Art education show highlights teaching methods
Radford’s art education majors are taking their work from the classroom to the art gallery. Students who major or minor in art education recently exhibited in the Art Education Show, which runs from October 8 through 17, 2019 in Porterfield Gallery 205.
Students had the opportunity to have up to four items displayed in the art show, depending on how many art education classes they are taking this semester. This show also features a large texture collage created by students.
Assistant Professor Lou Ann Thompson is in charge of the show. In addition to original student artwork, the exhibit will also feature lessons that her students developed in class as teaching exercises. Students are required to develop their lessons for kids of different age groups, depending on which level of art education they plan on teaching. Thompson assists them during the development process.
Thompson often stresses to her students that the examples they make will be the standard that their students will look up to. “If your piece is not a quality piece, you’re not going to get quality pieces from your students,” she said.
Students in her classes also worked on a printmaking activity where they painted paper and used it to create flowers. According to Thompson, the lesson was influenced by the American artist Georgia O’Keeffe, who is famous for her large flowers and desert scenes from when she lived in New Mexico. Another exercise also had students using clay to create art that is based from O’Keeffe’s work. Thompson says that she chose Georgia O’Keeffe because her work would be easier for younger children to recreate. “I wanted to show them how they could use her for a lesson that was 2D and for one that’s 3D,” Thompson said.
The Student Art Education Show will also feature students’ work with chalk pastels. “The students are studying different media and techniques, and that will be reflected in the show,” Thompson said.
The Student Art Education Show takes place every fall semester. This year’s show runs in Porterfield Gallery 205 from October 8 - 17.