This week we started our mural project with artist in residence Kristin Helberg. Students in the eighth grade at Harlem Park are creating a mural in the style of Indian Mughal painting. Kristin is also team teaching other grade level classes with Morag, with projects as diverse as shoe sculptures and prints of peacock feathers. Kristin's residency is provided through the Maryland Sate Arts Council's Arts in Education (AiE) Program.
That's fine and dandy, but what this and thousands of programs like around the country do is rob professional Artist of an ability to practice their craft and earn a living. The Kids don't get paid for this , but the art teacher still earns their salary and gets credit to their name. It's really just a placebo effect and exploitation of youth and deluding them into believing that it helps their community.
ReplyDeleteIt helps the mayor save money and the teachers get profiled.And it makes liberals feel good, like they've done something important. No!
Doing a mural project builds a sense of community between the students working on the project-and that's a start to building unity within a community!
ReplyDeleteAs stated above, far from robbing a professional artist of income this project provides employment for an artist (in our case the wonderful Kristin Helberg who has worked on a project with us each year for the past eight years) through funding from the Maryland State Arts Council and our school. The students get to work in small groups with a professional artist and create a community artwork that beautifies THEIR school.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comment (Anonymous Jan 23rd) These projects do build unity with our school community and really result in a sense of pride and accomplishment for our students in their work that is on permanent display in the hallways.