The conversation prompts this week are developed by Kathleen Hutton. Kathleen serves as Director of Education at Reynolda House Museum of American Art in Winston-Salem NC, where she has worked with teachers and K-12 students since 1990. It was classic click-bait for an art nerd like me—a link to an article in The Atlantic monthly magazine, “The Death of the Artist.” As I read William Deresiewicz’s article, I really wanted to talk his points over with—well, an art teacher! He states that the concept of an artist-genius is completely outdated. He describes a sociocultural progression from artisan to artist to creative entrepreneur. So I wonder--do you consider yourself an artist, or are you a cultural producer? To get our conversation going, I’ll share a quote: “An artist was someone who did one thing—who trained intensively in one discipline, one tradition, one set of tools, and who worked to develop one artistic identity. You were a writer, or a painter, or a choreographer . . . but one of the most conspicuous things about today’s young creators is their tendency to construct a multiplicity of artistic identities. You’re a musician and a photographer and a poet; a storyteller and a dancer and a designer.” The author feels that specialization is no longer so important, but versatility is. So the emphasis on attaining mastery of technique and lots of experience working with one’s chosen artistic materials may not be relevant for your students to be successful in their careers. Whether you agree or disagree with his point, I think that most art classes are structured to support specialization, so this is a decided pedagogical shift. Has the expiration date passed on your style of teaching? As I read this article, I was uncomfortable and felt decidedly “old school”. Still I believe it is very important that educators reflect upon and evolve their teaching methodology, remembering that we are preparing our students for success in their time, not ours. Thoughts,anyone? Related Article: theatlantic/magazine/archive/2015/01/the-death-of-the-artist-and-the-birth-of-the-creative-entrepreneur/383497/ Weekly Contributor: Kathleen Hutton, M.F.A Kathleen Hutton serves as Director of Education at Reynolda House Museum of American Art in Winston-Salem NC, where she has worked with teachers and K-12 students since 1990. If you visit the museum’s website at reynoldahouse.org you may understand why she has never left to pursue opportunities elsewhere. Growing up in Northern Virginia, she was lucky enough to visit the Washington DC museums regularly and take Saturday art classes at the Corcoran School of Art. She earned a BA cum laude from the University of Virginia in both art history and studio art, followed by a year in the BFA program at the Corcoran before earning an MFA in printmaking from James Madison University. Her first job after graduation was at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, which led to a museum career, although she still teaches studio art classes from time to time. Hutton has been a member of NAEA/NCAEA over the past 24 years, serving two terms as the NCAEA museum division representative, first in the late 1990s and more recently 2009 to 2013. ). She regularly participates in panels at local, regional and national museum conferences. She was a two term member-at-large for the Committee on Education (EdCom) of the American Alliance of Museums (AAM). She is a founding member of the North Carolina Museum Education Roundtable (NC MER) and is currently serving her second term on the Southeastern Museums Council (SEMC) board. Her twitter handle is @kathleenhutton.
Posted on: Mon, 26 Jan 2015 14:00:00 +0000
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