Latest / K12ArtChat the Podcast / Episode 270 – Cristina Correa – Mural Making, the School, and You!

Transcript

Episode 270 – Cristina Correa – Mural Making, the School, and You! · K12ArtChat the Podcast

• 0:11
  SPEAKER_02: Hi everyone, I'm Laura Grunler.
• 0:13
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm Matt Grundler, and today on KTL of Art Chat The Podcast, we'll be chatting with Christina Carrera about the benefits and the how-tos for adding a mural to your campus.
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_02: I think this is going to be a really fun one, but also I couldn't be more pleased to have this person on the podcast because we've known her for some time now.
• 0:35
  SPEAKER_02: And then she went through School for Art Leaders with me.
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_02: And now I couldn't the joy that that I have personally that my daughter is in for a fiat class is just beyond happiness.
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_02: I'm so glad.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_02: I don't think that there would be a better person for our kiddo to have as a teacher.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_02: And I'm just thrilled already in the first nine weeks, seeing everything that's that's happening, which has prompted this conversation.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_02: So Christina Correa, it's wonderful to have you on the podcast again.
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_02: I would love it.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_02: You do so much in Art Ed, and I'd love it if the listeners could just hear a little bit about who you are and a little bit about your Art Ed journey and background.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_00: I'm so happy to be here with y'all.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for the invitation.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_00: It's always nice to have conversations with both of you because it's so fun to just go kind of down the rabbit hole on different things because we all love art education so much.
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but yeah, I've been so grateful to get to know you all because when I think about like the trajectory of my art education journey, I think about how key people have been such an influence on the directions that I go.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_00: And I think about, you know, y'all and then my friend Bryce, and you know, how these things can kind of came together to bring me to Plano Senior over time, because I think that if you don't allow yourself to be open to possibility as an educator and to learn from others, then you really miss out on these golden opportunities to get to see and um collaborate with other art educators and learn from them and go and teach in different places and be um available in different spaces to share your own experience and journey.
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I've been teaching for 21 years now.
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_00: My art education career as an adult, which I find so funny, you know, that time has flown by so quickly.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I started teaching in the Rio Gran Valley in my hometown.
• 2:45
  SPEAKER_00: I've taught high school every year, but I've also taught pre-K all the way through higher ed.
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_00: Um, had the opportunity to work with our ceramics professor when I was in graduate school, and that was one of the hardest, hardest jobs I've ever had.
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but I've been up here at Plano Senior this is my fourth year, and I can't believe that that time has also flown by so quickly.
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and one of the things that I really love about Plano Senior is that it's a very diverse population of first-gen American students, very much like the population was in South Texas for me.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_00: We had a lot of first-gen students from Mexico.
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_00: And so coming over to Plano Senior, where we have like an equally diverse population of kids throughout the from throughout the world, um, I can see how that experience translates in working with our families and working to help them acclimate to the US, but also working to make sure that they feel like they're at home, that they have a community.
• 3:45
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and I think that that's one of the reasons why we decided to do these murals at Plano Senior is because our campus is undergoing renovation right now.
• 3:55
  SPEAKER_00: It's a big change for students.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_00: You know, they love the traditional high school experience at Plano Senior, but with all of these variables going on for construction, big part of that was not, you know, like not up for grabs this year.
• 4:11
  SPEAKER_00: So coming up with this idea to present to the administrators was really led by my desire for the kids to have a memorable school year.
• 4:21
  SPEAKER_02: Well, I mean, it's already been memorable for our daughter Corey.
• 4:25
  SPEAKER_02: She uh she was so excited, um, which is really what prompted this whole conversation.
• 4:31
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I think in Art Ed we see a lot of articles about murals in schools and mural work, and I think um just contemporary uh artists that are doing murals.
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_02: In fact, one of the keynotes last year from uh NAEA was a muralist, and I think it's it's something we talk about a lot, but I don't know that it's always you know successfully planned and and or I think it might feel overwhelming for a lot of our educators to think about how to plan it.
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_02: So I'm curious what were some some of the strategies you used when planning this, and how did you, you know, maybe pigeon to your school leadership?
• 5:09
  SPEAKER_02: Uh and and how how did it, you know, turn out, like just in in terms of the success rate?
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_00: Sure.
• 5:19
  SPEAKER_00: So I had started thinking about creating murals in the art building a couple of years ago.
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_00: Uh the students were really interested in leaving their mark on the school.
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_00: But when we realized that the campus was going to go through renovation, we decided to put a pause on it, which of course the kids were a bit disappointed about it, but we were still able to explore it by putting together like large pieces of butcher paper and having the kids collaborate and paint, or by getting um canvas from PTSA grants and having the kids paint together.
• 5:54
  SPEAKER_00: And I had approached our principal about potentially doing murals, but prior to renovation, um, but ultimately that's what led us to decide to put a pause on it.
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_00: And when we started the school year this year, you know, half of our campus right now is at a it's a building that used to be a middle school.
• 6:13
  SPEAKER_00: So everything is kind of miniature-sized uh compared to our senior high campus.
• 6:19
  SPEAKER_00: And we were thinking about all the kids and the parents that were coming in to come to see the school, to walk the school, um, you know, to get all their schedules.
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_00: And one of the things I asked our principals is if they'd be open to the idea of me decorating the foyer of this middle school building so that when students and families and teachers came into the school, it felt a little bit more like Plano Senior and not so much like Haggard Middle School, which is what it was before.
• 6:50
  SPEAKER_00: And the my thought in doing this was one I knew I would be able to tackle it.
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_00: Um, as an artist, I've painted a lot of windows for uh friends who have boutiques and stores because I'm a big believer in public art.
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_00: I think art should be accessible to anybody and everybody.
• 7:09
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and so I thought about ways that I could use the cricket, for example, to cut out some vinyl decals, but also use uh materials that are very accessible, like paint markers, to go in and to fill a large space.
• 7:23
  SPEAKER_00: So after they gave me their blessing, you know, it took me a couple of nights, but I stayed after school two nights to get everything ready for back to school.
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_00: And doing that gave me an idea of what it would be like for the kids to work at such a large scale, but also like what were some of the conundrums that I encountered as I went, and how could I use that in order to kind of coach the kids on what they should expect uh working through this process?
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_00: So um when we finally moved into the building where we're at right now, which is still part of the campus, but it's gonna go through renovation next year, uh, my art room is kind of like in a basement.
• 8:08
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm used to space with lots of windows and uh sunshine and um, you know, just a lot more light.
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_00: And the space that we're in, it has next to no windows, and the walls kind of look gray and it's got carpet.
• 8:23
  SPEAKER_00: And so when I approached the principals about putting murals in building A, we were talking about the fact that, you know, this is a space where kids were gonna be coming more often than not, you know, in years prior, and that it should be a place that excites them to come to school, that brings them joy when maybe they're not feeling uh so great, um, energy when they're feeling tired.
• 8:48
  SPEAKER_00: And that's what led the discussion.
• 8:50
  SPEAKER_00: So I think that if a teacher is gonna go about uh proposing this to their administrators, they really need to think about what the intent is behind the murals first.
• 9:02
  SPEAKER_00: So, like really lead with that why.
• 9:04
  SPEAKER_00: And for me, that why was trying to is wanting to create a space where kids felt happy to come into and they could see themselves on the wall.
• 9:13
  SPEAKER_00: And from there, you know, it's figuring out logistics.
• 9:17
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, so what spaces are actually gonna work?
• 9:20
  SPEAKER_00: And this is where I got a lot of input from faculty and students, um, because teachers, you know, they had dreams about what they wanted to be painted outside their classrooms or outside their doors.
• 9:32
  SPEAKER_00: But then also students had ideas, uh, both in and outside the art room of what they wanted to see.
• 9:38
  SPEAKER_00: And that played a big role in the students ultimately designing what they painted, uh, was talking to their friends and talking to teachers that they love and seeing what people might be excited to see on the walls.
• 9:54
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and my colleague Adrian, she came up with this great spreadsheet that we ultimately used for proposals to show the administrators what the kids were going to put on the wall before they ever painted it, because we wanted our administrators to feel like they had a hand in this process too.
• 10:13
  SPEAKER_00: And so we would have the kids come up with their ideas, we would photograph their final design, and we'd put it into the spreadsheet and let our administrators know when we had new designs that were ready for approval.
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_00: And based on what they saw, they would go back and they'd either say, This is great, or can you ask the student to adjust XYZ?
• 10:38
  SPEAKER_00: So it felt like it was a whole campus collaboration in that way because we were talking to faculty, we're talking to students, we are including the administrators.
• 10:47
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and it helped the, it helped our art students feel like they had ownership over this space that they probably wouldn't have spent much time in otherwise.
• 10:58
  SPEAKER_00: Um so that really helped the conversation with admin.
• 11:03
  SPEAKER_00: And then in terms of just getting it organized, which can feel like super overwhelming, um, I was doing research about how we could, you know, make this large-scale project manageable.
• 11:15
  SPEAKER_01: You know, you started to touch on something as far as kind of having everyone feel um like they had a piece in the whole overall, you know, final thing of what that's gonna look like.
• 11:28
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm just really curious, like how do you how do you balance that with, as we all know, the creative expression?
• 11:35
  SPEAKER_01: And sometimes that can get a little um feel like it gets a little squashed and with a cohesive design, um, meanwhile, while you're trying to show that it's got uh legitimacy in connections to your curriculum, you know, and then next thing you know, you turn around and it's like way out of control and you're not sure how to go about do that.
• 11:59
  SPEAKER_01: How do you, how do you, how did, how did you find that balance?
• 12:04
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so it was something that I thought a lot about, especially since teenagers have very mixed feelings about working together in groups.
• 12:13
  SPEAKER_00: And ultimately I knew that I wanted to have, I wanted the students to have autonomy to decide if they wanted to paint a mural by themselves or with a group of their peers.
• 12:23
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but I wanted all of them to initially have this moment of collaboration together with like an unknown um like finished result.
• 12:33
  SPEAKER_00: So what I had them do is um they came together one morning in class and I told them that they weren't going to be sitting at their normal seats and I numbered them off and they all went to their respective table group, and I laid out two big pieces of butcher paper across each table.
• 12:54
  SPEAKER_00: And I talked to the students about this idea of letting go of control because I think, you know, having taught art for 20 years, one of the kids' biggest frustration, you know, no matter what year it is, is sometimes they have this idea in their head about what they want it to be or what they think it should look like.
• 13:14
  SPEAKER_00: And then they get so wrapped up in kind of controlling that output or that final product that it never gets, you know, never gets created.
• 13:24
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, they'll they'll get stumped or they'll, you know, kind of lose steam or um they'll kind of get and get disgruntled with their project because it's not turning out exactly the way they wanted it to.
• 13:36
  SPEAKER_00: So I started them off by telling them, like, you know, here are some crayons.
• 13:41
  SPEAKER_00: I put out different material each time.
• 13:44
  SPEAKER_00: Here's some crayons.
• 13:45
  SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna play a song, and I want you to use these crayons to create lines that respond to the energy of the song.
• 13:54
  SPEAKER_00: And so I would play a little clip of it.
• 13:56
  SPEAKER_00: And the first time the kids were kind of unsure about how to respond, I they were all kind of watching each other, like, what are you doing?
• 14:03
  SPEAKER_00: What are you doing?
• 14:04
  SPEAKER_00: I said, Don't overthink it, just go with it, just go with the music.
• 14:09
  SPEAKER_00: And each time I changed the song, I put out a different material for them to play with and be curious about.
• 14:17
  SPEAKER_00: And so I did some classical song.
• 14:20
  SPEAKER_00: I did uh the kids' favorite was Rock Lobster uh by the B-52s.
• 14:26
  SPEAKER_00: I put on a contemporary song, like, but just so that they had an opportunity to respond to different levels of energy, different beats.
• 14:34
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and then I also had them eat with each song, they had to get up and move a space over.
• 14:41
  SPEAKER_00: So they weren't continuously creating over their own work, they were creating with someone else's work beneath it.
• 14:49
  SPEAKER_00: And when it was done, I had the kids talk about their overall experience.
• 14:55
  SPEAKER_00: So we started as a class, we talked about what it was like to kind of just let go and let yourself respond to the music.
• 15:02
  SPEAKER_00: But then I also had the kids talk about what the overall aesthetic of their group uh response was.
• 15:09
  SPEAKER_00: So, like, did they notice any commonalities in their mark making?
• 15:13
  SPEAKER_00: Were there shapes that they saw over and over again?
• 15:16
  SPEAKER_00: Um, did they notice like any particular themes come up?
• 15:20
  SPEAKER_00: And um, I also have the opportunity of being on the Art 21 Teacher Council and an Art 21 educator.
• 15:27
  SPEAKER_00: And every summer we get together in New York City to look at contemporary art and look at contemporary art with big questions.
• 15:35
  SPEAKER_00: And one of the things that we explored this summer was this idea of community building through through mural making and through public art.
• 15:45
  SPEAKER_00: And we talked about as teachers how sometimes, you know, when you're an artist, you can kind of feel a little bit territorial working with other artists, or like maybe you find that you don't work so well with a group of people and you have to figure that out as you go.
• 15:59
  SPEAKER_00: Like, that's a professional practice thing.
• 16:02
  SPEAKER_00: And so I shared with the kids that after their discussion, they had to come up with one word that encompassed the idea of their table's work.
• 16:14
  SPEAKER_00: And after they came up with the word or the idea, they had to then go back and unify the composition so that it illustrated that word.
• 16:25
  SPEAKER_00: So, for example, one of the group's words decided was lobster, because a few of them drew lobsters during rock lobster, and they decided that their unifying theme was going to be this Plano Senior Rock Lobster band.
• 16:39
  SPEAKER_00: And so then each student decided that they were gonna create a character within this rock lobster brand lobster band, and they took the lines and the shapes and they turned them into like the musical instruments and the lobsters and like the audience around.
• 16:55
  SPEAKER_00: And so each group ended up with um their own kind of version of that.
• 17:01
  SPEAKER_00: And one of the things we talked about afterward, we engaged in a critique.
• 17:06
  SPEAKER_00: We talked about, you know, was your group successful in communicating this word or this idea?
• 17:12
  SPEAKER_00: Well, also, like, what were some of the obstacles that you faced as a group?
• 17:16
  SPEAKER_00: And the kids talked a lot about how they wanted to be supportive of each other, but they were afraid of talking over each other, they didn't want to steamroll over someone else's ideas.
• 17:27
  SPEAKER_00: And so that was the tipping off point for then going into actual mural creation because we talked about how when you're working with a group of other people, you've got to learn how to be able to let go of your ego in the sense that like your artwork is important, but it's just one piece of the puzzle.
• 17:48
  SPEAKER_00: And so, like, how do you let go of that to for the good of the group and the good of the community?
• 17:54
  SPEAKER_00: Well, also, how do you speak up so that your ideas don't get lost in the group?
• 17:59
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm glad that we had that conversation because it helped the students who chose to work in groups problem solve.
• 18:07
  SPEAKER_00: So each student in the class was tasked with coming up with their own idea for a mural.
• 18:15
  SPEAKER_00: And as part of that ideation, they had to come up with a rationale for how that mural was representative of our community at Plano Senior, or the traditions that we embody, or the greater, greater community of Plano at large.
• 18:30
  SPEAKER_00: And their rationale had to be clearly illustrated in their image, which goes along with their inquiry-based learning for their AP art and design portfolio.
• 18:41
  SPEAKER_00: Because when we come back from fall break, the kids are going to engage on this, you know, uh, I guess 40-week journey to create a portfolio that answers the questions, the big questions they have about their world, themselves, and the art that they make.
• 18:58
  SPEAKER_00: And from there, kids decided, well, I want to work individually.
• 19:02
  SPEAKER_00: So now I'm going to solidify this plan.
• 19:05
  SPEAKER_00: We had conversations about it, you know, teacher to student.
• 19:08
  SPEAKER_00: And then as a group, if they were working together, they had to talk about their designs, what they liked about them, what they liked about each other's, and then decide, okay, well, in general, what is it that we want to communicate?
• 19:23
  SPEAKER_00: Is this about the art itself?
• 19:26
  SPEAKER_00: Is it about the community of Plano Senior?
• 19:29
  SPEAKER_00: Is it about representing a content area?
• 19:32
  SPEAKER_00: Is it about representing communities or students that typically go unseen?
• 19:39
  SPEAKER_00: And that helped me to prepare for conversations that I ultimately had with administration because um I think in particular about one mural that represents our Black community in Plano.
• 19:53
  SPEAKER_00: And she went around and she interviewed lots of students and teachers about what that could look like and what they were most proud of at Plano Senior and being a student at Plano Senior.
• 20:06
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but it included a grill.
• 20:10
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and so the student created this beautiful drawing of a girl who had a grill that said PSHS.
• 20:18
  SPEAKER_00: And as she was drawing it out and she shared it with students and faculty, they talked about how this represents a culture that's not traditionally represented in our campus.
• 20:28
  SPEAKER_00: And I agreed with the students and the faculty that this is something that's important for students to see.
• 20:34
  SPEAKER_00: They need to be able to see themselves in the school so that they have a sense of belonging.
• 20:40
  SPEAKER_00: And when we put it up, I think, you know, with the renovation, our administrators were very busy, you know, looking at other things.
• 20:48
  SPEAKER_00: And I don't think that they initially realized that she was wearing a grill.
• 20:53
  SPEAKER_00: And so when my student started painting it up on the wall, they were doing an admin walkthrough.
• 20:59
  SPEAKER_00: And that was the first time that they realized it had a grill.
• 21:03
  SPEAKER_00: And it led to this really interesting conversation between the administrators about is this something that we want on the wall?
• 21:10
  SPEAKER_00: And then if you don't, why wouldn't you want something on the wall?
• 21:15
  SPEAKER_00: And why would you want to exclude those members of the community?
• 21:18
  SPEAKER_00: And I was really proud of my student because she and I were both there when that conversation happened in the hallway.
• 21:25
  SPEAKER_00: And she, because she wrote out her rationale before completing her sketch, she was able to voice exactly why she believed it needed to be on the wall, how it represented our community, but also things that students and teachers had that had said that were so meaningful to her and made her proud to illustrate that on the wall.
• 21:47
  SPEAKER_00: And ultimately, we all agreed that yes, all of our students need to be represented in these murals because all students should be able to see themselves in what we do at Plano Senior.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_00: That really helped to you know see the project all the way through.
• 22:06
  SPEAKER_00: I wanted the kids to not only be able to express their artistic voice, but do it in a way that made everybody in our community feel included.
• 22:16
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, there's so much to murals, and and I love that this is very layered into your curriculum and the community.
• 22:24
  SPEAKER_02: But I'm also curious, you know, um for better or worse, I kind of know your situation this year in particular.
• 22:32
  SPEAKER_02: You don't have the space and the the all the supplies in the way the organized that you normally would because you are going through this construction.
• 22:41
  SPEAKER_02: And I I'd like to talk a little bit more about the actual student and materials management a little bit because that's a unique thing too.
• 22:51
  SPEAKER_02: So it it in my mind, I'm envisioning that you have students, you know, working during the AP class on these murals.
• 22:59
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but that means that you're you're having to, you know, let them venture out into and and take the pain out there and trust them.
• 23:12
  SPEAKER_02: Lots of trust.
• 23:13
  SPEAKER_02: So I'm curious a little bit about the the processes and procedures you put in place just to on the management side.
• 23:22
  SPEAKER_00: So um again, I want to shout out my colleague Adrian because the two of us, we share a single classroom space right now.
• 23:30
  SPEAKER_00: And when I decided to propose this to her and to our admin, I realized that because we're in a shared classroom space, we also had to figure out the logistics for how we would go about this with our classes.
• 23:44
  SPEAKER_00: And because she has a smaller set of students in her AP classes, we agreed that her kids would start first so that we could figure out the logistics before my giant classes would go out into the hallway.
• 23:58
  SPEAKER_00: And I was really grateful for that because we took inventory of the paint that we had.
• 24:04
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I had a assortment of chromacryl paints that I really like and thought would be like really nice and saturated and vibrant on the walls.
• 24:13
  SPEAKER_00: But we realized that we were going to need some latex paint also to help this project.
• 24:19
  SPEAKER_00: And Adrian did a tremendous job of going out to the paint stores and getting donations of latex paint.
• 24:25
  SPEAKER_00: And so, I mean, we have more than we needed and more than we could probably use.
• 24:31
  SPEAKER_00: But having that base, having those donations that Adrian gathered was so helpful and crucial for us to be able to get started.
• 24:41
  SPEAKER_00: Because from there, she was able to create these tables of color.
• 24:45
  SPEAKER_00: So, in this can, this is what this color looks like.
• 24:49
  SPEAKER_00: And in this can, like this is what this color looked like.
• 24:52
  SPEAKER_00: And then we were able to talk to the students about mixing the color.
• 24:57
  SPEAKER_00: And in order to stay organized and not contaminate the paint, here are the practices and procedures that you should use.
• 25:04
  SPEAKER_00: So by the time I was able to introduce my students to this mural making, I had already been able to observe what worked and what didn't work for her students so that we didn't repeat that in our larger class.
• 25:18
  SPEAKER_00: And so that meant even thinking about like what procedure do we want to use to pour paint into the containers?
• 25:25
  SPEAKER_00: How do we want to make sure it doesn't spill everywhere and drip everywhere?
• 25:29
  SPEAKER_00: When we're mixing paint, what tools do we want to use to do that so we're not contaminating each other's paint?
• 25:35
  SPEAKER_00: How do we want to store these?
• 25:37
  SPEAKER_00: And so um I on Amazon I found these uh plastic, I would say they're probably like eight-ounce cups that had lids.
• 25:45
  SPEAKER_00: And so I told the kids, I said, you got to think about like, do you need more of this color or do you need less?
• 25:53
  SPEAKER_00: And so for the larger quantities of paint, I would give the students these uh containers with the lids so that they were just mixing it once and then it was sustaining them through their project.
• 26:04
  SPEAKER_00: For the smaller amounts, I used plastic pups and then plastic wrap.
• 26:09
  SPEAKER_00: And so the kids would keep their paint in the plastic cup.
• 26:12
  SPEAKER_00: They it was also helpful for mixing colors because then they could pour out of those cups other colors.
• 26:19
  SPEAKER_00: But at the end of each class, they were responsible for putting the plastic wrap back on top.
• 26:24
  SPEAKER_00: They'd use masking tape to close it up.
• 26:26
  SPEAKER_00: And on that masking tape, they were writing their name.
• 26:29
  SPEAKER_00: So they were able to keep their colors organized.
• 26:33
  SPEAKER_00: And then when a kiddos was done with a color, they put it into the community pot.
• 26:38
  SPEAKER_00: So then if another student needed a similar color, they didn't have to go back and remix it.
• 26:42
  SPEAKER_00: They could use what someone else had already made, and that eliminated a lot of waste as well because it was getting used.
• 26:50
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so we talked a lot about cleanup and brush care.
• 26:54
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I showed them how I wanted to wash their brushes, put them away.
• 26:59
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, we showed them how to like go and tape off the wall.
• 27:02
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I got to show them how to use the overhead projector, which they had never seen before.
• 27:07
  SPEAKER_01: Wait, a wet?
• 27:08
  SPEAKER_00: No, yeah, I know.
• 27:10
  SPEAKER_00: Or is I they were so shocked.
• 27:12
  SPEAKER_00: I was telling them about how when I started teaching art, that's how I had to teach art was either on the board or on the overhead projector because we didn't have LC LED projectors.
• 27:23
  SPEAKER_00: And um, they're like, What?
• 27:25
  SPEAKER_00: Why did you do that?
• 27:26
  SPEAKER_00: And I showed them on a transparency I said.
• 27:28
  SPEAKER_00: I literally had to draw, and my students would come draw in the transparency.
• 27:32
  SPEAKER_00: And if it was supposed to last a few days, I had to do that in Sharpie and not wipe away marker.
• 27:38
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but we used this snowball approach for drawing the murals on the wall.
• 27:43
  SPEAKER_00: So when students were ready, they would transfer their drawing onto the overhead transparency, and I sent them out in groups.
• 27:52
  SPEAKER_00: So it wasn't just one group at a time transferring the drawing onto the wall.
• 27:57
  SPEAKER_00: They were all going out and together, you know, in groups of 10 to 15, helping each other to transfer each other's designs onto the wall.
• 28:06
  SPEAKER_00: So instead of it taking one group the whole class period to transfer, they were able to get five to six designs put up on a wall within a class period, which meant that when they came back the next day, they could start painting and another set of kids could go out and transfer.
• 28:23
  SPEAKER_00: So instead of that taking weeks to get up and running, it took the kids like three days total to get everything up on the wall.
• 28:31
  SPEAKER_00: And that way they were able to spend the bulk of their time, which ended up being about two weeks in class, to go and paint.
• 28:38
  SPEAKER_00: And the kids got so invested that they wanted to come in during lunch or during their off period if they had dual enrollment or after school, or they would ask if their friends could come and help them.
• 28:50
  SPEAKER_00: And that became such a cool uh recruitment tool because it got other kids who were not in art class talking about art and asking what art classes they could take next year.
• 29:02
  SPEAKER_00: And oh, well, can I come and can I make art during lunch in your class, Miss Corey?
• 29:06
  SPEAKER_00: And like, yes, yes to all the things.
• 29:09
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that that's really good advocacy for your program.
• 29:15
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I I'm very impressed.
• 29:17
  SPEAKER_02: And I just just wanted to ask one kind of follow-up question in total between yours and Adrian's students, how many murals are there?
• 29:26
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, so I know that there's about a dozen on the first floor, and I would say that there's a do like there's a dozen on the top floor, but there are more large murals on the second floor because that's the ground floor where students come in.
• 29:42
  SPEAKER_00: So there's probably between 25 to 30 murals of different scale in our building now.
• 29:50
  SPEAKER_01: Wow.
• 29:51
  SPEAKER_02: I know, and just like the feet that like that is something to really be proud of.
• 29:56
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, to do that all within just a few weeks uh is impressive.
• 30:01
  SPEAKER_02: I I uh kudos to you.
• 30:03
  SPEAKER_02: That's that's part of the reason I wanted to have this conversation because I think one of the things that I was, you know, I'm hearing it from my my daughter, um, but I sh and to Matt's point, I think he might have said this before we started recording, but she came in really confident, like how excited she was about the project and how she was feeling really confident.
• 30:26
  SPEAKER_02: And she loved people walking by, seeing her working on it and asking her about it.
• 30:31
  SPEAKER_02: And um, you know, we have a really strict no-phone policy, but she was taking time-lapse videos, um, which I think is a nice thing to have for her portfolio, even though she was like covert about it.
• 30:43
  SPEAKER_02: Um, you know, and and just from this one little perspective, and I'm thinking, gosh, I'm seeing how successful she's being.
• 30:50
  SPEAKER_02: And then I was thinking about the amplification of that through the school and for your students, it's pretty miraculous.
• 30:57
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
• 30:58
  SPEAKER_00: My ultimate goal is for the students to know that their voice matters.
• 31:03
  SPEAKER_00: Like at the end of the day, like their art shouldn't look like my art or shouldn't look like someone else's art.
• 31:08
  SPEAKER_00: It should be authentic to them.
• 31:10
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that my ultimate drive as a teacher is figuring out how to feel how to empower the students so that they feel confident, knowing that their voice matters and that their voice deserves to be seen in the same way that other artists' work deserves to be seen.
• 31:28
  SPEAKER_00: And so that's constantly driving my thinking when I'm coming up with the lessons that I want to teach the students, because I remember how I felt I took one art class in high school because I was a band nerd and I had a spot my senior year and I didn't want to go home.
• 31:46
  SPEAKER_00: And coming as someone who had not ever taken an art class before, who loved music, who loved creating, but then having a teacher who expected us to all kind of create in the same way.
• 31:59
  SPEAKER_00: And if it didn't look that way, it wasn't good.
• 32:02
  SPEAKER_00: I remember feeling like, oh man, like I'm never gonna be good at art, like this isn't for me.
• 32:08
  SPEAKER_00: And when I think about advocacy, like art teachers have such a uh an important role in shaping the future advocates for art and art education, because if your students come in and you have a terrible time in your class, or if they feel like they're never going to be good at art when they leave your class, they're not gonna advocate for the importance of art and art education as adults when they go to the polls.
• 32:34
  SPEAKER_00: And I think in order to create future advocates and also people who love to go to museums, who love to go see arts, uh artists making or purchase art, it starts in those foundation level classes that you know kids are required to take for graduation.
• 32:51
  SPEAKER_00: Because if they find joy in the making process, while it might be awkward or uncomfortable in the beginning, they understand and value the hard work that artists put into their work because they're experiencing it and they're experiencing it in a way that is personal and meaningful to them.
• 33:09
  SPEAKER_00: And then they go out into the world and they're able to advocate for arts and artists and art education.
• 33:15
  SPEAKER_00: So I see it as a bigger picture thing, like we are all pouring into each other's cup in the arts and art education world, so to speak.
• 33:27
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, they're yeah, it's I'm I'm kind of at a loss because I'm like, I don't even know how to kind of segue into that.
• 33:37
  SPEAKER_01: But you know, as these murals kind of become their permanent fixture in the in the in the building, in the school's culture, like it, you know, that is something people recognize as they go and view moving forward.
• 33:54
  SPEAKER_01: I I mean you started to touch on it already, but I'm just curious if you can expand a little bit more on you know what that means to watch students kind of create their legacy.
• 34:05
  SPEAKER_01: And we were kind of talking a little bit about it from our own child's point of view in your class, that you know, after they graduate from from this school and move on, and several years down the road, and even multiple years down the road, you know, what is that what does that mean for you, especially to watch them leave their legacy, their their their voice on on the campus?
• 34:34
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I'm I'm really proud of them because it's no easy task to go and create a mural, especially if you're working with other students.
• 34:42
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and that's a a new thing for you.
• 34:45
  SPEAKER_00: But then also, you know, when they're out there in the hallways painting their mural, like they're kind of like in a fishbowl because they'll be painting.
• 34:54
  SPEAKER_00: And then, you know, we're a double block class.
• 34:56
  SPEAKER_00: We're fortunate the kids get to stay for two class periods.
• 34:59
  SPEAKER_00: But that means that during transition time, when kids are out in the hallway, like they're on view painting their work.
• 35:06
  SPEAKER_00: They had to, you know, kind of wrangle with that idea that like their work is on display.
• 35:12
  SPEAKER_00: And we had a conversation about well, you know, once you put your art out into the world, you can't control how others make meaning from it.
• 35:20
  SPEAKER_00: And that was a big point of consideration when the kids were designing, you know, what do you want the viewer to take away?
• 35:26
  SPEAKER_00: And in the grand scheme of things, you know, what's unique about this here is that the building that we're in right now is going to be renovated.
• 35:34
  SPEAKER_00: So all of that drywall is gonna be taken down.
• 35:38
  SPEAKER_00: And we had a conversation about is this something that you want to leave a lasting mark on Plano Senior for years to come?
• 35:46
  SPEAKER_00: Or is this something that you're okay with being temporary?
• 35:50
  SPEAKER_00: And I wanted the kids to make that decision on their own.
• 35:54
  SPEAKER_00: And we talked about well, this is not, you know, the ideal experience, you know, going through construction this year, it's a unique opportunity to kind of like experience joy in a way that no other class is going to get to be able to do because the building's not gonna exist in the same way in the future.
• 36:13
  SPEAKER_00: And I think because of that conversation, a lot of kids leaned into this idea of their work being temporary, of their work only existing in this space that they will have gotten to be a part of.
• 36:27
  SPEAKER_00: And in that way, they're a part of this Plano Senior tradition that is very unique and special to them.
• 36:33
  SPEAKER_00: And we talked about ways that we can hold on to that in the future, you know, photographing it and putting photographs of that into our new high school building as part of this journey that Plano Senior has had.
• 36:46
  SPEAKER_00: And for kids that want it to be a more lasting part of Plano Senior, um, I was able to acquire canvas from a grant last year, and the kids were able to take that canvas and paint their murals on that.
• 37:00
  SPEAKER_00: So not only is it living in the space right now, but we can take that down and we can put it into the new building so that it becomes a more permanent fixture.
• 37:10
  SPEAKER_00: And what was great about talking to students and staff about this is that teachers approached me and said, What do you think about this idea of creating a year, like a years-long tradition where every year a new artist, you know, is kind of like an artist in resonance.
• 37:33
  SPEAKER_00: And so they come up with ideas, they present them to a school committee, and that school committee picks like one or two different murals that those students will start in that year.
• 37:45
  SPEAKER_00: And, you know, each year, like in a three-year cycle, another student will come on in kind of like an exquisite course, add on to these murals, and then kind of take down over time so that the work is constantly shifting as the generations move through, but it becomes this tradition that students look forward to.
• 38:06
  SPEAKER_00: And I thought it was so cool.
• 38:07
  SPEAKER_00: Our humanities teachers were the ones who came and approached with that idea.
• 38:12
  SPEAKER_00: And we talked about it in terms of the history of Plano Senior.
• 38:15
  SPEAKER_00: Like, how could this become a part of its history, both at present, but in the years to come?
• 38:21
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that that's what's valuable about building community at our school is it's not just about the art program now, it's about other teachers coming together and thinking about how we want our whole campus to feel.
• 38:36
  SPEAKER_00: What do we want that experience to be like for students?
• 38:40
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I think that's amazing because you know, as some of the things that I do with my students at the middle school level, you know, we talk a lot about temporary, but temporary isn't always seen as something that, you know, yes, it means it's up for a certain amount of time, but it doesn't mean it's gone forever.
• 38:58
  SPEAKER_01: It doesn't mean, you know, those photos you have, as you just mentioned, those photos you have, the documentation that you've made of that, the recognition, or even the canvas, and to be able to put it up somewhere else, um, you know, I think is a fantastic idea because kids do kind of get that feeling that in order for something to be permanent, it has to be in a museum for millions and millions of years.
• 39:26
  SPEAKER_02: So well, I think I think I'm just thinking about the idea of also emphasizing the the act of creating something is maybe the most important part, not necessarily always what's left behind.
• 39:40
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, and I think that that's part of it too, is teaching kids that because you did it mattered, right?
• 39:47
  SPEAKER_02: And it doesn't matter what is there now or if it was how long it was up, even it's just that you learned from it, you created, you had your voice out there.
• 39:57
  SPEAKER_02: I think that's that's also something in this idea of temporary that needs to be really explored with students is that they they they learned from the experience and they'll they have this memory, like the permanence to me is the memory.
• 40:11
  SPEAKER_02: I think uh if you ask an art educator um about art education, their experiences, they have these memories.
• 40:20
  SPEAKER_02: Some are not always good, Christina, you know, and some are really great.
• 40:24
  SPEAKER_02: And um and I think those we want to leave these kinds of memories with students that are joyful and positive, just like you said, so that they don't have art scars that prevent them from being an advocate for arts in general.
• 40:42
  SPEAKER_02: So I think to give them those kind of memories of what a lasting impression is really important.
• 40:47
  SPEAKER_02: And then that's that's where the permanence is, in my opinion.
• 40:51
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 40:52
  SPEAKER_00: I also think about it like tools in their toolbox because the other thing that I want to show students is that you might not want to go into a career in art, but you can always have these skills that you could use, you know, to have a side business or to share your love of art with the world.
• 41:11
  SPEAKER_00: And I talk to the kids about, you know, you could go out into the world as an adult or as a, you know, even now, and you could be commissioned to make these murals that help you to leave your mark on your community or help businesses thrive, you know, and and so I'm always thinking about, you know, how could this be something that they take with them beyond the classroom and out into their own life and adapt it, you know, for their own, their own journey.
• 41:38
  SPEAKER_02: It's actually a really good point.
• 41:40
  SPEAKER_02: We have a teacher in the area who does the windows for a local butcher.
• 41:46
  SPEAKER_02: And people like because he changes them for like different seasons.
• 41:51
  SPEAKER_02: So like when school starts, there's and they're funny.
• 41:54
  SPEAKER_02: And people love them.
• 41:55
  SPEAKER_02: And it's it really has helped him in supporting his family as an educator to have that side gig with that that butcher.
• 42:03
  SPEAKER_02: And um, when they're not there, people are like, what?
• 42:06
  SPEAKER_02: Why isn't there?
• 42:07
  SPEAKER_02: You know, it's like it's really funny to me, but that's a great point.
• 42:11
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, you know, um, we like to ask our last question, um, and we like to give it, you know, all up to you.
• 42:20
  SPEAKER_02: And what's something you'd like to leave the listeners with that maybe we didn't discuss or that you want to emphasize from today's conversation as we wrap up?
• 42:31
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, um, so I believe art is for everybody.
• 42:35
  SPEAKER_00: Like that's one of my like in terms of my teaching philosophy and my work as an artist, that's always the first thing I think about is how is this going to impact our community?
• 42:46
  SPEAKER_00: And how can I help to kind of leave joy and beauty for others to see?
• 42:51
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and I think that a lot of times, you know, because of maybe how their parents might have seen art or maybe uh art that they might have seen in a museum, you know, sometimes kids and adults alike will look at art and think like, oh, it's only for so-and-so person, or, you know, this museum is only for people who can afford to go there.
• 43:13
  SPEAKER_00: And I think really when you look at art history, it's been made for the people.
• 43:19
  SPEAKER_00: And that context might have changed, you know, it might have had a religious context, it might have had, you know, a democratic context, or, you know, it might have been a context of power, but ultimately art was created to influence the people.
• 43:33
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that it's really important that kids understand that art isn't just for some, it's for everybody.
• 43:42
  SPEAKER_00: And it's something that can grow in so many different ways.
• 43:46
  SPEAKER_00: And, you know, so what if you don't enjoy drawing?
• 43:49
  SPEAKER_00: You might be amazing at ceramics.
• 43:51
  SPEAKER_00: And maybe you don't like hand building things, but maybe you love to weave or sew or Maybe your kind of art is going out into a garden and creating a beautiful garden for people to enjoy.
• 44:07
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that when you look at the world as a huge canvas for art and for creation, then that opens your mind to all of these untapped resources around you.
• 44:23
  SPEAKER_00: So now it's not just about like, oh, I have paint and a canvas, let me create.
• 44:28
  SPEAKER_00: It's now like, oh, okay, like there's a giant sidewalk out there and kids come by there all the time.
• 44:33
  SPEAKER_00: What can I go out and you know put out onto the sidewalk for people to enjoy?
• 44:38
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and so I just I think about that, you know, in in the grand scheme of education, like when you teach art, you know, who do you really believe it's for?
• 44:47
  SPEAKER_00: And who do you really believe that this art is for?
• 44:50
  SPEAKER_00: And at the end of the day, I think it should be for everybody.
• 44:54
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah.
• 44:57
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you.
• 44:58
  SPEAKER_02: Oh wow.
• 44:58
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you for teaching our art, kiddo, and all the other kids.
• 45:02
  SPEAKER_02: And I just really appreciate everything you do, Christina.
• 45:06
  SPEAKER_02: Thanks so much for being on the podcast.
• 45:08
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you, Christina.
• 45:09
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for having me.
• 45:13
  SPEAKER_02: You know what I liked about that conversation?
• 45:16
  SPEAKER_01: Um there's a lot of like about that conversation by that conversation.
• 45:21
  SPEAKER_02: I think what I liked most was how practical it was and how you know she approached it from like all angles in terms of you know how to work with the admin, what are some practical tips, like why why would you want to do mural making and what it offers students, and you know, the giving them the voice and the legacy, but also being really thoughtful about working in groups versus working individually.
• 45:45
  SPEAKER_02: And then like biggest takeaway I had was what a smart idea to do that snowball uh drawing with the with the old school overhead projector.
• 45:56
  SPEAKER_01: Amazing, yeah, amazing.
• 45:58
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, I was sitting here thinking I love the uh just to kind of get everyone out of their head and away from the judgmental side of themselves and just be like, here you go, let's let's uh draw something.
• 46:13
  SPEAKER_01: Here, let's try, let's try this.
• 46:16
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, well, now let's get up, let's try this instead.
• 46:19
  SPEAKER_01: Let's try this as well.
• 46:20
  SPEAKER_01: So um fantastic ideas, fantastic suggestions.
• 46:24
  SPEAKER_02: So fantastic art teacher.
• 46:27
  SPEAKER_01: Fantastic.
• 46:27
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, we can say that.
• 46:29
  SPEAKER_01: Fantastic.
• 46:29
  SPEAKER_02: We can as parents, we we are seeing, I mean, our kiddo is just so happy.
• 46:34
  SPEAKER_01: So I just was laughing at the number of times we were saying fantastic.
• 46:38
  SPEAKER_01: So um, but yes, no, as a as a parent of one of her students to see all those things that we were talking about happen.
• 46:46
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, but amazing.
• 46:47
  SPEAKER_02: So uh she mentioned a few resources.
• 46:50
  SPEAKER_02: I know there's an article from Davis, but uh where do people go to find those resources, Matt?
• 46:55
  SPEAKER_01: They go and to Davisart.com.
• 46:58
  SPEAKER_01: Um, underneath free resources, you'll find K12 ArtChat the podcast, and each episode, and with each episode, it has its own link connected to a resource page where they got to put in all the resources that they were talking about.
• 47:14
  SPEAKER_02: Yep.
• 47:14
  SPEAKER_02: And we always, you know, we try to thank our good friends from Davis for supporting K-12 ArtChat the podcast.
• 47:21
  SPEAKER_02: But uh we also want to thank all of you because you send us great ideas.
• 47:26
  SPEAKER_02: So, Matt, where can they send us some ideas for topics or artists or conversations we should have?
• 47:32
  SPEAKER_01: Well, one of the probably oldest and most uh efficient ways is through email uh at thecreativitypt at gmail.com or on Instagram at creativity.
• 47:48
  SPEAKER_02: That's right.
• 47:49
  SPEAKER_02: And we would love it if you would uh like and subscribe and review the podcast wherever you listen to it, and just want to say thank you for listening and have a creative week ahead.