Art Educators Web 2.0


The digital technology used on this web-quest, titled "Street to Studio" about the life and art of Jean-Michel Basquiat really evokes a sense of play and exploration.  The first tab allows you to view some of his paintings related to defined themes that shaped his work, within each of these slide of images, you can move the image around to explore it even further while it provided some factual posts over the image to describe the importance of one feature or important aspect.  The second tab allows the user to follow a timeline of the artist's life and understand, even more, how significant events in his life shaped his art, his choices, and his contributions.  The third tab gives the user an opportunity to bring these elements of the artists life and the themes he based his work off of together into a work of art of their own following a similar style.  Its gives a box with very simple painting options and colors similarto Microsoft Paint.

I don't think I would change how the technology is used in this case to further education but I would definitely make things more accessible and have fewer routes to pages such as more images of art based on the certain themes from the first page, or I would find a way to make the information appear as you mouse over the image instead of needing to click on words to make the facts appear and disappear.

My Idea:
I want to create a web quest where students are asked to curate their own exhibition of art from various contemporary artists that relate to one another and then give the show a title and provide a very brief idea of the type of work presented there.  After the work is selected, maybe 6-8 images of at least 3 artists, the student will be asked to create a work of art of their own that also fits into the show and applies to the theme they created.

Jennifer (our host teacher) expressed that the students could be exposed more to the work of contemporary artists.  By giving the show a theme and a title, the student has to understand the themes used by the artist to bring together different images so they gain an understanding of the artists and their work and exposes them to different names in the art community.

As an art teacher, I want my students to be able to express freely whatever they feel distinctly passionate about in their own lives dealing with their personal lives, their experiences, society, or any other aspect of the world that impacts them directly.  I hope that they might find art making fun, while I also have lofty expectations of them to help them grow as both people and artists in life. 

I want my students to enjoy what they are doing with their art practice.  I want them to try new things and to explore the limitations of their work and go even further to push the limits of what they imagined to be possible.  Eventually, I want to help my students move forward with their art career by showing them how to survive as an artist in the world, or how to further their education by helping them scope out a related profession and guide them in preparation to achieve this higher level of art. 

Digital technology is the unique characteristic of our lifetime.  We have the ability to have our tools do work for us, opening the possibilities to express ourselves in more ways and with greater resources.  Technology has also made our world faster and information more accessible but as technology changes, we must relearn and reapply to what we already know.  

I already use technology a lot in my life when dealing with my own artwork.  I use many 3D modeling programs and have used 2D drawing and styling programs as well.  I document my work and stole it mostly digitally and display my work online for people to see.  I have had to learn much of this technology practice on my own through the years and I appreciate the value of this knowledge so that one day I can pass it on to my students.

 I believe that, as a teacher, I should be able to help my students on the path to become a practicing artist in the world through means of spreading their work on the internet, creating a professional website to share ideas and images, and using digital technology to document and preserve the legacy of their work.  This will bring them into the heard of the art community and world and give them a foothold in their own endeavors to continue art practice.