June 23, 2020
Today, is the official start of my Masters of Art in Education at The Ohio State University. Accordingly, the road really should be of the scarlet and gray variety. Here on this glorious June summer day as I peck away at my keyboard, an anxiety hangs over the globe. On a very turbulent world stage is where I begin this journey. I am excited, angry, grief struck, scared and cautious all at the same time. How will I take the events of today’s current atmosphere and let it shape my art? My career? My education?
These truly are troubling times that we live in. We are in the middle of a global pandemic that has changed the playing field of every major aspect of our lives. Globally, as I write this, over 9 million cases and 474k deaths are contributed to the Coronavirus. Our unprepared health systems struggle under the strain in large metropolitan areas and rural America alike. Starting in March, shut down orders swept across the country closing everything from bars and hair salons to churches and arenas. Every major event of the late spring and early summer was scrapped and the purse strings started to tighten. Financially, the U.S. economy has hit the skids and unemployment has reached the rate of the Great Depression. The industries of sports, music, entertainment, and all means of distraction, including the arts, have come to an abrupt stop.
Education is in limbo as school districts and universities across the country try to figure out what to do and how in the hell they will roll out their shaky plans to the grumpy and understandably short-tempered public. The school system my own children attend, as well as the different district that I am employed as a digital art teacher, have yet to make a solid plan. Parents all around fret about the possibility of another year of online education that school systems simply are not equipped for implementing. Equally they worry about the near full-time effort required to keep their young scholars on track with their studies before they fall hopelessly behind.
As if that were not enough to contend with, social unrest over police violence against minorities and peoples of color in the U.S. has resulted in the nearly constant protesting in every state in the union. The death of a cooperating George Floyd during an arrest in Minneapolis has reignited the long-standing questions of racial violence in the U.S. The anger has overflowed globally with demonstrations occurring globally. Monuments to slavery and confederate rule are being rightfully questioned and torn down. The silly romantic stories of Christopher Columbus and the peaceful acquisition of indigenous lands and peoples are being dragged into the light. People are waking up to the violent reality of colonial conquest, murder, genocide, and enslavement.
And don’t even get me started about political leadership. When America and the world truly needs a unifying voice and real leaders to step up, there is a clown show going on in the White House and in our Congress.
Out of all of this pain, shame and fear, there has to be some light. I often tell my students that their art can be angry. Their art can be violent. Artists have to know that they can harness energies around them, good and bad, positive and negative and pour them into creative outlets. Young artist often feel they need permission (or to give themselves permission) to express strong emotions in their art. They will ask if they can tackle taboo topics if they can show their position in a controversial subject. I hope to inspire students to make intelligent art with strong arguments and be prepared to defend it. So, how will I let this shape my art and education experience? I look forward to incorporating the ideas around me into my own storytelling narrative. I look inward and I want to express! All of this turmoil has already resulted in some fantastic art giving voice to the people who know that their message needs to be heard and acted upon. I look forward to looking back on this post at the end journey to my make myself a better artist and educator. Let’s get to work.