27 a. James Van der Zee

American Legioneer, District of Columbia, 1937
This is a James Van Der Zee photograph depicting a decorated soldier, and perhaps it is an image of a relative who was also in the service that he is looking at in the photograph. This image conveys pride for the man who serves for a cause he believes in. When you look at the photograph the viewer sees the positive side of war; pride, fighting for a cause and striving for peace.
Boy with a Toy Grenade (1962).
This image by Diane Arbus shows the dirty, corrupt side of war. This young boy at first glance looks goofy and innocent, but only after you look more closely, you see he is holding a grenade. War might be fought to bring peace, but the people it affects may be too young to understand the gravity of what war really means.

Art Advocacy

Art Advocacy was something I wish had been considered more when I was in high school. At my school, if you wanted to take an art class, it was because you were the one who took the initiative. My art teachers were football and soccer coaches who let the kooky artistic kids do their own thing while they prepared for that day's practice. That being said, I really had to teach myself what Art Advocacy really meant, and also decide that I was going to be radically different than my own art teachers.
In my own district as an art teacher I want to show the entire student body that the work that art students produce should be just as recognized as any sports event. Instead of shelving work that my students produce, I want them to display it in the school for everyone to see. If displaying artwork isn't an option in my district I think it would be interesting to hold "art shows" maybe on a bi-monthly basis that would showcase student work even in my classroom. I think it would be fun for my students to be able hand out a leaflet to their peers like a show opening that would invite them to come see student work during passing time or a free period. What I would love even more would be to do something similar to the trimester art show we saw the previous school do.
The risks in art advocacy are that art in itself can be controversial. Displaying work publicly is something that has to be carefully considered. I think asking your students to consider their audience before choosing what artwork should be displayed would be an good way to keep things calm between the arts and other communities in the school system.
One thing I have thought about quite a bit lately are ways to tie in my lessons in art with other things students might be learning in their own classes. I know growing up I always found it helpful when I was learning about something in one class, and talking about similar yet opposing views of the same topic in another class. So I think it would be interesting to join forces with other teachers by asking what lessons they are teaching and if they would like to tie their lessons with a project my students might be doing in their art class. For example, if a history class was discussing a period that generated some poignant artwork, I could talk about those pieces in class and then create a project that would tie in with what they were learning in that class. Those are thing that I think help students absorb information, when they can associate something they learned with something they themselves created. Plus it wouldn't be a bad idea to show other teachers that I want to include their thoughts and opinions in my lessons.

"Guess who's comin' to town. 'Santa?' No! The Harlem Globetrotters!"

When I was younger, my Mom worked at a pharmacy that mostly dealt with Nursing Homes. Patient's medications were packaged in little refillable boxes called "cassettes". I remember having to clean these out every once and while when things got busy. While it was easy to do, I was easily bored. Not too long after I remember doing that, my Mom's pharmacy hired a man named Charles to clean all of the pharmacy's cassettes. It turned out that Charles had a disability, and while I'm not entirely sure what it is, I know it is a defect in one or more of his chromosomes. While Charles does have many health problems, he is a very dedicated worker, and he made friends with every single person in that pharmacy, especially my Mom. Charles and my Mom instantly became buddies and to this day calls our house at least twice a week just to chit chat. Unfortunately Charles has no other family living near-by to care for him, and his Mother's health is fading quickly. He talks about where he might have to live when his Mother dies, but he has a strong community around him to make sure he his happy wherever he might end up. His sense of humor is his best quality and his idle threats of "making you go sit on the roof" or "calling the authorities on you" is his funny way of letting you know you are special to him.
To be completely honest I really don't know very much about how to specifically teach someone with disabilities. I do know however, how I interact with Charles and it is amazing how many things he knows and does, he always has something interesting to talk about. So I can imagine sitting down and getting to know a student with disabilities just like I would get to know any other student in my class. Once I got a handle of what skills the student was capable of, and what things they wanted to accomplish, I know that student could get along in my art room just fine.

The title of this post is one of Charles' funniest quotes (he has many)

Alter Ego

Self and Alter Ego 3k

My alter ego's name is Alice, I am tall, thin and I have long dark hair. My mother grew up on an Apache reservation, and my father was born in Austria. He moved to New Mexico when he was in his twenties where he met my mother. They married and moved to Albuquerque, where I was born in 1985. Although my father is Jewish, my spiritual beliefs are more similar to my mother's, who still practices common Native American beliefs. My spirit animal is a silver fox. I am a photographer who mainly photographs for National Geographic. I just returned from a 4 month stint where I was photographing the Australian Aboriginal people. Unfortunately many jobs don't pay well so I work as a celebrity/portrait photographer when I need to pay the rent. I am a very independent person who doesn't like being tied down to one place or another, so I travel frequently. I fall in love easily but the guys I fall for are never strong enough for me, so now I date whoever I want with no expectations.

The qualities that best describe me are: assertive, idiosyncratic, playful, solemn, truthful, courageous, constant, arrogant, proud, daring, progressive, opinionated, humorous, bossy, maverick, cynic, believer, realist, bold, enlightened, ethical, ambitious, ruthless, stimulating, passive, determined, casual, altruistic, relaxed, stoic, energetic.