The expansion and reinvigoration of the art education circle

Yes I will be the first to admit it. I am not shy or ashamed about it. One of the delights about my recent visit to Minneapolis for the NAEA Convention was a ride. A ride I had anticipated for a very long time. I knew it was there. I knew the details. I plotted how to get to it efficiently in the least amount of time and for the least amount of money. I planned to have the ultimate sensory and yes aesthetic experience while enjoying it. I did ride the Ripsaw rollercoaster at the Mall of America. And, it was a wonderful experience.

Now one might think I am going to expand on the metaphor of the ups and downs of education. The fact that education is a cycle could be another route. However I am not going to focus on either metaphors. The experience was pure enjoyment. It was a diversion and expansion of my long history of roller coaster riding. I have done much research on coasters over the years. I keep up with the latest technology and expansion in the industry. I plot out family trips that include at least one coaster experience. An old friend is as good as the excitement of a premiere ride on a never before experienced machine. My fascination and obsession may also be tied into roller coaster research. Research shows that the vast majority of us enjoy being scared. We enjoy the opportunities that roller coasters give us to scream, yell, and release stresses not normally accepted in our everyday lives. (However rich visual images come with the last line.) The experience at the Mall was not something that can be directly tied into any other aspect of my life, or can it be linked? I did it maybe semi-selfishly for me. My companions on this journey did not even partake in the experience. It was a singular aesthetic experience.

The purpose of this exposition about my 4-minute experience is simple. Some things pure and simple you need to do for yourself both personally and professionally. You need to seek out things that will expand your experiences, refresh, and reinvigorate you. Experiences that indirectly will give you a better understanding of the entire circle of all of your lives, both private and professional, which I believe, are inseparable and linked in many more ways than we imagine.

In many ways art education is in that portion of the circle that we can all characterize as change. Some of us in our individual circumstances will call it more strongly under attack. In many ways it is. If we allow ourselves to step back or step out of the circle for awhile we will enable ourselves to meet today’s challenges and the challenges of tomorrow. If we focus on the negative, then solutions to the positive may never come to us. Additionally, if we work together in partnerships and as a team we will all share in the successes, help each other though the failures, and pull the profession forward.

Your professional organization is currently in the middle of developing some very exciting projects. These projects are being designed to expand and reinvigorate your profession and professional experience. These projects include position papers, advocacy tools, art teachers in an artist in residence settings, and an exciting conference devoted to all of the special populations we encounter in our daily role as art educators. Keep watching this web site for formal announcements of each of these and the continuing work of your professional organization.

For me, there will be a few months respite from the coaster circuit. This summer however will be filled with coaster bounty for me and my daughter who has just discovered the joy of coaster riding. On the horizon are new friends: The New York Express and The High Roller and also an old friend California Screamin. Need an expansion or reinvigoration in your life? Go ride a coaster.

It’s all about instruction and learning.

Tom Kelchner