Starling: In The Artistic Realms
Finding The Way To Personal Expression
How To Get Where You Are Going
I started to chart this map few years back as I was developing curriculum for my art program. In trying to develop the most effective way to help students get to their best expressive potential I felt like I had to get them through some skill building, memory work and into imagination before they could ever successfully make the jump to expression.
Many art classes focus on art as an expressive form but deny that some skill development is vital for artists to feel confident in their own voice. Others focus purely on skill development and neglect personal expression. Trying to find a balance is not easy, as a teacher or an artist.
So I developed each "Land" in The Artistic Realm as a focus for each of the 4 quarters of my school year. While this seems like a linear process, it is really a spiral and can be walked however you wish. There are portals and bridges throughout that can move you through the map however feels right for you. There are obviously other landmarks in each location that I have not yet discover as well as other areas I have probably not yet charted.
I made a flowchart of sorts of the benefits of development in each are and hung it in my classroom (see below). As I started to design the idea for this episode, I threw together the visual of the map. It is not exactly what I want it to be, but it gives you an idea and an overview. I am sure I will improve the visual of the map when I get time. While rudimentary, you will be able to understand the lay of the land in the map below. As you walk through the lands and listen to the podcast, let me know if you have discovered other areas or landmarks. If you are not a visual artist, but are a musician, actor, dancer, tightrope walker or any other visitor to The Artistic Realms, and you have another view of the land I would love to hear about your discoveries in this world as well.