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Lynn Sanders-Bustle
To cite this article: Lynn Sanders-Bustle (2008) Visual Artifact Journals as Creative and Critical
Springboards for Meaning Making, Art Education, 61:3, 8-14
Article views: 25
Visual ArtifactJournals
as Creative and
Critical Springboardsfor
Meaning Making
BY LYNN SANDERS -BUSTLE
C
la ire' de cri ption of a pho tograph taken of
wha t on ce was her home profoundly cap tures
th e impo rtance of th ose everyday contents of
our lives to wh ich we arc so deepl y attached . Visual
artifacts such as th is ph otograph serve as valuab le
springboards for mea nin g makin g in visua l artifact
journ als, wh ich I usc with my students.
It has bee n 5 years since I bega n m)' job as an art edu cation
professor at a Louisiana university where I teach an introd uc-
tory "Art in Ed ucatio n" cour e. '(he majority of m)' students
are studyi ng to becom e classroom teachers, while a small
percent age arc art educatio n major s. Many willingl y inform
me th at they have had little o r no forma l ar t instruction since
elementar y or midd le schoo l. Some confess. "I can't draw a
straig ht line!" However. I remai n und au nted. determined to
erase m isguided not ion s and to replace them with a sense of
ar tistic agency.
..
.'" " O tt the other /rI ll/II, I lJm \'Cry tl/lll/kJl/ f b,'( lllISt' Illy first
daughter died. II WIIS so "l.rd SI't'it'g bt'llIIllful bows lind
"
lacy tllings. I'm gilld 111lI1 I have good memories /lOll' willI
. : that. I huve good memories with ribbons III/ II bows and
IIlCY thi"gs. (S he ila's V, A. jo u rna l, fa ll 20(5 )
<\' .. ,' . It is not unusual for stude nts to include emotionally laden
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art ifacts in their journals. Accompanying a ph otograph, Ahby
recoun ts the death of her z t -yeer-old fne nd.
She died Friday. I was lrorriJit'iI lit tlu: /I('II'S ." f 111'1.wt'
with m it' oJ my best[t iendsJrom Higlr Sdwol and I
sbe ue 's Vi~uetl , . told hhn I wish Wt' 11'(/ 1/1.1 IIt'\'t'r gt't there /' t'CIIlISt'
Art ifetct Entry. mllyl' I' it w(lIIM,,', /,~, 1'1.'1/1". l had 10 gil't' Ira 1/ PII~W
, .... itt my book, slit' deserved il. (Abby 's V. A. jo urnal,
11-06 )
Ahhy valu es the jou rnal as a place in which her fr i~' nJ
"deserves" to be Inclu ded. He r wor ld inte rtwine d with
mine as I rea d/vie wed t his ~· ntr t·. Suddculv; I was lett
wondenng abou t the tr ue value of suc h an assignmcru.
'Ihe con text unl rl'sllt' nsc ove rshadowe d the visual
descnpuon. whic h almost see med k ss sigllificall t and
l'mptr ReaJ ingf\'kwing l'ntrks suc h as thes e provided