Art Honor Societies: So Very Needed
In my state, Iowa, most middle school art courses are abbreviated, generally 30-, 45- and 60-day durations. Unfortunately, in the absence of a sustained art study, compromises must occur, thus limiting our field’s important benefits. So, in an effort to offset this reality, the purpose of my NJAHS chapter became inclined towards artistic development rather than advocacy.
Through increased time to produce and engage in the artistic struggle, opportunities to use talents in service, and events to celebrate achievements and build community, my young artists felt confident, empowered and driven to create and support one another exponentially. And, as a result, a cycle of growth, need, advocacy and support arose that both championed the artist and the cause simultaneously. And, I am now fully committed to this new schema and invite you to ponder how serving the needs of growing artists can grow your program.
You see, while excellent visual art programming exist throughout the United States, too many visual artists lack the access to the specialize instruction, tools, facilities, rigorous content and accelerated curriculum afforded to those in core academic and athletic areas. Additionally, of great distress to me is the reality that visual artists experience limited art class enrollment and must simply languish in this inequity while others flourish. In my mind, there is a logical resulting progression that ensues--without students needing specialized instruction, there is no call for specialized courses; without specialized courses, there is no call for specialized instructors, etc.—thus my shift in focus from using art honor societies to advocate for the program to that of the individual learner.
-Cappie Dobyns