Refugees at the Walters

Hello and happy post-Thanksgiving, everyone!  I'm sure you are all still digesting your turkey, like I am.  Recently, I have been lucky enough to work with and teach refugees at The Walters.  In years past, The Walters has worked with Baltimore City Community College's Refugee Youth Program (RYP), an after-school program for refugee youth at various Baltimore schools that helps them with learning English, homework, and generally fitting in.  In addition to RYP, The Walters also worked with the HOPE program, another after-school refugee program through the International Rescue Committee (IRC).

I taught children from both groups, and had a WONDERFUL time!  They are so joyous and eager to learn, despite all they have gone through in their young lives, and their enthusiasm is infectious.  They are also a challenge for me as a teacher, as they have some behavior/social custom issues as well as low English levels.  Working with them is a great opportunity for me to grow as a teacher.  I usually work with preschoolers, and to work with the refugees I had to learn techniques and skills for teaching second language learners, which is totally new for me.  I think I did well when I put them into practice with my students, and I hope I was able to help them learn new words in English and have fun with art!

These pictures are all from the HOPE visit.  The RYP students have been in this country, as well as coming to The Walters, for several years now and have fairly good English levels.  However this was the first year at The Walters for the HOPE students, and many of them had very, very low English levels as well.  They were so excited to be at the museum, though, and were super well-behaved.  I was teaching a younger group with some of the lowest English levels overall.  They didn't say much and I'm not sure whether I really got through to them or not.  We looked at the Heroes exhibition and talked about monsters.  Afterwards, we went downstairs and made our own collaged monsters.  They really got into the studio project and did a great job with their monsters!  We colored coloring sheets and took pictures afterward, and whenever someone would finish a coloring sheet they'd bring it to me and I would point at the different colors and have them repeat the names of the colors after me.  They loved taking pictures, and all in all I think they had a great visit.  I can't wait to work with the Refugees again, I learn just as much from them as I hope they do from me, and it feels like I'm doing something helpful and good for these refugees as they try to make a home for themselves here in America.

Jonah Lehrer on Art & Metacognition

Jonah Lehrer, pictured above, is a (hot!) Neuroscientist and author.  His most recent book is titled, "How We Decide," all about the science behind even our most mundane decisions.  He recently gave a lecture at the Walters Art Museum called, "From Marshmallows to Metacognition: The Science of Decisions" in promotion of "How We Decide".  It was a great lecture, and I throughly recommend checking out the book- I know I will be doing so soon!  Given that he was lecturing at an art museum, he had to link his ideas to the arts at some point, and given that I am an artist and art educator, this was one of the more interesting parts of his lecture for me (albeit also one of the shortest parts of his lecture.  Honestly, though, the rest was just as interesting).

One of the things Lehrer talks about is something called "metacognition," or as he put it, "thinking about thinking".  Lehrer said that when kids look at art, for example Rembrandt, they are practicing metacognition- thinking about thinking- and therefore learning more about the human condition as well as about the practice of metacognition.  Looking at art inspires us to ask questions like those I ask my preschoolers when we look at art together: "What do you see?", "Why do you think he feels that way?", etc.  This, according to Lehrer, is just one of the many ways we practice metacognition, and learning to practice metacognition is an extremely important tool of success for everyone.  The ability to be aware of our own thoughts, and their implications, and thereby control them- as well as understand ourselves, our place in the world, and those around us better- can be (and is) one of the main factors in whether an individual succeeds or fails in life.  It is fascinating and very validating neuroscience that supports the arts enormously.  I really hope Lehrer talks about the relation of art and metacognition in his book....I will find out soon enough....!  No matter what, remember to go out there and look at art and practice metacognition- it's scientifically good for your brain!

Exhibitions: Heroes at the Walters Art Museum

Next time you get a chance, if you live here in Baltimore, stop by the Walters Art Museum and check out their newest exhibition, "Heroes: Mortals and Myths in Ancient Greece," which opened two weeks ago.  The exhibition showcases Greek artworks (mostly vases) from the Walters' collection as well as several other contributing museums, arranged around the theme of Heroes such as Herakles, Athena, Odysseus, and Helen.  The show explores not only Heroes, but Hero worship and modern-day Heroes, as well as various monsters and challenges Heroes faced, like the Cyclops above.  There are many fun interactive spots located throughout the gallery, my favorite being the "Personality Quiz" that tells you which Ancient Greek Hero you are most like (The first time I took it, I got Helen, which means I am "Beautiful and Enchanting" or something along those lines.  Then I took it a second time, changing the answers to questions where two answers both sort of fit, and got Athena, "Creative and Smart").  You then can take a pin with a symbol that represents your Hero and a card that explains your Heroes' traits, and follow that Hero around the show by locating your Hero's symbol on the labels of all the pieces where your Hero is shown or discussed.  All in all, it is a fun, creative show that manages to take something that can be kind of boring sometimes (Greek pottery) and make it easy to understand and, in many cases, fascinating!

"Heroes: Mortals and Myths in Ancient Greece" will be on display at the Walters Art Museum, located at 600 N. Charles St. in Baltimore, Maryland, through January 3, 2010.

www.thewalters.org

Spotlight: Herman Maril

Herman Maril is an artist who came to my attention recently.  The Walters Art Museum here in Baltimore did a show of his work titled, "Herman Maril: An American Modernist".  Since I work at the Walters, I had many occasions to see the show, and even teach it and help pass out evaluation forms to visitors.  I was surprised I had not heard of Maril's work before.  Born and raised in Baltimore, he attended MICA and taught at the University of Maryland.  He also spent summers in Provincetown, Massachusetts, and his work is influenced by those two places.  His paintings are simplified down to color and shape, two elements that Maril considered extremely important.  In an interview by Carl Schoettler for the Evening Sun in 1983, Maril said, "My preoccupation in painting has always been space...Huge open areas of space.  I like to think of the concept of space.  I like to deal with big open spaces.  And color.  Color and space is painting."

I too feel that painting consists of color and space, and so I appreciate Maril's work and approach to painting.  His work has elements of Cubism, Fauvism, and Modernism to it- i.e. breaking down surface planes and objects into basic shapes and multiple view points, bright unnatural colors, and color field painting.  His beach scenes and delicate interiors also remind me personally of the artist Fairfield Porter, and my own childhood growing up on the beach.  You can see Maril's work in person at the University of Maryland, the Provincetown Art Museum, and other select locations.