I am a firm believer in art’s power to impact students’ lives and their view of the world. My teaching philosophy is inspired by many personal and professional experiences; however, my central teaching philosophy is based on Art for Life, which encourages students to create meaningful art through theme-based learning rather than creating art for art’s sake. One pivotal concept of Art for Life is to expose students to an array of artists from different cultural, linguistic, ethnic, gender, faith, and socioeconomic backgrounds as well as to showcase artwork that captures diverse content, art forms, and narratives that will cultivate learning in a critical and analytical manner. Exposing students to these resources broadens their definition of art, their notions about who makes art, and their involvement in art making process. It also encourages them to think critically about their own work. As an instructional strategy that is guided by Art for Life, I regularly ask students to analyze, reflect, and evaluate artwork through writing assignments and class discussions during our weekly critiques. This approach is derived from Dr. Tom Anderson’s Interactive Critique Method, which embodies the Art for Life philosophy. Students in my upper-level art courses have provided feedback that doing the weekly critiques from past years has helped them be the emerging artists they are now. I believe that offering these educational exposures to students will enhance their art awareness and build vital critical and analytical thinking skills that will in turn enable them to compete in a demanding visual world.
