Collaborative Art Making

I think that it is important to fit at least one collaborative art project into your curriculum. While I do think that it is important for students to work on their own pieces most of the time (as an outlet for personal self expression), I do think that it is valuable for students to learn how to work alongside their peers artistically. Collaborative artwork allows students to share personal views and artistic input, and in turn to see how their peers perceive an artistic task. When students work together they may learn from one another in terms of how to solve a creative problem encountered while working, and also to possibly pick up different styles other than their own. Service-learning projects can be worked into curriculum by working with the community to learn about what sorts of events are going on. From there you can discuss with your students what they feel as a class they should do to contribute.

An experience I've had with collaborative art making comes from the work we are currently doing with the local high school students. What I have learned from this experience is that when I incorporate a collaborative project into my own classroom, I will need to find a way to hold the students accountable for the work they are doing....or are deciding not to do. At this time, I am not in charge of grading of any sorts, so I really do not have a way to motivate them in those terms. But what I have learned from this collaborative experience is this: when you let students decide on a subject matter that motivates them, you really get to see and hear their personal views of the world as they know it. And students who are truly motivated by the subject matter that they chose to create a work of art about feel strongly about these views and opinions they hold. I am working closely with a young woman who came in on the middle of a collaborative piece and now is my main artist working on the project with me, and when we speak about the content of the piece, she opens up and allows me to be apart of her world. And when students invite you into their world, you better listen, because they have some very intriguing and meaningful things to share. I think that art may be one of the only subjects that really allow teachers to connect with their students on a different level in this way. We should value the opportunities we are going to be given as teachers to connect with our students, even if only a handful of them are willing to open up.