look to me, AI art's always going to look like
620
00:31:15.319 --> 00:31:19.200
a art AI art because there's not as you as
621
00:31:19.200 --> 00:31:21.279
you mentioned, there's there's just not a soul behind it.
622
00:31:21.279 --> 00:31:23.519
And you can't put your finger on why it's not there,
623
00:31:24.240 --> 00:31:25.319
but it's not there.
624
00:31:25.599 --> 00:31:28.039
Yeah, yeah, very uncanny.
625
00:31:28.359 --> 00:31:32.200
Exactly. There we go. So before we close up anything
626
00:31:32.359 --> 00:31:37.519
that I we didn't even touch this list that we
627
00:31:37.599 --> 00:31:39.799
didn't talk about that you would love to talk about,
628
00:31:39.839 --> 00:31:41.720
that you'd love to bring up, Share with the group,
629
00:31:41.759 --> 00:31:44.440
share with the world right now about art, about high
630
00:31:44.480 --> 00:31:45.839
school art, about this show.
631
00:31:47.000 --> 00:31:50.079
There was one question on here sure it was like
632
00:31:51.880 --> 00:31:56.559
if you could collaborate with anyone and why And I
633
00:31:56.599 --> 00:31:59.279
know this is not an artist, but he's a model
634
00:32:00.200 --> 00:32:03.839
and he just looks like how you said about art
635
00:32:03.880 --> 00:32:05.720
can just like make you feel emotions like you wouldn't
636
00:32:05.720 --> 00:32:09.680
even think and the way he expresses himself through clothing.
637
00:32:10.160 --> 00:32:12.440
It's like watching a live painting, and I would just
638
00:32:12.519 --> 00:32:15.279
love to be like just paints him in real life.
639
00:32:15.480 --> 00:32:16.400
That would be awesome.
640
00:32:17.160 --> 00:32:20.920
In fashion is most certainly art, very much art.
641
00:32:21.960 --> 00:32:26.319
I'll also use that question. Sure ahead it's my best friend.
642
00:32:27.079 --> 00:32:30.240
She does more abstract art, and I feel like if
643
00:32:30.279 --> 00:32:35.119
I could combine my method of art realism and the
644
00:32:35.160 --> 00:32:38.599
abstract art, I feel like we could both create something beautiful.
645
00:32:40.599 --> 00:32:42.880
Maybe I could like dabble with abstract art because I
646
00:32:42.880 --> 00:32:43.680
don't really do that.
647
00:32:44.440 --> 00:32:49.000
Yeah, my brain doesn't think abstract art very well. I tried,
648
00:32:49.039 --> 00:32:51.799
but it just doesn't doesn't do it very well. Is
649
00:32:51.799 --> 00:32:54.400
there anything else that anybody we had on the list
650
00:32:54.440 --> 00:32:56.160
the questions you want to talk about, things you want
651
00:32:56.200 --> 00:32:56.480
to mention.
652
00:32:57.640 --> 00:32:58.759
I didn't ask about.
653
00:32:58.519 --> 00:33:02.079
The muror tell me about the mural, you said, I forgotten.
654
00:33:02.359 --> 00:33:04.559
I thought that was so funny. It was like it was,
655
00:33:04.839 --> 00:33:08.319
you know, the mural question, and so it was like,
656
00:33:08.400 --> 00:33:11.519
if you could design a mural that represents your generation,
657
00:33:11.599 --> 00:33:13.240
what would it look like? And so I was going
658
00:33:13.319 --> 00:33:14.759
to say that I'm a little bit older than most
659
00:33:14.759 --> 00:33:17.559
people think, so I'm you know, smack deb in the
660
00:33:17.559 --> 00:33:22.119
middle of Generation X, So my generation's mural would feature
661
00:33:22.160 --> 00:33:27.000
these things, a box of Applejack cereal, the Flintstones cartoon characters,
662
00:33:27.519 --> 00:33:32.400
Aerubik's Cubes, Star Wars nuclear missiles with Soviet Union logos
663
00:33:32.480 --> 00:33:35.640
on them, Michael Jackson, Kurt Cobain, and Apple two computer
664
00:33:35.720 --> 00:33:38.400
and then hovering over the whole thing would be a
665
00:33:38.519 --> 00:33:39.440
large disco ball.
666
00:33:40.599 --> 00:33:42.839
What do you think. I think we're probably close to
667
00:33:42.880 --> 00:33:45.559
the same age because I literally understood all of that
668
00:33:45.799 --> 00:33:50.400
and my would be very so okay, all right, I
669
00:33:50.440 --> 00:33:53.599
do want to thank Ms Tompkins, Sam Maya, thank you
670
00:33:53.640 --> 00:33:58.039
so much for joining us today. So as a reminder
671
00:33:58.039 --> 00:34:00.359
of the Bedford County Public School Arts Show can be
672
00:34:00.440 --> 00:34:03.599
seen in our galleries this week and next week, we
673
00:34:03.720 --> 00:34:05.839
invite you all to stop by and check it out.
674
00:34:06.079 --> 00:34:08.440
Those galleries are going to be open on Wednesdays through
675
00:34:08.480 --> 00:34:11.559
Fridays from one to un till six and Saturdays from
676
00:34:11.599 --> 00:34:14.639
eleven till three. If those times don't work for you,
677
00:34:14.679 --> 00:34:16.239
give me a call. We can make an appointment. I
678
00:34:16.239 --> 00:34:19.079
can get you in pretty much any time. This Friday,
679
00:34:19.199 --> 00:34:21.719
April twenty fourth, at five pm is going to be
680
00:34:21.760 --> 00:34:24.239
the awards reception for this exhibit. It is open to
681
00:34:24.280 --> 00:34:26.679
the public. It is free of charge, so we invite
682
00:34:26.719 --> 00:34:29.679
you to stop by see the amazing talents of these students,
683
00:34:29.719 --> 00:34:34.480
but meet these students themselves from the Bedford County Public Schools. Plus,
684
00:34:34.480 --> 00:34:36.760
the Bower Center for the Arts has a whole lot
685
00:34:36.800 --> 00:34:39.719
in store for you this summer. On May sixteenth, locals
686
00:34:39.719 --> 00:34:43.599
Win Creasey and CW. Markham we'll return to their stage.
687
00:34:43.719 --> 00:34:46.199
Return to the stage, this time with their spring Cabaret
688
00:34:46.440 --> 00:34:50.159
lovers and other strangers. On June thirteenth, with support from
689
00:34:50.199 --> 00:34:53.760
the Virginia Commission for the Arts, the Akalas Simone Trio
690
00:34:53.840 --> 00:34:56.159
from Hampton Roads will be joining us for an evening
691
00:34:56.159 --> 00:34:58.800
of R and B, soul and jazz. And then in
692
00:34:58.880 --> 00:35:02.239
July we're going to bring back the Bluegrass Treo Virginia
693
00:35:02.280 --> 00:35:04.960
Hollow out of Floyd. All of our concerts begin at
694
00:35:05.000 --> 00:35:07.679
six pm. Advanced tickets are only twenty dollars. You can
695
00:35:07.679 --> 00:35:09.440
get them on our website or just by giving me
696
00:35:09.440 --> 00:35:12.880
a call. After the closing of this exhibit. From May
697
00:35:12.920 --> 00:35:16.280
seventh until August seventh, we are super excited to partner
698
00:35:16.320 --> 00:35:18.960
with the National d Day Memorial to bring you the
699
00:35:19.039 --> 00:35:23.280
life and art of Charles M. Schultz it's a traveling exposition,
700
00:35:23.440 --> 00:35:27.039
exposition exhibition, I can say that word. In addition to
701
00:35:27.079 --> 00:35:30.360
his Peanuts fame, many do not know that Charles Schultz
702
00:35:30.519 --> 00:35:33.840
was the capital campaign manager for the D Day Memorial
703
00:35:34.039 --> 00:35:36.599
from nineteen ninety eight until his death in two thousand.
704
00:35:36.719 --> 00:35:40.079
Right here in town. Our education schedule is full of
705
00:35:40.119 --> 00:35:43.440
all kinds of opportunities for kids and adults alike. We
706
00:35:43.480 --> 00:35:47.239
have five camps slated this summer, four for elementary students,
707
00:35:47.239 --> 00:35:50.119
one for middle and high school students. We have classes
708
00:35:50.159 --> 00:35:53.800
and workshops and painting mosaics clay hopefully since stayed Glass
709
00:35:53.800 --> 00:35:56.239
coming here soon. We've got a lot. Check the website
710
00:35:56.239 --> 00:35:58.599
to see what we have and so. For more details
711
00:35:58.639 --> 00:36:02.000
than any of our classes, events, programs, exhibitions, you can
712
00:36:02.119 --> 00:36:05.320
visit Bauercenter dot org, follow us on social media, or
713
00:36:05.320 --> 00:36:07.519
you can just stop in and say hello, Thank you
714
00:36:07.599 --> 00:36:10.119
everybody for listening, thank you my guest for being with
715
00:36:10.159 --> 00:36:12.119
me today, and we'll see you next time.