Concept Map

I decided to create a web to explain my concept.  I took the main topics of the article that I read and put them as the blue circles on the web and then added the ideas talked about the articles as stems from those topics.  My concept has to do with the confidence that young children have in making art. I have noticed in my experience working with children that the younger they are, the more interested and willing to make art they are for the most part.  They also seem much more proud of the work that they make.  I have found older children tend to label themselves as "good at art" or "bad at art."  Only certain children who are recognized by their peers for being artistically gifted seem to be proud of their work, while the others take more coaxing to finish their work in a thoughtful way or get discouraged by not being able to make art as well as the "talented" students.  I am wondering how to break that barrier between students thinking they are "good at art" or "bad at art" and reverting back to the early childhood confidence of their work.

The article that I read talked about how the Fauvists made their art based on bursts of emotion and making art based on what the materials told them to do.  Matisse felt that letting yourself be innocent when creating art was a sign of sophistication.  As we get older, we see through a filter and start judging every action we make based on what society tells us is right or wrong.  When we try to let go of these judgments, it is a way of consciously thinking like a child and it is where the best art comes from.  In order to promote this form of art making, the art educator should focus more on process rather than product.  The students in the art classroom should be allowed to play with the materials as much as possible in order to have their own "ah ha" moments.

The only drawback I could see from teaching this way is that the end result of the projects could vary.  Parents and administrators might be confused about the type of work the students are learning in the art classroom when they take home some projects that might look different from socially-acceptable art.  Process-based art could be incorporated into sketchbooks where the students could be assigned to create a stream of consciousness with either words or doodles.