Editor’s Letter: Media Arts

Today’s students have grown up with computers and the internet and are desirous of fast-paced, simultaneous access to a broad range of information through a number of devices. Because these students are as likely to create and design digital information as they are to use it, effective art teaching should include interactive and engaging use of technology by students. The engagement factor of media art is powerful and compelling for you and your students.

Projected Identities

Through this layered photography project, students were encouraged to explore connections to historic American art and re-envision new roles for themselves as art viewers and artists. To introduce our project, I explained to students that we’d be visiting the American galleries of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, where most of the artworks were made by colonial Americans—many from our city! We wondered what other similarities we might share with these early American artists or the subjects of their portraits.

Illuminated Wonders

I was inspired to venture into the use of circuits and lighting after a session I attended at a local conference. That school year, my students made steampunk-inspired bugs (see SchoolArts, March 2020) that had the ability to light up, adding an extra dimension to the designs. After seeing the school community’s reactions to these light-up pieces of art, I knew that this was just a stepping stone for the next light circuit project.

Make It, Move It, Flip It

The question of how to share our completed transdigital artworks is a problem I’m continuously trying to solve. I began by hosting digital animations on my blog, but in doing so, I detached one-half of the transdigital art and presented it singularly—it only told half the story. The whole story of a second-grader’s giraffe painting, for example, is that it not only looks like it can dance—it can. How do I showcase both experiences simultaneously? I’d like to share one highly engaging and almost addictive solution: Flipbookits!

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Posters That Empower

I learned about Barbara Jones-Hogu’s work only recently from a colleague at the Pennsylvania Art Education Conference. I loved it the moment I saw it and I knew my students would, too. At the time, I was teaching a course on graphic design and digital imaging to middle-school students. My students were already familiar with the ways that designers can use color, text, and image to appeal to a specific audience, having studied a variety of advertisements and package designs throughout the trimester. Jones-Hogu’s work prompted us to talk about different kinds of messages that we see around us every day.

Digital Mandalas

In sixth-grade social studies at my school, students study ancient civilizations, including ancient India. I used to teach this lesson as a watercolor project. Changing this hands-on project into a Google Drawings assignment provided an opportunity for students to learn new digital skills and practice symmetry by using the flip tool from the format options menu. The completed projects varied in complexity. However, using Google Drawings allowed students to explore the use of the shape tool, curved line tool, and arrange option—moving shapes forward or back to create truly magnificent mandalas.

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Twelve Principles of Animation

I discovered the twelve principles of animation—the keys to teaching the art of visual storytelling. The principles act as a roadmap, helping animators transform written scripts into living stories. Using these principles in my classes was transformative. We still learn about Photoshop layers and selection tools; technology in computer animation class is still important. But it’s no longer the central focus of my class because now, we have a story tell.

Delicious Design

When I was organizing my home studio and came across the Draw and Dine book, that aha moment happened. This concept would make a superb project for my Advanced Computer Graphics students. It would challenge them to work with new subject matter and invite them to explore new digital illustration and painting techniques. I could also introduce them to the tenets of graphic design through the production of book pages using page layout software. The cherry on top would be discussing the dos and don’ts of typography.

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Visibility as Advocacy

Making artwork visible in the public eye is the biggest advocacy tool teachers have to promote their programs and share the powerful way the arts can shape human potential. With many school systems not giving the arts the respect they deserve, art teachers may feel they’re constantly fighting for time, resources, and even validation for their programs. Our answer has been to make Provo High School’s art program more visible to the district and public through student art exhibits. This has not only helped students, but it has conveyed the importance of arts and its role in education beyond the classroom.

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Digital Design and Symbols

Before Tom Benincase fully began incorporating technology into his art, most of his work was made using traditional methods. In the late 90s, he took a break from his primary focus in drawing and printmaking to explore photography while also delving into digital art. Through trial and error, Benincase discovered his work could be generated completely by computer or by mixing analog and digital materials.

View this article in the digital edition.