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TeachingMulticulturalArt

CreativelyTeachingMulticulturalArt

TextandphotographybyMarvinBartel,Ed.D.,ProfessorofArtandArtEducation,
GoshenCollegeOtheressaysinArtEducationbythisauthorcanbefoundatthislink
.

CanIteachartinawaysthatmakesmystudentstakeprideintheirown
culturalidentitywhilegainingrespectandappreciationfortheartofother
cultures?Thoseteachingininternationalschoolsarelikelytohavestudents
withmorediversityoratleastmoreunderstandingofculturaldiversitythan
anartteacherinanationalschool.
InNorthAmerica,Ifrequentlyseeschooldisplaysofprojectsbasedontribal
artofNativeAmericanTribes.Someofthesearedollsthatarefelttohave
magicpowersintheirtraditionalsettings.Somearetotempoleprojectsthat
arecopiesofNativeAmericanTotems.
OWNERSHIPISSUES
Isitrighttoimitatewhatmightbesacredoratleasttraditionalinanother
culture?HowdoIteachartinawaythatmakesmystudentstakepridein
theirownculturewhilegainingrespectandappreciationfortheartand
customsofothercultures?Isimitationreallyflattery?Mighttherebemore
authenticwaystobecreativewhiledevelopingappreciationfortheartforms
andartworksofanotherculture?Whatdoesimitationteachabouttheroleof
artists?Whatshouldbetheroleofartistsintodaysworld?Whatiscritical
thinkinginart?Shouldntweteachthatartistsinterpretandcreatemeaning
ratherthancopythatwhichisalreadycreated?
WHATARETHEUNDERLYINGCONCEPTS?
MayIsuggestsomeideasabouthowwemightteachaboutmulticultural
attitudeswhileteachingartwithintegrity?Asateacher,Imustfirst
familiarizemyselfwiththeintentionoftheotherartist.Inthecaseofthe
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NorthwestNativeAmericanTotemPolemaker,Imustunderstandtheroleof
theTotempoleasanidentitysymbolforthefamilyortribethatitrepresents.
ImusthavesomeappreciationfortheTotemsculturalroleinhelpingtellthe
spiritualstoriesofthetribesinterdependenceonnature,animals,andtheir
deeprespectfortheirancestors.IfIknowtheartistsintentions,Ihave
preparedmyselftomotivatemystudentstocreateartbasedonsimilar
intentionsrelatedtothecultureofthestudentsinmyclass.
Manyartlessonarestartedbytheteacheremployingwhatiscalledimage
flooding.Inimagefloodingtheteachershowsmanyexamplesofcompleted
workbyartistsandformerstudents.Idonotthinkmuchofimageflooding
becauseitworksbygivingmanyanswerstotheproblembeforethestudents
haveevenconsideredtheproblemorworkedattheirownsolutionfinding
skills.Imagefloodingresultsinskillfullyproducedimitations,butdoesnot
teachmuchaboutproblemfindingandproblemsolving.Teacherswho
dependonimagefloodingmaypridethemselvesonachievingskillfullyslick
studentartwork,butIwonderwhetherstudentsarelearninghowtheirartcan
createvisualmeaningandfeelinginresponsetotheirownlives.
USINGWHATWEOWN
IntheapproachIamsuggesting,wemightbeginthelessonwithsomeself
reflection.Whoarewe?Studentsindividuallylistthingsimportanttotheir
identities.Listsarenotonlywords.Listscanbemadewithsmallsketches.
Severalgroupsmadeupofstudentswithcommoninterestsmightbeformed
intheclass.Thegroupsbrainstormandaddthingstotheirslistsand
sketches.Theyemphasizethingsthattheycanagreetorepresentthemselves,
WhoWeAreandWhatWeLike.

SPEICIFICIDEAS
Youthculturehaslotsofpopulararts,sports,pets,
hobbies,musicinterests,brandnames,clothing,hair
styles,jewelry,foods,makeup,heroes,andsoonthat
theycanlist.Insomeschoolstheymightbe
encouragedtoarticulatevaluesandbeliefs.A
particularclassroommighthaveaverynationalistic
groupandaveryinternationalgroup.Asahighschool
student,mysocialstudiesteacherencouragedmetobe
inagrouptotakeaworldgovernmentpositionagainst
anothergroupthattookanisolationistposition.We
learnedtheargumentsforeachposition.Wedidnt
createasculpturalassemblageoracollage,butifit
wereanartprojectthesewouldbelogicaloutcomes.
Clicktheimageforalargerviewofit.

CREATIVECOLLABORATION
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Fortheartprojectseachgroupcouldworktogethertodevelopanassembled
sculpturethatwouldrepresenttheimportantaspectsoftheirparticularsetof
interests,values,orbeliefs.Mediamightbeheavypaperorcardstockthatis
cut,folded,andgluedintothreedimensionalformstorepresentthesymbols.
Theircolors,sizes,textures,shapesandtheirjuxtapositionswouldhelp
producedominanceandsubordinationofvariousinclusions.Artisticallyand
aestheticallytheyshouldstriveforunitywithinterestingvariety.
DEVELOPCRITICALTHINKINGANDCREATIVITY
Iadmireartteacherswhodiscouragetriteclichsymbols.Theseteachersdo
notgivesuggestionsoranswerswhenstudentsarehavingproblems.These
teachersusequestionsthatmovestudentstoinventexperimentaland
expressiveideas.Theseteachersarepleasedwithavarietyofunexpected
outcomes.Theseteachershelpstudentsbecomeindependentcriticalthinkers,
problemsolvers,andselfassessors.Whenteachersmakesuggestionsand
answerstudentquestionstheymaybeteachingstudentstobecomedependent
onexperts.Studentsdonotfindthejoyofthinking,researching,
experimenting,andsolvingproblemsforthemselves.
Whenthegroupscompletetheartworks,theycouldbegivenawritingguide
andaskedtowriteastatementorviewersguidearticulatingtheworks
intentions.Otherclassmembersshouldbeaskedtorespondwithoutseeing
thestatementtopointoutwhattheyfirstnoticeandexplainwhytheynotice
it.
CULTURALANDHISTORICALCONNECTIONS
Finally,neartheendoftheunit,theteachershouldfeelfreetoprovidea
lessonaboutTotemPoles.Thinkofitasimagefloodingatlast.Students
shouldnowbeabletorespondtotheteachersquestionsaboutthepossible
meaningsofTotemswithinNativeAmericanculture.Theywillhaveabetter
appreciationforthehowtheartistmusthavestruggledtodecideoneachpart
oftheproject.
Betteryet,agroupofstudentsdoesresearch.Theythenwriteandpresenta
dramatheyhavewrittenaboutbeingmembersoftheculture.Theirroles
includeartmakersandartusersintheselectedculture.Arteducation
researchhasshownthatthismethodoflearningarthistoryandmulticultural
artisoneofthefavoritesamonghighschoolstudents.
Detailoftwo
HaidiaTotem
Poleson
displayinThe
FieldMuseum
ofNatural
History,
Chicago.
photosby
MarvinBartel
2000
Asmall
complete
viewofthe
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sametotems
isshownatthe
beginningofthis
article.

TotemPolesTellofHumanWealthand
thePowerofAnimalSpirits
LikeEuropeanfamilycrests,thesetotempolesherald
prestigiousclansamongtheHaidaIndiansoftheNorthwest
Coast(ofNorthAmerica).Becausefoodwasabundantintheir
homeland,theHaidadidnthavetofarmtosurvive.Instead
theytraveled,tradedandwagedwaretoincreasetheirwealth.
Theybuiltfinehomesandheldelaboratefeastcalled
potlatchestoadvertisetheirprosperityandandsocialrank.
And,withirontoolsgainedthroughthefurtradewith
Europeans,theycarvedimmensetotempoleslikethese.
TheHaidabelievedthatasuperior,spiritualanimalworld
ruledtheirown.Bylettingthemselvesbehunted,animalsfed
humanbeings.Andanimalsweretheancestorsofall
humans,aswellasthefoundersoffamilyclans.Thecarvings
onthesetotempolestellstoriesabouttheanimalspiritswho
actedasguardianstotheclan.Thiseducationaltextis
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copiedfromthedecriptiveplaqueattheFieldMusuemof
NaturalHistory,Chicago.June,2000.mb

IDENTITYANDEMPATHY
Weliveinanageofspectatorsportsandspectatorculture.Thereistoomuch
indiscriminatelearningbyimitation.Bylearningtobecreatorswithintegrity
aboutourselvesandourownidentities,wecanbetterunderstand,empathize,
andrespectthehonesteffortsofthoseotherthanourselves.

Scrolldownto
seeone
student'sself
identitytotem.
Itiscreated
on4x6cards
withmarkers.

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backuptothumbnailimageandtext
endofarticle
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OtheressaysinArtEducationbythisauthorcanbefoundatthislink.

HaidaTribeInformationandImagescanbefoundattheselinks

VirtualMuseumofCanada.ThisisaprojectoftheTheWinnipegArt
Gallery,Winnipeg,Manitoba
http://www.virtualmuseum.ca/English/index_flash.html

AnessayonthelifeoftheHaidaTribe
SomeimagesandinfomationaboutthemakingofHaidaTotems.Thisis
aWashingtonStateUniversitysite.

OnlineresourcesabouttheHaidaTribe
http://www.ipl.org/cgi/ref/native/browse.pl/t158

LinkstootheressaysbyMarvinBartel
Allrightsto"CreativelyTeachingMulticulturalArt"reservedbytheauthor
MarvinBartel,andtheInternationalEducationDaily.Thisessaywasfirst
writtenforDavidM.BucknellandtheInternationalEducators'Network
AssociationandtheInternationalEducationDaily.
Theyarelocatedat:http://www.iteachnet.org/

Permissiontocopyfornonprofitclassroomusemaybesecuredbyemail
fromtheauthor.Contact

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