Artistic Abilities is a class that is set up through the Art Education department at CSU. In this class, 5 to 7 students work with a group of adults who have some form of disability, Students are given the opportunity to write lesson plans, teach the participants, document through a blog, and write reflective journals.
After I took this class, I knew that this was a group I wanted to continue being involved with, Thus, after volunteering, running the class through an independent study, and helping students as the TA, I got to work with Artistic Abilities a total of five semesters. This experience will be invaluable in the classroom when there are students with special needs who need accommodations. It has also helped me understand the perceptions and struggles people can go through. So it will be my job to make sure everyone is gaining understanding. Below are links to the documentation from previous semesters.
Throughout the different classes, we explored various techniques and mediums. Every class provided a new learning opportunity for the teachers and students alike, and we always enjoyed creating art together.
BRAINY
Every couple of weeks throughout the academic semester, local elementary school students come to the University Center for the Arts and participate in planned activities in the Art, Theatre, Dance, and Music departments. As an Art Education major, I worked with a couple other students to develop lesson plans, do a presentation to engage the students, explain the relevance of museums, and create activities to help the students get started with drawing in their sketchbooks. It was really exciting to see how enthusiastic the kids were about the museum and doing the activities. BRAINY is beneficial to Art Education students because it challenges us to engage a large group of students, then break away and generate questions that ignite learning. It was great to see the connections that were made and, overall, just how excited kids could actually be about museums.