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Jenette Noe, November 22nd, 2011, Parma High School, Linda McMillin, Drawing Introduction to Writing an Artists Statement

Rationale: An artists statement is a written explanation and reflection upon a piece of artwork or a greater series, written by the artist who created it. The artists statement is a key bridge for conveying meaning, purpose, and message between artist and viewer. Nearly all gallery exhibitions include artists statements. They are also used for job and education applications. All who intend to pursue art should learn how to write a quality artists statement. This lesson will serve to briefly introduce students to artists statements. Introduction: Miss Noe: Today Im going to introduce you to the artists statement. An artists statement is a piece of writing describing his or her artwork. Usually they explain what their artwork is supposed to mean, and why they made it. The most common place youll find an artists statement is in an art gallery, such as the Boise Art Museum. Were going to write our own, very short, artists statements. In addition to explaining your artwork, I want you to reflect on what you liked about your piece and what you didnt. To get started, Id like you to go get a piece of artwork from your cubby. Id prefer that it be finished, but if you dont have any finished art, one in progress will be ok. Also, take out a pencil or something to write with. Once youve chosen your piece, please return to your seat. Ill be passing out some lined paper. Assessing Students Prior Knowledge: Most high school art students will be unfamiliar with artists statements, so I am writing this lesson as an introduction. Some students may have encountered artist statements in art galleries or museums. Others may have read them in a book or online. Artists statements typically take on a different format than students are used to writing, so I will give them a template with the familiar introduction, body, and conclusion layout. They should also be familiar with proper grammar and conventions, the importance of which I will reiterate in my rubric. Goals or Key Concepts: Objectives: Students will be able to communicate their artistic intent verbally as well as in writing. Students will be able to critique their own work by discussing and writing on the strengths and weaknesses of their art. Students will be able to think critically about their artwork and express their judgments orally as well as in writing.

Materials: Each student will select a piece of his or her artwork to write about Lined paper Pencils Copies of the statement prompts Copies of the grading rubric Access to a technology laboratory, to type up and print statements

Activities: Miss Noe: Ok, you each should have a couple sheets of lined paper on your desk, as well as a writing utensil. Im going to give you two minutes to write everything you can think of about your piece of art. Dont worry, this wont be graded. Its just to get thoughts flowing, so dont worry too much about grammar, spelling, and such. Be thinking about why you chose to do this piece of art. What about it did you enjoy doing? What parts did you struggle with? Write everything down you can possibly think of, and try to not stop writing. Ill give you two minutes, starting now. [Students do quickwrite about their chosen artwork. 2 minutes] Now youve probably got some ideas going through your head about your piece of work. Im going to ask you to find a partner and share some of what you wrote. Then ask for your partners opinion about the artwork. Im passing out a sheet of questions to help you discuss for about five minutes. This sheet will help you when you begin writing your statement. Are there any questions so far? [wait time, answer questions] You may now find a partner and start. [Students do think pair share activity, minus sharing with the class. 5-10 minutes] Ideas should really be flowing right now, so youre ready to begin writing your artists statement. If you look at the writing prompts sheet I passed out, youll see that this is a template for writing your artists statement. I want you to write three different paragraphs: introduction, body, and conclusion. Id like you to answer at least five of the questions while doing this, so how you decide to distribute the questions is up to you. I do, however, expect you to include a brief description of your art in the introductory paragraph. For example, with Ms. McMillins pastel project, she might say, My art is of an owl at night, in a tree, and it was created with pastels. I also have a rubric I will be using to grade your artwork, so lets go over that together. [Miss Noe passes out rubric to students and goes over each category and her expectations. *must be done quickly for time constraints] Evaluation/Assessments: The student artist statements will be graded upon a rubric. Please see attachment. Closing Activity/Summary:

Miss Noe: Normally Id ask that you type these up, and Id reserve the tech lab, but with Thanksgiving were a little crunched for time. Please do your best with the time we have today, and make sure I can read your handwriting. Think about the prompts and look at the rubric as you write your statement. The hand-written statement should be half a page to a whole page long, and if you answer the prompts I dont think this will be a problem. Be sure to write your name before you turn it in at Ms. McMillins desk. Thank you all for your hard work. I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving break. If you have any questions, feel free to raise your hand. Ill gladly come by to help you out. [Students begin writing on lined paper.]

Artists Statement Prompts NAME: _________________ Use the following prompts to help you brainstorm ideas about your artwork. Use these questions to write your artists statement, answering at least 5 questions total. Write at least three paragraphs: introduction, body, and conclusion. INTRODUCTION PARAGRAPH: Briefly describe the artworks subject matter, and the medium it was made with. Example: My drawing is of an owl in a tree, at night, and was done with pastels. What does your piece of art say to you? Why do you enjoy making art? Can you see your creative spirit in your artwork? Describe how. How does your unique artistic style show up in your artwork? o Does your artwork have a title? If so, what does it express about the work? BODY PARAGRAPH: Criticism What did your peers have to say about your art? What strengths does your artwork have? o What is your favorite part of your artwork? What weaknesses does your artwork have? o What is your least favorite part of your artwork? o What challenged you the most in creating this piece? Did your artwork take you a long time, or did you finish it quickly? Constructive criticism: o Did your peers have any suggestions for changing your art? o Did your teacher ask you to change anything in your art? CONCLUSION If you could do this piece again, what would you do differently? Did your finished artwork turn out how you originally imagined it would look?

Artist's Statement
Teacher Name: Ms. Noe Student Name: ________________________________________

CATEGORY Clarity and Creativity

(20-16) Excellent
The writing is clear and descriptive. It is easy to understand what the artist is trying to say. Writing includes a variety of adjectives to creatively explain the artwork. Words are used correctly. The artist's voice comes through the writing. The statement includes at least three paragraphs: an introduction, a body, and a conclusion. The statement is half a page to a whole page long. The statement includes a description of the artwork's subject matter and the medium used to create it. The artist responds to 5 or more questions from the prompts sheet. The writing includes proper English grammar. Almost no mechanical errors, such as capitalization and punctuation. Almost no spelling errors.

(15-11) Good
The writing is clear and it is clear what the artist is trying to say. The writing includes some adjectives to describe the artwork.

(10-6) Weak
Some parts of the writing are difficult to understand. The writing lacks originality. It is not clear what the artist is trying to say. Few descriptive words are used, or several are used incorrectly.

(5-0) Poor
The writing is vague or unintelligible. It is very difficult to understand what the artist is trying to say. Many words are used incorrectly.

Structure

The statement includes at least three paragraphs: an introduction, a body, and a conclusion. The statement is approximately half a page long. The statement includes a description of the artwork's subject matter and the medium used to create it. The artist responds to 4 questions from the prompts sheet. The writing includes proper English grammar. A few mechanical errors occur, involving capitalization or punctuation. There are a few spelling errors.

The statement has at least two paragraphs, and is missing one required paragraph: introduction, body, or conclusion. The statement is half a page long or less. The statement is missing a description of the artwork's subject matter or the medium used to create it. The artist responds to 3 questions from the prompts sheet.

The statement lacks an introduction and a conclusion. The writing is less than half a page long.

Content

The statement is missing both a description of the subject matter and medium used to create it. The artist responds to less than 3 questions from the prompts sheet. The writer demonstrates poor knowledge of proper grammar. The writing is filled with mechanical errors. There are several run-on sentences. Spelling errors are frequent. Mistakes distract the reader from the content, and make the statement difficult to read. The student refuses to participate or has to be frequently reminded by the teacher to return to work. The student does not finish his or her artist's statement.

Mechanics

Several mistakes are made with proper grammar. The writer regularly makes mechanical errors. There are run-on sentences and many spelling errors. Mistakes in conventions distract the reader from the content.

Participation

The student stays busy and on-task, using class time well. He or she eagerly participates in quickwrite and discussion activities. Student completes his or her artist's statement.

The student stays on task most of the time, and contributes to quickwrite and discussion activities. Student completes his or her artist's statement.

The student has to be reminded by the teacher to return to work. The student hesitates to participate in quickwrite and discussion activities. Student mostly completes his or her artist's statement.

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