Is Art Easy?
The Arts are personal performances. Good performances are always a challenge. Art requires positive mental and emotional involvement and attitudes.

Art is Supposed to be fun!
My main job as a teacher is not to provide entertainment for passive or bored students, but to share insights into the creative disciplines which are called "The Arts."
Yet most people do find that art is recreational. But art is also deep and challenging. It teaches a lot of important things which can be used in life.

What are some of those valuable lessons that art teaches?

1. The arts focus on you the individual. Art values your ideas and your experiences and your abilities to produce things which can last for years and continue to express you.

2. Art builds thinking and imagining skills. Art requires imagination and the ability to come up with many possible ideas. Called brain storming or divergent thinking. People who are in charge of things and are leaders have this ability.

3. Art teaches about care and precision and values skills in many techniques

4. Art requires ideas, planning and follow through to finish work sometimes using a deadline. These are very valuable life skills.

What is the most important thing to remember so that I can have a good experience doing art?

Art is really a learning experience. You will be shown a lot of "creative tools" and learn new ways of communicating using a visual language. It will take some time to make the adjustment and learn the language and appreciate the challenges of art. Personally, try to be a pleasant and cooperative individual. Think about others. Have a positive attitude. Consider that the information and experience you gain today is actually worth something.

Your Teacher's Role in Your Art Instruction

To stimulate creative problem solving skills
To encourage work that meets high standards
To encourage you to become visually aware of common things
To encourage new methods and ideas
To build an awareness of culture and in particular art in culture.
To encourage respect for the Arts and creative pursuits
To help build an awareness of the many parts and challenges of the Creative Process

Your role in Your Art classroom

Respect your teacher and fellow classmates
Try to receive comments or suggestions positively
Learn to work with CARE
Develop new skills working with art materials
Keep an open mind to be open to new ideas
Think about, excercise and  explore new concepts,
Check out ideas in Library investigate the great artists
Use resources especially the internet to access pictures and museums