Emily Boksenbaum
Artist and Art Educator
Visual Arts Education MA . Hunter College . New York State certified in Visual Arts PreK-12
Curiosity powers artmaking. When given permission, students are naturally curious. They are open to unexpected answers and marvel when they learn something that connects to their prior knowledge. The realization that everything is connected and that the processes and methods we use to make the objects and systems around us are all relatively similar can be exhilarating.
I believe that creating an environment that continuously reminds students about the wonders of the natural world and the special ability of humans to invent, is supremely important to providing an engaging art classroom. An emphasis on making will create a framework for students to understand the importance of art as a vehicle into all other content areas.
This can be accomplished by practicing multiple craft processes with our students and making connections between methods and techniques. The teacher should often remind their students that school is not just a place for learning and simulation, but that it is part of REAL LIFE. A school is a place for living, expressing, celebrating nature and the gift of learning. Maintaining an art practice that reflects a curious and creative perspective, is the key to continuing that celebration and expression of nature, identity, and human experience long after one leaves the classroom.
And finally, in order to nurture a classroom that can think critically about the complexities and realities of the real world, a culturally responsive-sustaining framework that affirms each student’s unique identity and a commitment to differentiated instruction/scaffolding are critical. Art instruction naturally lends itself to these components of education and my personal pedagogical approach starts and ends with these standards.
K-6
7-12
Footwear Design
As the child of two librarians and the sister of a children’s librarian, my approach to education naturally values literacy as a vital component of any good Visual Arts Lesson. Performance tasks that require READING, SPEAKING, and WRITING will help develop literacy skills in congruence with visual acuity and comprehension. As I consider how to format my lessons, I always consult my sister, the children’s librarian, as I strategize how to incorporate these key tasks.
Providing students with a digital platform such as PADLET, or a shared google doc where they can compose written responses to images will greatly improve their ability to understand, analyze, and discuss visual art. PADLET is an online bulletin board where students can write comments and responses to posted media.
Here is a screenshot from a padlet I created on Social Justice and Footwear Design for a 9th grade Footwear Design Unit. Students wrote responses to the posted articles and were encouraged to post their own research.
Using familiar titles with students as inspiration to create comics will enhance their motivation. By using books like the ones listed below, that include pages about the artist’s process of making their work, students will understand that everyone is capable of writing their own visual language.
The Reading Lists below include examples of picture books that can be used for inquiry based discussions on specific topics or themes and were curated by a children’s librarian. It is important not only to read to our students, but in the art room, discussing the artwork in a picture book is a great way to enhance their understanding of methods of visual communication.
PICTURE BOOKS ABOUT THE ENVIRONMENT
PICTURE BOOKS ABOUT IDENTITY
PICTURE BOOKS ABOUT ARTISTS
Asking students to incorporate writing/text into their visual work will encourage them to use their higher order thinking skills to explore the relationship between visual and written communication.
Scroll to see videos explaining the different parts of my shoemaking practice and examples of my personal work:
