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| "A's" skateboard graphic |
“A” started making stencils in art
last year. He is extraordinarily good at it. He can take a printout
and translate it into a stencil, deftly cutting away parts with an
Xacto blade. He can make a “positive” image, or reverse the
process and create a “negative” image. Fast too.
One day I found this after class:
I asked “A” about it and he told me
that his friend started to make a stencil of his name, but only got
as far at the “M” when he gave up. “So I finished it for him.”
Guerrilla art stencil-style?
The other day before school I found a
big back stashed in the art studio – it was “A's” Skateboard
and helmet – ready to receive a stencil design later in the day.
This is a concrete example of an artist thinking about and planning
for art outside of class.
One of the strengths of the
learner-directed studio is just that: a student can rely on the
stability of the studio and can therefor plan their next project
knowing what materials and tools will be available to them during
class. This is a stark contrast to the way I used to teach, which I
sometimes think of as an “art ambush.” In an art ambush, the
student doesn't know what the teacher has planned for the day, and
arrives ready to be told the assignment. The teacher expects the
student to start right in on the project, without the benefit of
incubation. In this construct, students often come through the door
asking “what are we doing today?”
In our choice-based art studio, the
question I hear instead is: “Can we get right to work?”
