In what ways can the art of others inspire us? What is the nature of inspiration? What can we create if given the tools and free reign to express ourselves?

Having worked as a contractual museum educator at the Metropolitan Museum of Art for 23 years, I take great pleasure in discussing art with groups of kids, so we'll start each class as if we were in a museum - sitting in front of a work of art and talking about it. I'll share slides of a work of art, and facilitate a discussion about it - this is not lecture-style; I'll be asking the kids to share their own observations and insights about it. It's fascinating to see what different kids notice about the same artwork! After talking about the art for 10 minutes or so, we'll launch into creating a work of art that is in some way inspired by what we've looked at. 

So what exactly does that look like? It's a little difficult to say. It's important for me to say that this is not going to be a copy-me-exactly class, and this isn't a good fit for families who need to know exactly what children will be ending a class session with (eg, "Oh! Today they'll be doing pictures of penguins!" - you will almost never have that assurance here).

A huge part of my teaching philosophy relates to the importance of student agency and free expression. So even though I will list themes/ideas that we'll be focusing on in any given week, I can't guarantee what your kids will end up with at the end of the class period, because I wholeheartedly accept a student deviating from whatever ideas I might bring up if they feel inspired. 

Here are some examples of what might happen in a class:

• If we’re looking at multiple related artworks, we may do a composite sketch - drawing elements from each work and combining them somehow on one page.

• I might suggest that we use a certain art supply inspired by the work we’re looking at - eg, oil pastel if we’re looking at impressionism. I might demonstrate a technique, and then the students create something using that technique.

• I may suggest a derivative idea - eg if we’re looking at royal pet portraits, what if you draw your own pet, what kind of similar theme could you choose?

• If we're focusing on Paul Klee or Joan MIro, some kids might end with abstract colorful scenes, others might end up with pages of playful scribbles, and there might be one kid who just really wants to build a seemingly unrelated tower out of cardboard.

• No matter what we’re focusing on, some kids may choose to try to do their own inspired-by-but-not-a-perfect-copy variation on what we've looked at. Other kids might be inspired by something a classmate mentioned or do something completely different.
  
  I don't ever try to redirect kids away from an idea that differs from my own - so long as they're not breaking the rules of appropriateness in the classroom, I'm totally fine with students completely deviating from what other kids are doing. I might ask what they're exploring when they do it, but my greatest pleasure is giving students free reign to follow their own inspiration. 

In many ways what I'm doing in this class is setting a scene when we first gather and discuss - I'm opening a doorway to an idea, and allowing the kids to create in a supportive space. 

I realize this may be a little more free-form than some families are used to, so I'm happy to answer any questions in advance should you wish to reach out.