Every child an artist 1/25/06

"Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up."
- Picasso

Yesterday was a pretty exciting day for me.......I taught my first "Art Masterpiece" lesson to Braden's Kindergarten class. I was excited to get to share a passion of mine with a class full of 5 year olds. My subject matter was Diego Rivera and his works. It was a bit of a challenge......trying to figure out what is appropriate to share with the kids, and how to present it to them. I mean, it shouldn't be that hard, right? I speak to children all day long.....I am fluent in "kid"......the last five years my vocabulary has been supplimented with phraseology like 'potty', 'tummy', 'sippy', 'Boo-bahs', and 'yucky'. I can explain why the sky is blue, why farts stink, and where babies come from, in a context that is 3 yr old friendly, in my sleep. But when it comes to discussing art, I can get a tad perplexed. There is just no "glossing over" some things. I knew I couldn't exactly go in there and say "So, this is Diego, he is a brilliant artist, post-modern cubist, and fresco pioneer. He created many beautiful murals......of which, most were destroyed because he was also a communistic atheist, who liked to go to the Soviet Union with his wife, and hand out firearms, which served as an early catalyst to the Cold War." All in all, I actually think I did ok.......with a just a bit of struggling. One of the pictures I selected to share with them was of his mural 'Dream of a Sunday Afternoon in Alameda Park'. I was asking each of them what their favorite part of the painting was......and, of course, most of them chose the skeleton. Some kids even asked me why there was a skeleton in the park. So, seeing their interest peaked, I got excited and said, "Diego actually painted himself as the young boy holding the skeleton's hand to symbolize his own mortality. I think it was an expression of the way he felt robbed of his youth, that it was forever lost, and that his inevitable death was near." Yeah, I got a few blank looks.....including the teacher. Ok, so it may have been more than they were asking for, but, seriously, I wasn't going to "dumb it up" just because they are five. They deserve more respect than that. I think a few of them even got my explaination.......and like I told them.....art is fun, it's all about how it makes you feel, and there are never any wrong answers. I think everyone enjoyed some aspect of my time there. We made wicked cool tissue paper flowers, and I got told I was 'really pretty' about five different times.......that is a successful day in my book! I can't wait to go back.....