Since March 12th or so, when it looked unlikely that school would resume as usual, I started communicating with my Advanced Studio Art students. Tabor had enabled me to participate in a Design for Distance Learning workshop from GOA (Global Online Academy) over the March break and I had learned about some tools and ideas that would be helpful in the coming weeks. I decided to try one of the social tools similar to the Microsoft Teams platform we are using now. Twist (a product from Doist) allowed me to connect with my students and start a conversation about how we would “continue.” The thread I started was c
alled simply “continuing,” and one by one 8 of my 12 students started letting me know if they had their sketchbooks with them, wherever they were. They all expressed how essential to their mood and sanity continuing with their art practice would be, so we started using the Twist platform to share a little before the distance version of Tabor Academy officially began.
Once we were able to use Zoom to see each other’s faces and talk together we all felt better about navigating this unusual situation. We shared images of the art we were making during the break and when the news came out that we would not physically return to campus. As we end our second full week of distance art classes, we are really beginning our journey. The next steps, now that we are acclimated, are to make some new artworks. We have each written a Brief to guide the work that will happen next. In many cases, this new art-making situation requires a change of medium (because we don’t have access to certain materials or processes) or a change in subject (because the change in circumstances has us thinking about other things) that is different from the work that was happening in the Braitmayer Art Center before we went on March Break.
All of the other Visual Arts classes and faculty have made many adaptations to give students a meaningful experience while we all adjust to the new normal. Mostly we are thriving on the challenges of using unconventional materials, learning new technologies, discovering ways to creatively engage with the material that is at the heart of the curriculum in the Visual Arts.
As faculty, we are reminding ourselves daily of the core understandings that allow the Arts and artists to be flexible, innovative, and creative when faced with a challenge. Our essential understandings and Tabor’s Arts Mission Statement are serving to drive us forward into the unknown of distance learning with good humor, hard work, and care for one another.
Tabor Academy’s Arts Department Mission
TO:
...Inspire a life-long appreciation for and love of the arts.
...Instill an understanding of the importance of creativity in
the development of the mind.
...Become informed reflective, disciplined and critical practitioners in the arts.
...Understand that art is an essential human endeavor which fosters both
personal growth and community building.
...Express ideas with confidence and competence.
...Explore and value the diversity of the arts across time, place, culture and academic disciplines.
