Lawrence Schaedler-Bahrs

Art 135
Amber Ward
4/5/17
Reflection # 4
For the fourth studio investigation within the Creating Unit of Art 135- Secondary Art

Education, we centered on an activity called the Lifes Deal which focuses on the Big Idea of

Risk and Reality. Key concepts we focused on were mainly how risk takers expose themselves

to failure and push boundaries, how artists take risks for a variety of reasons including their arts

content, formal qualities, materials, and techniques, as well as how reality is socially constructed

and how are often reflects reality and thus life. Essential Questions which we aimed to answer

included; describing the ways risk takers expose themselves to failure, how and why artists take

risks, asking what reality is, and art reflects it as well as life in general. The artist we drew

inspiration from for this activity is Hollis Sigler and the works in question were a pictorial

journal that was comprised of more than one hundred works that detailed her journey through

life with her diagnosis of breast cancer, a disease that affect both her mother and grandmother as

well. The works, many of them metaphorical, combined personal experiences concerning her

family with other cultural aspects including medical statistics of breast cancer, as well as political

conscious raising, to give a voice to women who struggle everyday with the deadly realities of

breast cancer. We also looked at a deck of cards which contained fifty-two unique works each

done by a unique artist, commission by Hollis Sigler, that were created to be mass-produced to

raise money and awareness for the Y-Me National Breast Cancer Organization. After looking at

these works, we then completed an artists questionnaire in which we narrowed down our

selection to three question concerning our own lives and drew three simplified visual symbols to
reflect our answers. We were then asked, using various materials, to design and create 1-3

collages that capture these questions and our own individual perceptions of what Risk and

Reality meant. We then were asked to create individualized playing cards, based off of our dealt

numbers and suits, which reflected the questions answered in our artist questionnaire.

Personally, I love the idea of creating these personal collages and cards that reflect the

individual and their own desires and struggles for those students in secondary education. As the

presentation and project is currently, I think that it is perfect for secondary students. I feel as

though the implementation of the private artists questionnaire would be a great way of posing

this concept. During their teenage years, children go through a variety of tough situations and

more often than not will not or cannot share their struggles aloud. These questionnaires allow

them to privately reflect and then create symbols of their own choosing that are abstract enough

to maintain their privacy or reveal their struggle. This project would give the otherwise voiceless

students a medium in which to be heard.

As for adapting the content within this project to fit a Secondary Education or High

School Population, I feel as though it is already perfect in its execution, however I would give

the students more time to reflect on what their personal struggles and meanings through their

questionnaires with them being able to take them home and perhaps have a day or so to think. I

would also implement a variety of materials, asking students to bring in things that they feel

reflect their struggle and either use those as inspiration or use them within their works.

Photographs, trinkets, and clothing would be favorable items that would allow for a deeper

exploration into the work. Utilizing such programs such as Photoshop and also allowing students

to go online to find images of their own would also be favorable because it would allow for

students to have a more individualized grasp upon their works as opposed to just using found
collage material from magazines. To go about doing this, I would allow for an exploration day in

which we would visit the computer lab and the library to seek imagery that the children can use.

National Arts Standards:

Anchor Standard 1: Generate and conceptualize artistic ideas and work-

Enduring Understanding: Creativity and innovative thinking are essential life skills that

can be developed.

8th grade- Document early stages of the creative process visually and/or verbally in

traditional or new media.

Enduring Understanding: Artists and designers shape artistic investigations, following or

breaking with traditions in pursuit of creative art making goals.-

HS Proficient- Shape an artistic investigation of an aspect of present day life using a

contemporary practice of art or design.

Anchor Standard 2: Organize and develop artistic ideas and work.-

Enduring Understanding: People create and interact with objects, places, and design that

define, shape, enhance, and empower their lives.

7th grade- Apply visual organizational strategies to design and produce a work of art,

design, or media that clearly communicates information or ideas.

Anchor Standard 3: Refine and complete artistic work-

Enduring Understanding: Artist and designers develop excellence through practice and

constructive critique, reflecting on, revising, and refining work over time.
 HS Proficient- Apply relevant criteria from traditional and contemporary cultural contexts

to examine, reflect on, and plan revisions for works of art and design in progress.

TPE:

TPE 1: 1. Engaging and Supporting All Students in Learning- Apply knowledge of

students, including their prior experiences, interests, and social-emotional learning

needs, as well as their funds of knowledge and cultural, language, and

socioeconomic backgrounds, to engage them in learning.

7. Provide students with opportunities to access the curriculum by

incorporating the visual and performing arts, as appropriate to the content and

context of learning.