artselector

nice organic stuff, colors are just right for content.

can I add this to my blog?

yes, any web page.

sweet!

A fine article, art education should not be the preserve of the bourgeoisie.

I read David Hockney's 'That's the way I see it' when I was 18 in 1996 and was really inspired to want to be an artist and study at the Royal Academy (although I never made it there). He talks about art in a very intelligent and accessible way. I agree that there is an increasing amout of artists who seem to be trying to be so clever that there ... See Morework is inaccessible which I think defeats the object in a way because surely the point of art is to communicate ideas? Although I have a degree in art I sometimes struggle to understand some works of art so it's no wonder those who haven't studied it cannot understand.

I am working class and had a very traditional art education, . I spent a lot of time in the life room and I loved it. I am a newly qualified Art Teacher and I do believe that skills are important but skills can only take you so far - you need to have well thought out ideas and the only way to do that is through critical studies. Focusing too much on skills can also remove many working class kids from the picture as many do not have the skills because of a lack of art lessons in primary school (I was a teaching assistant in a primary school) which has an effect when they go on to secondary school. There are many kids who given the chance could think deeply and talk about ideas and issues better than they will ever draw or paint but they are not given the chance because secondary schools focus too much on skills and processes. When pupils get to GCSE and A Level they have trouble thinking for themselves.

I had to take a year out at the end of the second year of my degree because I did not know how to generate new ideas because I had not been taught how to. My art history lectures and tutorials did not teach us how to think or write critically about art and that is why I struggled. As a result I believe that writing and talking about art should be as important as learning processes and skills in schools and colleges.

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