Art Class Curator

Art as a defensive weapon? It seems strange, but Pablo Picasso demonstrated its power in his painting Guernica. I’ve brought Jennifer Easterling back onto the show for another art conversation, and this time we discuss Picasso’s famous artwork. Both of us had strong gut reactions to it, so in this episode we talk about what it’s taught us and its importance in history. 1:47​ - Jenn recalls her reaction when she first laid eyes on Guernica  6:02 - I discuss my unexpected emotional experience seeing it in person  9:10 - Painting a picture of what this Picasso artwork looks like  14:20 - The diabolical history behind why Picasso created this painting 18:21 - Why we had such a strong reaction to seeing Guernica in person 21:48 - How the pandemic impacted Jenn’s connection with the artwork 25:18 - Legacy of the Jewish woman who secretly taught art to children in a concentration camp 33:06 - What I kept seeing in my mind when I went to view the painting 37:26 - Picasso’s ultimatum and Guernica’s lengthy journey fro

Does the idea of writing a grant proposal intimidate you? Barbara Lardner is an art teacher who’s taught in multiple grade levels throughout elementary, middle, and high school for over 25 years. She also happens to be an expert at grant writing for the classroom. So in this episode, I’ve invited her on to share her experiences, tips, and best practices for how you can write a great grant proposal. 2:56​ - How Barbara was granted a trip to Paris 5:14 - Different types of grants offered and where to begin your search 8:54 - Crucial tips, steps, and goals to begin the grant writing proposal process 14:49 - One thing you might need (and shouldn’t put off) when writing your proposal 18:47 - Examples of vagueness, specificity, and clarity in proposal writing 22:49 - Why Barbara missed out on receiving an extra $2,000 for her school this year 24:39 - The kind of assessment requirements you need to follow after you get a grant 28:06 - Advice for making the grant writing process easier and less scary 31:11 - What to

What in the world is a SPARKwork? At Art Class Curator, we love to do things differently than what you’ll find anywhere else. Recently, I relaunched The Curated Connections Library with SPARKworks, a new name with new features for an established framework. In this episode, I walk you through what a SPARKwork lesson is, how to follow one step-by-step, and offer tips on how to use these sorts of lessons in your classroom. 3:21​ - Why The Curated Connections Library became more than just about art history 5:21 - Goals of the membership for teachers and their students 10:22 - What a SPARKwork is and where the name comes from 14:22 - SPARKwork step #1 and the 4 Cs to curate a good work of art for your lessons 19:48 - Leading your lesson with art discussion and the goal you should aim for 25:25 - How SPARKworks encourage student engagement and impress your administration 29:29 - Discussing ways to complete the 4th step in the framework 33:07 - New details and benefits of joining the recently relaunched membership 3

Ever since I started Art Class Curator in 2014, I’ve heard a lot of teachers who haven’t tried our lessons tell me that their students can’t do them. They think the lessons are too high-level or their students won’t connect with the works of art. Oh how wrong they are! So today I want to dissolve the myth that your students can’t handle higher level thinking and gain a deeper connection with art in the classroom. 8:18​ - The only difference between age groups during art lessons 9:39 - One of the biggest fears of art teachers and why the worry isn’t necessary 14:32 - Why you shouldn’t underestimate your students’ ability to think critically 16:53 - How haiku and thinking like a math teacher can help you teach art 24:33 - Other ways we can help students engage with art lessons Transcript at https://artclasscurator.com/72

This year was one of, if not the hardest, for teachers in their entire career. Many reached a breaking point and decided to leave the classroom or retire early. And while it might be better going forward, everything isn’t fixed. The pandemic goes on, and teachers will still face many of the same worries as last year. The question to ask yourself in preparing for this year is, “How do I get the spark back and re-take power in my classroom?” So I decided to create an empowering program using our SPARK framework to help you do just that. Today the Reclaim Your Classroom free course begins, and in this episode I go through the program, giving you an overview of what you can expect after you join. 2:14​ - A quick overview of the 5 steps in the SPARK framework 5:32 - What to expect when you first sign up for the program 6:59 - How to take inventory of what’s going on with you right now 10:57 - The emotional exercise to expect on Day 2 and the tool that can help 14:52 - The simple, cool tool and method you’ll use fo

The personal connection you have with works of arts--what it does for you and how you use it in your life--rubs off on your students too and impacts their lives and those around them. Author John Butler once said, “Art changes people and people change the world.” How? I did some research to discover what looking at art does for us as people and the countless ways art can change you. In this episode, I discuss how it benefits the broader spectrum of humanity physically, mentally, emotionally, and more. 5:38 - Hormonal and other health effects that just 30 minutes of art gazing has on your body 9:16 - How art rescued me during an emotionally vulnerable time on a week-long retreat 10:55 - How art alleviates feelings of isolation and increases empathy, tolerance, and compassion 18:56 - Why engaging with works of art makes you more insightful and creative 24:22 - Ways in which looking at art can transform and improve your thinking skills 29:32 - The impact of art connection on your relationships, communication, an

Jenn Easterling is back on the show today! She’s been in the classroom for 11 years teaching grades K-12 and has taught drawing, painting, and a little art history in her studio. Jenn joins me to talk about how learning and teaching art powers personal connection We also talk about some of the lessons offered at Art Class Curator as well as the fun, impactful insights and conversations those lessons sparked in our students and ourselves personally.  7:01​ - Jenn’s emotional perspective on teaching Art Class Curator lessons 10:23 - How teaching works of art fuels your personal connection 15:20 - Why using the same art work lessons for multiple grade levels still works 20:52 - How looking at artwork impacts students’ art creation in the classroom 24:52 - A lesson that bridged the gap between the art and the personal for Jenn’s students 34:58 - Why you don’t need to worry about bringing any works of art to your students 38:34 - What you’re not doing when you’re looking at and talking about a piece of art 40:22 -

Believe it or not, the pandemic had its bright side. During this tumultuous year, we’ve had so many teachers across the nation successfully use our SPARK Hybrid curriculum. They're sharing amazing stories about how they are SPARKing interest with art students and connecting with works of art. Today, I interviewed one of those teachers, Staci Sterenberg, who’s taught grades K-8 at a Chicago parochial school for 19 years. Staci Sterenberg is a teaching artist living in Chicago. Her work as an art educator has brought her into classrooms and learning spaces for all ages and her art practice ranges in media from mosaic to sculpture to crochet. Her mission as an educator is to promote and value the creative experience while facilitating exploration in a variety of media. Her perfect world is a place where curiosity and creativity are free to discover and where mistakes are detours and not dead ends. Staci holds a Bachelor's in Studio Art from Michigan State University and a Master's of Art Education from the Scho

Like I said in last week’s episode, this summer, we’re focusing on getting a good feel for what teachers have gone through this year. What struggles you’ve had, and we want to acknowledge you for the work you've done and empathize with you for how hard that was. We also want to celebrate, but right now doesn’t feel like the right headspace for that. So this week I want to encourage you to take stock of the year. In a survey we did, many shared that this year was a wake-up call, but they weren’t sure what they were waking up to. I think a lot of teachers are waking up to the fact that teaching has become toxic, that teaching has become too much to handle. They are expecting too much out of teachers, they are not respecting the work that we're doing, and they are not giving us the support that we need. This year, I heard story after story about districts giving webinars on self-care, telling teachers, “Don't forget self-care,” And this summer, taking stock is a great way for teachers to practice self-care.  3:0

For this summer, I really want to focus on art teachers and what they went through in the last year teaching through the pandemic. Every teacher has a different story to tell about what they faced, and I want to talk about one of the hardest years in memory for teachers and celebrate getting through it. Looking forward to the new school year, what have teachers learned from this experience that’ll change the way they teach moving forward? Let’s take back the joy of reconnecting with art and reclaim our power as teachers and individuals by first reflecting on what we’ve gone through and the lessons learned. So in this episode, I start off by welcoming my first guest in a series of teacher interviews: Mary Greim-Gallo, a K-5 elementary art teacher in Rhode Island. 4:33​ - Mary’s art teaching philosophy and the classroom environment this past year 11:44 - Particular artwork lessons that connected really well with Mary’s students 14:20 - Regional art and having to carefully choose what to teach students 21:08 - W

Today, I’m here with Jennifer Easterling who is another wonderful staff member of Art Class Curator. She writes lessons for our membership at Curated Connections Library and our curriculums. In this episode, she’s chosen Shirin Neshat’s Rebellious Silence for our conversation which she’s been enraptured with ever since she came across it when looking at an AP Art History class. Recently, this artwork came to Fort Worth, Texas and Jenn got to go see it! 4:22​ - What the art piece looks like 9:23 - What surprised Cindy and Jenn about Neshat’s photographs 15:05 - The nuances of the photographs in person vs. online 21:51 - Opening eyes to Muslim women’s rights 26:13 - Discussing the symbolism of guns in Neshat’s artwork 31:34 - Getting lost in Neshat’s dramatic eyes 33:46 - What Neshat wants from us looking at her work 36:58 - Speculating about the meaning of the poem 44:10 - The artistic beauty of the Farsi language 47:48 - Going back home never being the same 52:10 - Watching Neshat’s video art 59:49 - Key pers

Today’s episode is a recording of a webinar I did recently with Kris Bakke at Nasco Education. I talk all about social emotional learning, it’s importance, and how we accomplish that in the art room through working with works of art. In the process, I use a Molly Crabapple portrait as part of an exercise for the webinar group and give an overview of the new curriculum, Art Curator Class Perspectives (in partnership with Nasco). 4:58​ - What I’m aiming to accomplish in this webinar 13:11 - Ways in which education isn’t focused on learning to be an effective adult 16:46 - What social emotional learning looks like in the classroom 23:48 - CASEL (Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning) and the 5 competencies 34:24 - Attendees and I engage in the Reflect Connect worksheet activity for Crabapple’s artwork 45:09 - Ensuring the inclusion of artwork diversity and artist representation in the curriculum 48:29 - An overview of the Perspectives curriculum Transcript at https://artclasscurator.com/64

As an introvert, it always fascinates me how I can get into a really deep conversation with someone for a while and feel energized and motivated by it, and can keep talking all night. Then there are other times where talking to someone just sucks the life out of me and takes my energy away. In this episode, I discuss small talk versus big talk and how to go beyond small talk to have deeper, more meaningful conversations and teach our students to do the same. I also share some strategies you can use in your classroom to help develop these skills in your students.  5:10​ - Defining small vs. big talk and small talk’s vital purpose 14:25 - Revelations from a small talk/big talk research study 16:50 - Benefits to having deeper conversations, especially for art students 19:23 - Ways to encourage and teach your students to have substantive discussions 27:40 - Vulnerability in deep conversations and creating a safe space for students Transcript at https://artclasscurator.com/63

I rarely comment about the Internet, but sometimes I have to speak up when something bumps up against my values. This impromptu episode is brought to you by a little argument about Van Gogh I got into online.  I realized I had some really strong feelings that I don’t know if I’ve really discussed in any format here. It’s a very important perspective that we need to consider so that our students don’t end up perpetuating elitist thinking when it comes to art, and so that we can create a space where we make art accessible to all. 2:44​ - What sparked the argument and my reaction 7:22 - Examples of elitism built into the art museum system 11:46 - Kids’ reactions to the immersive Van Gogh show in Chicago 16:28 - The argument for “being educated” and making art accessible to all Transcript at https://artclasscurator.com/62

Last week, I had a fascinating conversation with Madalyn Gregory discussing Gustav Klimt’s Death and Life. I left that conversation so excited, only to discover that we weren’t done yet. Even after going off the air, we kept talking about it and realized we missed a lot of important things. So we decided to do a follow-up conversation to share even more of our insights with you! 4:55​ - Awareness of a gender issue from last week and what it says about our conditioning 13:40 - Impact of gender and gender limitations as human-made constructs 16:37 - Diverse racial representation (or lack thereof) in art 24:14 - Importance of authenticity of different perspectives shown in artwork 28:23 - How the patterns in Death and Life resemble quilt work 31:57 - Ruminating over what the circles in Death’s robes symbolize 36:23 - The negative space between Death and Life more effective as black to represent the unknown Transcript at https://artclasscurator.com/61

Today, I’m excited to try a brand new type of episode where I have art conversations with other people and talk about favorite pieces of art, personal connections to art, and what drew us to the world of art. For my first guest, I’ve brought on one of my best friends for the last 10+ years, organizer for all things at Art Class Curator, and brilliant writer Madalyn Gregory. In this episode, she’s chosen to discuss Death and Life by Gustav Klimt, an artwork that stopped her in her tracks when she saw it in person in Vienna during one of our curator trips. 3:09​ – What it felt like for Madalyn to see the artwork for the first time 6:13 – Describing what Gustav Klimt’s Death and Life looks like 9:34 – The many observations we had while interpreting Death and Life 15:04 – Possible meanings and symbolism behind the skin tone used 24:20 – The loneliness and personality of Death 30:44 – An important lesson for art teachers to realize about their students 32:45 – Why we connected with Death and Life and the messages

Thanks to a Facebook group and a friend, conversations around visualizing the apple have grabbed my attention lately. My brain works differently than others, though. I don’t really see things in my head. But when I saw the responses to the apple conversation, I felt really validated and had some profound realizations. In this episode, I talk about those realizations, what this means for art teachers, and how we can better serve diverse learning styles among our students. 5:46​ - The judgment I’ve made about myself for my entire life 7:58 - Limited diverse learning types and how I “visualize” things 11:29 - The impact of learning differences on the way you teach 14:36 - Strategies to address differences and accommodate diverse learners 22:53 - The disservice done to us while learning art history in college Transcript at https://artclasscurator.com/59-diverse-learning-types/  

If you’ve been following us for a while, what we do here at Art Class Curator is much deeper than art appreciation or history. Appreciating art is great, but it gives off the vibe of being better than you and puts up a divide between the art and those who can enjoy it. In the last year, we’ve been emphasizing art connection instead of appreciation. Connecting with art has taught me something about myself that I didn’t know, helped me get through something, or given me clarity or a safe space. So in this episode, I’m gonna talk about ways to use art to have moments of clarity and connection where things suddenly make sense. 3:26​ - My realization that art isn’t about the details but the feelings 9:29 - What I mean by spirituality and spiritual practices 14:56 - The aesthetic experience incorporating both mind and body 23:05 - How we can use art as a spiritual practice 30:11 - What to do if you can’t make it to an art museum 32:12 - A couple of caveats Transcript at https://artclasscurator.com/58-art-as-spiritu

Today's episode is a part of the day 5 lesson of our free e-mail course, Beyond the Surface: Teach Students How to Dive Deeper Into an Artwork to Make Connections and Meaning. The topic for today is THERE IS JUST NOT TIME: Making Time for Experiences That Students AND Admins Will Remember. Sign up for this free e-mail course at https://artclasscurator.com/surface Join the Curated Connections Library at https://artclasscurator.com/join 

Today's episode is a part of the day 5 lesson of our free e-mail course, Beyond the Surface: Teach Students How to Dive Deeper Into an Artwork to Make Connections and Meaning. The topic for today is ENTHRALLING EXPERIENCES: Get Students Engaged and KEEP Them Engaged. Sign up for this free e-mail course at https://artclasscurator.com/surface