The Joy of Teaching Art at Home

A Winnipeg art teacher offers advice about getting creative with your children.

April 18, 2020

10:15 AM

A book about undersea explorer Jacques Cousteau was the inspiration for Winnipeg art teacher Stacey Abramson and her sons, Simon, 9, and Louis, 6, to turn one of their hallways into an ocean using cardboard, wrapping paper, paint and markers.

Soon after Winnipeg’s schools closed amidst uncertainty over the spread of the corona virus, I met online with my global education family, Art 21 Educators. As we were catching up, moderator Dana Helwick, from the Growing Up Green Charter School in New York City, mentioned the idea of joy.

My friend Don Ball, a former art teacher at Cawthra Park Secondary School in Mississauga, Ont., chimed in on the message board with a phrase that continues to ring in my head: “Joy is the aim.” That phrase, from Canadian singer Mary Margaret O’Hara’s 1988 tune, Year in Song, helped us shift perspective, infusing the anxiety we were all feeling with hope.

As I go forward into the daunting world of creating online experiences for my students at Maples Collegiate, a public high school in Winnipeg, connecting with joy feels like the right approach.

As a teacher – and a parent – I want young people to explore creativity in ways that go beyond technique. Following the “elements and principles” at the core of so much art education doesn’t feel right amidst a pandemic. Art is a reflection of its times. There are bigger and more universal goals than learning aesthetic devices. We need art to help us escape, communicate and understand.

My friend and colleague Jack Watson, from the Durham School for the Arts in North Carolina, reminded me that we’re all finding new personal rhythms. My advice to parents trying their hand at home schooling is to think in new ways by focusing on happiness through creative connection together.

Making art, like these cardboard fish for a hallway ocean, has been a source of joy

connection and relaxation for Stacey Abramson's family.

Find beauty and curiosity in the small and familiar and be happy with whatever you do. We need to be kind to ourselves right now and not worry about getting every detail right. No one can do a bad job of anything as we are all trying our best through unprecedented times – remind yourself of that!

Try using things you already have – like cameras, household objects, or even your family members. I think about Mohawk artist Shelley Niro’s photographs of her mom and aunties. Or American artist Carrie Mae Weems’ Kitchen Table Series, which illustrates the dynamics of relationships around a simple table.

Lexy Tanner, a Grade 12 student at Maples Collegiate in Winnipeg

drew her grandpa's favourite chair. "He slept there, he ate there, he lived on that chair," she says. "When he passed away, everybody got to choose what they wanted in the house and I immediately ran and sat on that chair and called dibs. Nobody could argue with that."

Could your children use this time to document their community at home? What stories do you want them to tell of this time, when we are being asked to pause together, despite the chaos around us?

Of course, there are many online resources. Some of my favourites include the British site Tate Kids and American cartoonist Lynda Barry’s YouTube videos. The American magazine Fast Company has a list of free online drawing classes led by successful illustrators.

Stacey Abramson, a teacher at Maples Collegiate in Winnipeg

reads to her students online as part of their weekly art room. She is pictured here with Lynda Barry's illustrated book "What It Is."

The generosity of artists and makers around the world is astonishing. My friend and fellow creative soul Karla Burr says artists are offering their talents freely despite being self-employed.

“It’s how people can feel purpose and be helpful when everything is uncertain,” she says. “Making and sharing provides a sense of community in isolation.”

If you aren’t on Instagram yet, now is the time. Geoffrey Farmer, who represented Canada at the 2017 Venice Biennale, is curating a fantastic feed of art and culture for thousands of viewers on Instagram. I asked Farmer how he selects his images and if there are prompts he draws on.

“To search, learn, appreciate and share,” he responded.

Don Ball, a former art teacher at Cawthra Park Secondary School in Mississauga, Ont., is posting artist prompts on his Instagram feed.

My friend Don Ball has been posting a daily image of a piece of contemporary art on Instagram with a “think prompt” since 2017, the same year he won a Prime Minister’s Award for Teaching Excellence. On April 1, he posted Skywalker/Skyscraper (Axis Mundi), a tall stack of blankets and steel by Iroquois artist Marie Watt, and encouraged followers to try stacking something themselves or post a similar work.

Other great Instagram resources are @isolationartschool, which offers projects and lessons by artists, and @ifyouwereherenow, where artists from all over the world demonstrate creative projects they find therapeutic. Art educators are also using the platform to transform learning for their students. You're welcome to check out my Instagram feed, @maplesart.

Princess Tayag, a Grade 9 student at Maples Collegiate in Winnipeg, has been collaborating on collages with her 19-year-old sister during her time at home.

I really miss seeing my students in person. But I feel lucky that art is the subject I teach. In uncertain times, art education shines. I am reminding my students that we are using what we have to make what we can to say what we need.

I encourage them to take creative risks. They are bright, curious and eager to explore because they know the final product is less important than the process of experimenting – that’s where the learning occurs.

No paints at home? Try experimenting with common items from the pantry.

The Internet is full of ideas for projects that use paint, pastels, clay and other conventional materials that may not be available at home. So I created an online lesson on painting with turmeric, paprika, soy sauce, coffee and tea. My expectations are flexible – they have to be.

I also led a virtual tour of the Guggenheim Museum in New York City using the Google arts and culture app. I dressed up like a tour guide, and took my students through the exhibitions using Google Hangout.

Shakira Rampersad, a Grade 11 student at Maples Collegiate in Winnipeg, took on the prompt of cooking with a family member and documenting the process.

Of course, not all students have access to the Internet. So I’ve also created a list of about 30 prompts to get them thinking, looking and creating with pleasure, not pressure.

Some of my ideas? Collaborate with a sibling. Ask a family member about a favourite memory from their youth and respond to it creatively. Find an object in your home that means a great deal to your family. Draw it and interview a family member about it. Record the interview. Learn a new recipe from a family member. Document the process with drawings, photos or a video. Make a video tribute to a work you’ve seen in art class.

When we focus on joy as we learn and explore with our children, the heaviness of making art without classroom support becomes less onerous. Parents may even find themselves decompressing during the playfulness of creativity. While it’s not always easy, a spirit of joyful experimentation with whatever is around our homes can help us make the most of this time together. ■

Please post photos of stay-at-home works by your young artists on Instagram with the hashtag #gallerieswestkidsart. We'll share some of them on our Instagram feed @gallerieswest.