Virtual school in regards to the art classroom

At this point in time, everyone knows about virtual learning. During the pandemic, it was the only way to continue educating people and now we are living with the after affects. I started my UTK college career as a studio art major in the fall of 2020. This posed a lot of challenges. For one all of my classes were online or hybrid. For my gen ed lecture style classes this was fine. Did I retain as much as I would in a physical classroom? Probably not, but I figured out a system to keep myself engaged. Studio art classes were a different story, however. How do you take a class that is so physical in its foundations and bring it into a digital format? 

Really, that first semester was a mess of trial and error. My foundation classes for art were taught by MFA students who were in the same boat as us. None of us knew how to handle it, because art for all of us was  deeply interpersonal and needed collaborative setting. As artists, we build upon each other's ideas and give constructive criticism and feedback and teach each other new skills. It is a lot harder to build this creative relationship when there is no in-person meetings. We figured out that a strictly virtual class was not the way to go. The studio needed to be hybrid. 

For the most part, the structure became this: 

Demo day: This is the class day that the instructor would demonstrate the skill required for the assignment. Zoom meetings were great for this because they could screenshare videos and use demo cameras to show how they were working through the skill. 

A picture of me at a park drawing
from life during studio class time

Studio days: These are in-class work days. When the weather was nice we would do class outside for social distancing. We were able to start building those relationships that are so critical for art. If the weather wasn't good for outside class, we would have to upload progress shots on canvas either as assignments or discussions to hold ourselves accountable and allow our instructor and peers to provide feedback on how to make our work better.

Crit day: One of the most important parts of art and an art classroom is critique day. This this the day you and your peers dissect each others work and pull out the successful parts and the parts that still need work. Without a good relationship between each other, the crits are useless. I won't respect a peer's comments on my art if I haven't built that relationship and recognize they have merit in their suggestions. It can also promote anxiety if you feel like people are attacking their work. Zoom meetings are the best solution for this in an online setting. This way, students learn how to document their art in a professional way to be able to show on the computer and their peers' tones are not lost like they might be in a discussion post. 

Once these practices were put into place, teaching art in a virtual space was almost as good as in an actual studio. The other thing that really helped was making sure materials were accessible for everyone. The materials needed for most of these assignments were very basic art supplies that most of us had, but sometimes we had to get creative. Other times, were were able to pick up supplies from the school. 

Why are Fine Arts Important to Teach in Schools?

Fine art encompasses the studio art, theater, choir, band, music, and dance classes. These classes are usually taken as electives and are not usually considered to be as important as the core classes.

Students rehearsing in a Theater Arts Class

Until advanced classes like AP fine art courses, there are not standardized tests for them. This means that there has not been a good way to measure importance or achievement in the courses that are useable for getting funding. Federal grants and other funding typically uses the school's test scores to give out monetary awards, so when it comes to schools having budgeting issues the arts are the first to go.  

Fine arts are very important, though. They provide students with a creative outlet and a reprieve during the school day to learn in a different ways. 

Students dancing in a Comtemporary Dance class

It provides a space and tools for self expression that is not usually available in general education. A recent study has shown that access to artistic programs have led to positive impacts on student's academic, social and emotional outcomes.  There are so many other benefits to taking art courses beyond that, though. Students develop fine motor skills in a studio art setting and exercise in dance and band classes. They get the kids out from behind a desk taking notes and get them creating. 

How does technology fit into the art classroom?

Nationally, there is a movement to put technology in the classrooms. The idea is to give every child a reliable source of technology to help enhance their learning and technological competency to help them prepare for their futures.  Regionally, Knox County schools was given a federal grant to roll out a 1:1 technology initiative, a few years ago. Most of the schools in the county have now provided a laptop to each student. This means that the students have access to technology in each class for notes and online assignments. But what does that mean for art classrooms? A class that is normally thought of as a place not really for learning content but about expressing oneself. How do does technology fit in?

I've been shadowing the Vine Middle School art teacher and got to pick his brain on this topic. He has some frustrations with how technology is distributed. Middle schoolers are not always responsible for keeping up with their laptops.

A picture of how messy art classrooms can get 
with all the paint and material scattered around

Some are left at at home or in other classes and some show up to the class without a charge. He would rather have a cart to maintain more control about when to roll tech out into the studio. There's an issue with the fact that art can be messy. Paints splatter and water cups can be knocked over. This can prove disastrous for any laptops in the vicinity. Based on my conversations and observations, I believe there is a time and place for tech in an art studio and it is definitely not on painting days. 

However, the benefits of technology cannot be ignored. Laptops and tablets can open up new possibilities in for the art classroom. Students have millions of reference photos with one quick google search. They can test out and use dozens of different media through drawing apps like Procreate,

Screenshot of the Procreate Brush Library, which
gives an idea of the dozens media options
that are achievable through art software

which takes some of the financial burden away that is often associated with art classes. Personally, I use the app to plan out and visualize my ideas before starting a piece as it provides a risk free option that paper does not because of the wonderful feature of an "undo" button. Other skills, like animating and photo editing are able to be taught in classes now has everyone has the ability to follow along on their individual devices. These are marketable skills and can potentially open up students to the idea that if they have a passion for art, there is a spot for them in a creative workforce.