Practicing What They Preach
When I was in public school in the early 1960s, art education was a redoubt of nonconformists. And that seemed to me a good thing. In a school system where everything was about the system – rank, class, grades, discipline, standards, dress codes – art class was about freedom and individuality. Our male art teacher […]
By Edgar Allen Beem|Jan 06 2010|
<em>Going Down for a Dust Bath</em> by Maura McHugh<br> Photo courtesy Maine Art Educators Association
Photo Credit:When I was in public school in the early 1960s, art education was a redoubt of nonconformists. And that seemed to me a good thing. In a school system where everything was about the system – rank, class, grades, discipline, standards, dress codes – art class was about freedom and individuality. Our male art teacher was obviously gay and our female art teacher was something of a bohemian, given to wildly colorful scarves and ostentatious hair ornaments. Their mere presence in the midst of so much buttoned-down conformity suggested to me that there was life outside and after high school.
Art educators these days, when “thinking outside the box” has become a clich
As a former resident of Maine, we have enjoyed Jill Hoy’s work for many years and several of her paintings grace the walls of our home. We look forward to seeing Eric Hopkin’s work and perhaps adding one of his pieces to our collection of Maine coastal art. (Read Ed Beem’s blog entry, “Two of Maine’s Most Popular Painters,” for more information.)