A large part of my professional practice is working from the nude model.  In our orientation at the AGO there are written guidelines regarding addressing nudity within the artworks when dealing with the different ages of children.  A search on the internet unearths other such guidelines for educational institutions.  The issue of the nude is so complex and very much tied to  our cultural and social norms.  

At party’s when when people find out that i run and facilitate Life Drawing - the question never goes to my work or the artists but to behaviours of the model and around the model - adults, never mind kids, still struggle with overcoming the idea of the naked body and viewing it separated from its sexual purpose.  i repeatedly state that i feel life drawing should be a mandatory course or workshop in every high school curriculum.  Rarely do we get to really see a body, one that is not Photoshoped, sexualized or commodified in some way.  When we draw from the nude or view it in art we are forced to confront its reality, the beauty, the complexity and sometime its ugliness - which is also heart wrenchingly beautiful.  

My aspiration of universal Life Drawing i know is ridiculous but we have a responsibility to engage people of all ages in this discussion of the human condition and nudity in art over advertising forces a discussion.  i think it is uncomfortable for many because it ceases to be visual noise and gets treated as a dialogue where we are forced to engage - whether we like it or not.

i found a great source tied to the Utah Museum of Fine Art: “Teaching the Nude in Art” which has a comprehensive dialogue on why we should teach about nudes, issues of censorship, examples of art and lesson plans.  i wouldn’t have thunk it from Utah - see stereotypes are broken daily!

http://centralpt.com/upload/417/12396_teachingnudeslessonplans.pdf

The AGO has experienced a decline in visits by schools which mirrors a general decline in culturally enriching field trips in both Canada and the US.   With experience in the
school system both as a parent volunteer on these field trips and as a school
council member helping to make decisions in allocating funds i understand the logistic and economic pressures that are seriously constraining the ability to say yes
to these excursions.  In fact, after one memorable trip to the Toronto Science Center when my daughter was in grade two, it felt like the whole day was spent getting there, organising the kids, lunch, bathroom visits– the entire trip seemed an exercise in managing stress!  It hardly seemed worth the expense and on top of that a waste of precious time from the already packed curriculum.

The authors of “Value of Field Trips”, Jay Greene, Brian Kisida and Daniel Bowen, were able to actually study this value.  They were able to work with a unique institution in Arkansas – Crystal Brides Museum of American Art - whose mandate and large endowment fund allow it to pay for the children’s admission, busing and even substitute teacher coverage – breaking down economic barriers and allowing the study to include rural and high-poverty schools in order to get a comprehensive picture of the value of the field trip. Their results were impressive and quite surprising.  There was a marked increase in the four categories studied: critical thinking,
historical empathy, tolerance and general interest in art museums.  With the greatest increases for the rural and high-poverty schools.

This article has me really thinking on this.  i had resigned myself to advocate bringing
programs into schools, bypassing time and economic hurdles seemingly more
bang for the parents and school boards ever decreasing buck.  So i revisit my personal memories of field trips.  i don’t have a single bad one.  i don’t have any memory of thinking that it was a waste of my time.  In fact, it is the field trips that stand out in my memories of school; i don’t have many specifics, fleeting memories of plays seen, art experienced, taken to parts of the city unknown, being able to wander independently with friends to get lunch.  It is the whole experience that is remembered in my being like an emotional imprint – the specifics are not actually important. 

Two years ago my daughter participated in a wonderful exchange to Nunavut.  When we received the kids at this end for a week – it was day after day of field trip.  One particularly busy day where they spent the morning at OCAD U (shout out to Vladimir Spicanovic and Indigenous Visual Cultures Dept. for facilitating that!), followed by the Aquarium, then the CN Tower.  At the break for dinner, prior to the Blue Jays game we were attending that evening, all the parents and teachers grabbed groups of kids to go get something to eat.

 At dinner i asked each of the kids with me which activity/experience was their favourite so far that day and one young boy from Nunavut said the best part of the day for him was the GO Train ride into Toronto.  At the time given all we had done, my internal reaction was OMG we could have saved time and money on all the rest of this very long day.  Now thinking on what is the value of the field trip – it goes beyond what Greene, Kisida and Bowen studied.  Perhaps we need to evaluate the life skills – negotiating a transit ride is no more or less valid than the destination.  So now that frustrating trip years ago to the science center was not just about the
destination, it was about the kids negotiating a new environment, experiencing
the bus, being in an unfamiliar public space, organising themselves, learning
the associated behaviours in that institution.

Kids are not going to remember their day to day class time 30 years later.  They are going to remember when they were taken out of that environment, some will remember the destination, others the feeling of being independent, the excitement, random details like a trip on the GO Train.  So maybe we need to broaden what we define as “value” when we consider the field trip.  The expense (and stress) i can now say is worth it.  

Kid visiting OCAD U

This year at OCAD i am taking a class in art education that has joined forces with the AGO’s school and family programming.  We have been tasked to blog about our
experiences and readings and just generally ruminate on art and education.  Education here is targeted to youth ranging from pre-schoolers to grade 12.  i chose
the course because of my interest in kids and my continued involvement with my
daughter’s middle school and i generally feel that social engagement can be well experienced through art and that children especially are receptive in participating when art is used as the vehicle to social engagement.

Last Spring i helped with two projects at Riverside – one an outdoor blackboard for the kindergartens. They contributed their designs on the wildlife in and around the Credit
River which i transposed onto out door blackboards they can use chalk on.  This project was follow by wheat pasting the original drawings for the blackboards to the metal doors of their storage shed in the Kindy pen. The other project was to decorate a decapitated tree’s trunk with painted wood tiles which was accomplished primarily with the Herculean effort of Ms Hunter.  It is a striking welcome to the school and i was thrilled watching the kids find their tile and feel personally connected to the project and thereby the school.

Both projects involved heavy participation by the teachers to make them happen as well as support from the principal.  i was surprised at the amount of time that needed to be carved out of the curriculum to fulfill these “extra projects”.  The planning prior to the execution of the projects was extensive.   The needs of the teachers and practicalities of what the kids could cope with needed to be considered. i enjoyed the feedback and problem solving and the constant consultation and compromises with the stakeholders to achieve both projects. My biggest insight was that without the support of the teachers and principal these types of activities - “extra projects”, whether they be art or otherwise - would not happen.  

In the summer while chatting with neighbours at our local farmers market the tree in front of Riverside was brought up in discussion - i was happy to give the back story and receive the compliments - but was most thrilled that it was noticed, remarked upon and viewed as a positive impact in the community.  i am glad the teachers and principal at Riverside believe in the “extra projects” - the impact is felt beyond just the kids and it feeds the health of the entire community.