Response to David C. Levy article "But many Art Teachers Can Barely Draw!

The following was submitted in response to David C. Levy's article posted earlier on this blog. Bolded sections refer to statements in Levy's article.

To my associates, the Visual Art Teachers,
10/20/2009


I will address point by point what I view as flaws in David C. Levy's article discussing "But many art teachers can barely draw!".


38 credits of studio instruction

Studio classes consist of 9 hours of studio time for every three hours of credit. While he said that you could take 38 hours in little more than a year (15, 15, 8), it would not be productive nor would any student attempt it, it would mean 135 hours of studio time per week!

Most college majors consist of 30 hours of credit. At Eastern Michigan University, the B.F.A. program consists of 60 hours of Art. The Art Education is an additional 20 hours.


... this precious learning time is generally fractured into a smorgasbord of classes in unrelated media and disciplines

Art students do take a variety of classes but select an area to specialize in. Some are ceramics majors, other are printmakers, others are painters, but no one has a smorgasbord of classes.

Dr. Levy continues to compare Visual Art Education to Music Education and states that this selection of unrelated classes is unacceptable and that
“We would think such an approach absurd.” I believe that your whole approach to the Visual Arts is a bit absurd!

Of course Visual Art teachers can draw, sculpt, create and educate!

As they become adolescents, much of the ingenuousness that underlay their earlier creative spontaneity will automatically disappear; but good art-making skills will stay with them for life and, for some, the creativity will resurface. At this point it should be enhanced by the existence of the technical skills to actualize its full potential.

Yes this is true and it is what every elementary Visual Art educator is attempting it achieve and to a large extent, doing so with a great deal of success.

Consider that we don’t teach elementary school children creative writing;

I really question this, and in fact, encourage creative writing in my Visual Arts classroom, or as I call it, the Art studio. I am sure if you talked to the regular classroom teachers, they would question your assertion.

Most students entering college art departments or even professional art schools bring little more than their elementary and high school art classes as background preparation. And, as we have seen, skill development is often sadly lacking in these settings. (How could it be otherwise, when the majority of their teachers have so few skills of their own to teach?)

Again, another slap in the face of the Visual Arts teachers... shame on you Dr. Levy. Many of the Visual Art departments in colleges and universities require a portfolio of the students work and interviews to be accepted. High school teachers spend considerable time preparing students for application and provide portfolio production classes or after school assistance.

Visual Art students need to know how to draw to get in the door! It is like saying a music student went to college to study music because he/she liked the sound of the french horn! This is absurdity!

By contrast, the serious music student has probably had ten or more years of private study with a competent professional as well as participation in advanced school music programs, community orchestras and the like,

Ten or more years of private study? Well of course this student does have an advantage, but what about the other music students? What are their options and future in Music education?


even in the most selective of art schools the freshman year (or as it is often called, the “Foundation Year”) is essentially remedial. It does exactly what its name implies – lays down a visual arts foundation that should have been built years before.

Again, a true lack of respect for the Visual Arts teachers. As stated previously, Visual Art students need to present a quality portfolio to be accepted.

One might hope that even if the elementary schools are not doing their job, an interested and/or talented student would have an opportunity to develop visual skills at the high school level.

The elementary schools are doing their job in teaching Visual Art and encourage students to continue in middle school (a level that Dr. Levy seems to forget) and hopefully in high school.

most laymen are incapable of telling good drawing from bad, have little sense of composition or design and, in fact, don’t much care.

It appears that according to Dr. Levy, only a select few are capable of discerning the true effectiveness of quality visual art. As I used to tell my friends who questioned Art in school, “What would your sports car look like if it wasn’t designed by an artist?” Of course the layperson is capable of identifying and selecting quality Art, and they do care!

Regrettably, I have no answers. This is a gloomy picture and is likely to remain so. The miracle is that even without the enlightened interest and support of the educational community or the mainstream American public we continue to produce talented, skilled and creative visual artists.


Regrettably I had to listen to you trash the abilities of qualified people in the Visual Arts while still supporting the Music education. We are the Arts, both music and the visual field. True you have a greater resume than me and are able to identify various studies (without being specific to their source. But IF you are so qualified, why don’t you have the answers?

I do believe that yes we can draw and sculpt and paint and photograph and create digital art and effectively demonstrate for our students, and encourage and inspire and develop our future artists... and not accept your opinion especially without any clear direction to eliminate the so called “gloomy picture”.

As I said earlier, your resume is quite impressive although I couldn’t find it on the internet, but my question is, can you draw or play music? I assume you to be quite proficient given your ability to draw opinions on the talents of others.


We all need to work together to help our students, negative attitudes do nothing to solve the problems we all face given the economy of today. All Art is important to the future but questioning the abilities of the teachers displays a lack of respect, which is always present in my Art Studio.


Respectfully submitted,


Jim Schulz
Elementary Art Teacher
Haisley Elementary School
Ann Arbor Public Schools