ArtNC News

Looking for a real-world example of how visual literacy can change the world? Look no further than Edward Tufte, artist, statistician, and pioneer in the field of data visualization. Tufte presents some great arguments for why visual information matters and how the ability to read it is essential to all disciplines. From a lecture he gave in 2010:

“Evidence is evidence whether words, numbers, images, diagrams, still or moving. The information doesn’t care what it is. The content doesn’t care what it is. It is all information … For readers and viewers, it is the intellectual tasks that remain constant regardless of the particular mode of evidence … to understand and to reason about the materials at hand and to appraise their quality, relevance, and integrity.”

For more on Tufte and the impact of visual information, listen to his views about how better visual information and literacy could have changed the outcome of the Challenger and Columbia space shuttle disasters!

“When you synthesize it all together, it becomes this amazing thing that no one of us would have done just alone.”—Art of Collaboration Team Member

With the NCMA’s first Team Planning Retreat workshop just a few weeks away, some educators have asked what we consider a “team” and whether this workshop is for them. As you will see, there is flexibility and a wide range of ways we interpret this term.

A team can be two or more people in two or more different disciplines. Do you have to teach the same grade? Not necessarily. You might have an idea for a schoolwide project, or you might want to see what students of different ages can learn from each other through a shared lesson. Do you have to be a pre-existing team? No. Now is as good a time as any to start a team. Do you have to share a common vision? It helps, but we can help you work toward that if you are having trouble.

The Art of Collaboration project offers one model for collaborative team planning. In AOC we work with teams of middle school teachers who are pooling skill sets to design creative lessons that address student learning goals in a variety of subjects. An AOC team consists of up to six members: teachers of art, math, science, language arts, social studies, and a specialist (media, technology, or exceptional children). They work together to plan lessons, but within each team teachers can group up in many ways, depending on logistics such as curriculum correlations and pacing guides. For example, the science, art, and social studies teachers could team up to implement a lesson about volcanoes. On a different team, the art and math teacher might pair up to introduce a lesson on slope and abstract painting. At other times the whole group might be working on a teamwide lesson.

So, the answer is … a “team” is what works for you and your school. Just make sure art is at the heart of your collaboration.

Teachers from Davidson to Carteret County gathered at the NCMA on a recent Saturday to muse on problem solving with artist Jonathan Brilliant. We started the day by chewing on the question: What do you do when you don’t know what to do? What a universal problem! Who hasn’t faced this? Won’t each and every one or your students face this at some point their lives? How does one go about solving this problem?

Teachers approach this conundrum in a variety of ways. Here’s a sampling of responses from the workshop:

- conversation with others (whether taking their advice or not)

- research (Google! and books, too)

- movement (taking a walk; doing something physical to let the problem settle and clarify)

- prayer

- trial and error

- asking Mom; spouse

- giving the problem time to resolve itself

Inherent in creative processes are problems and solutions—of design, communication, expression, and technique, to name a few. Can making art make your students better problem solvers? Probably. Teachers worked in groups to solve a problem of design and engineering using the basic principles of sculpture. When asked to reflect on the skills involved in their solutions, they came up with a long list. Here’s a handful to consider:

- observation

- teamwork

- experimentation

- asking questions

- resourcefulness

- listening

- creativity

- humor

- openmindedness to possibility

- flexibility

- timekeeping

Are these skills you want your students to have? NCMA workshops serve up fresh ideas for integrating art into all subjects to nurture the next generation of innovative problem solvers. Come join us!

Need a student-friendly definition of visual literacy and some related lesson plan ideas? Check out the Visual Literacy K-8 Web site, especially the section on assessing visual literacy. All the lesson plans on the ArtNC Web site support visual literacy objectives. Here are three highlights to explore.

Making Choices (grades 3-5)

Determining Importance (grades 6-8)

The Art of Writing (grades 9-12)

Thank you, teachers in western North Carolina, for coming out to our Summer Educator Expo on August 30! We enjoyed the opportunity to bring professional development and resources to YOU.

Did you miss this event? Your colleagues in Asheville and beyond shared the following reflections with us after the event:

“I loved finding out about all the different resources available to assist with planning.”

“I feel more equipped to work on cross-curricular themes based around the arts.”

 “I learned about printmaking and how EASY it is to integrate into my classroom! I loved it!”

“My colleague and I have plans in the works to incorporate one of the strategies. We’ve also pulled a history teacher into the collaboration.”

The next Expo is November 7 at the North Carolina Museum of Art. Spaces are going quickly. To register see our Programs page. Hope to see you there!

Download these practical and easy routines for discussing works of art in the classroom or museum gallery. Teachers tell us these strategies are simple to remember, generate thoughtful discussion, and help students practice critical thinking skills.

You can use these questions with any work in the ArtNC image gallery. Pick a work of art. Pick a strategy. Be surprised by what you and your students discover together.

The new North Carolina Essential Standards include three standards to support visual literacy instruction in the K–12 art classroom. This is a great thing! Visual literacy—the ability to construct meaning from visual images—is a critical skill for students and teachers alike. However, it is often tricky to explain what it means and looks like to those who are not familiar with its related benefits or methodologies. It can also be difficult to find new ways of nurturing this skill across grade levels, learning types, and subjects.

Fear not! Over the next few days, we will be exploring four different resources that can help you define, advocate for, and teach visual literacy to a wide range of learners.

The Visual Literacy White Paper
This document clearly defines the term visual literacy, describes its history and educational benefits, and demonstrates what it looks like in K–12 and college instruction. Share it with administrators, parents, or anyone who questions the pedagogy or impact of visual literacy.

In this short video, teachers consider the many ways ENVIRONMENT connects to art, science, and us.

What It Is:
Gallery Walk is a discussion technique in which students move around the classroom to work with multiple works of art, documents, or artifacts in round-robin fashion.

Why Do It:
Gallery walks are extremely flexible and can be planned for any length of time, from a 10-minute bell ringer to multiple days of inquiry. Artifacts and documents can be displayed on posters, on computer screens, or on Internet discussion boards. Students work independently or in small groups, which takes away the pressure of contributing to discussion in front of the whole class and allows even shy students to contribute to investigation. For instructors it’s a chance to gauge the depth of student understanding of particular concepts and to challenge misconceptions. (Source: Science Education Resource Center)