Reflections of an art teacher

All children are great artists. Until they aren’t. Maybe you were one once? The good news is that you can become one again. While we are busy helping you get your mojo back with a broad offering of adult art and theater classes, we have an eye on our kids.

By helping our young students practice resilience to the everyday factors that can squish creativity, they thrive. In school, children are experiencing fewer opportunities to access art, theater, dance and music classes because of state funding cuts. Teachers have to beg for materials, and often give up: How can you teach 35 kids in under half an hour? It’s almost impossible.

I came to the DAC after having been an art teacher and it looked positively utopic: The teachers have what they need, and they enjoy small classes with students who have chosen to be there. Some students stay after class to play chess, volunteer or learn how to cook. These kids can make – and do – just about anything.

The DAC’s Creativity Festivity, now in its 28th year, is a spring showcase of the talent of the youth of the community. Featuring artwork by our students in the gallery, most of the work is for sale. All of it is professionally presented so the students understand the full start-to-finish process, from conception and design to promotion and, hopefully, a sale. To sell a piece of art at a young age is a validating and powerful confidence booster. I encourage you to come shopping and find an affordable and inspiring piece of art. You may be supporting the next Frida Kahlo or Andy Warhol.

The talent continues to the stage, where a variety show “Festivity Follies” of extraordinary magnitude eclipses “America’s Got Talent.” Students perform vignettes of their choosing: dance routines, magic tricks, stand-up comedy, and entertain in a most authentic and inspiring way. Need hope for the future? Come see this show. You won’t be disappointed.

Both the art and theater kids have a lot to say. Thankfully, they have such avenues for self expression. They’re living in a world that is hard to ignore and even harder to justify; and yet, they are profoundly joyful in their creative process. They remind me of a lesson I learned from my art students years ago during an art appreciation class: It’s not easy to create from a place of happiness and joy. It’s much easier to write poetry about heartbreak and sadness than about birds singing. It’s easier to rebel in angst than to celebrate in the human spirit.

From Mary Cassat to Max Beckmann, we studied several hundred famous artists to learn techniques but, more notably, what motivated these artists to create. As you might imagine, many were reacting to the times, either in angst, political opposition, madness, etc. We could only identify one artist who painted out of love. Only one. Claude Monet. He loved his life, his wife, his gardens, and he painted every day in celebration of color and joy.

It’s not easy to be the odd one out. It takes guts to be the happy guy in the room. I don’t imagine he was popular among the Fauvists and the Expressionists. He probably didn’t sulk in absinthe bars or opium dens or complain to his wife about the terrible burdens of having talent without the means to afford paint. Monet is quoted as saying: “All I did was to look at what the universe showed me, to let my brush bear witness to it.” Humble and profound.

What would Claude suggest to our students? “I would advise young artists to paint as they can, as long as they can, without being afraid of painting badly.”

To thrive creatively, kids need two things: They need to feel safe and they need influence from supportive people who offer perspective in spite of life’s challenges.

It’s our job as adults to make such a place available to them. And it’s the DAC’s job to make sure that no matter a student’s age or ability, that they always have a home for artistic expression. After all, to create beautiful work is arguably our highest and best use as humans.

See you soon at the DAC.

Questions? Email info@durangoarts.org

Donate, become a member for discounts and to be a patron of the arts, register for classes, buy tickets, and keep in touch at DurangoArts.org and find things fast at https://linktr.ee/durangoartscenter.

Brenda Macon has been executive director of Durango Arts Center since 2018.