Art at RMS

Today is August 1st. Still deep in summer.
I attended ArtSource Colorado in June, as part of the Content and Organization team. For a week in the mountains I renewed friendships, learned from other artists and professionals in art education, and made time to be an artist myself. I went prepared to further explore Pinhole Photography, having become interested in this technique while learning about it with my students last year, but to my surprise, I ended up crafting a small sculpture instead, which illustrated my transition over the passed year from teaching traditional art to teaching choice-based art. The ArtSource experience is a profound one, enriching me as an artist/art teacher on many levels.
Also in June, I taught a week long children’s watercolor camp for the city of Boulder Parks and Rec program, learning a great deal about various techniques and approaches in the process..
In July I spent hours at the Boulder Pottery Lab, as a teacher and a student. I participated in a class about firing, using different types of kilns and different types of clays, and I taught a children’s class. There is never enough time to sit at the wheel and make pots, but that is how I have spent any that I find.
Now it is August, and I find I am reflecting on the previous school year, evaluating successes and examining ways to make improvements. I have been reading a book called The Art of Teaching Art by George Szekely, who I met last March at the National Art Education convention in Boston. His book Encouraging Creativity in Art Lessons is a favorite of mine, and I am finding this new one inspiring as well.
I have been in and out of the art room at school all summer. Sometimes I just stand in the middle of the room and look about, considering the space and the possibilities. I’m not yet ready to return to school, but I look forward with pleasant anticipation to the start of a brand new school year.