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8 Art Inventory Autobiography

Rebecca Ruffino

07/05/2023

ART 265: Art for Teachers

Professor Anna Monteil

Klamath Community College

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I would define art as a moment of expression. That moment of expression could be a

sculpture or painting, or it could be a well-crafted engine or meal. I have taken many classes

about the arts and have enjoyed frequent visits to many museums up and down the west coast.

However, I still consider my knowledge of the arts very rudimentary. My own experience as a

visual artist ended while I was still a teenager. I had mostly focused on graphite and charcoal

mediums and enjoyed creating portraits and stills of objects. Despite being encouraged to pursue

the arts by my family, my heart was not in it, and I eventually stopped drawing altogether when

my father suddenly became disabled.

I don’t remember much about my art lessons in elementary school—I don’t believe I ever

took a dedicated art class while I was a kid. My grandmother is an artist across mediums, she’d

create greeting and thank you cards in gouache, pastels, or watercolors for many years. My father

was an abstract artist who worked largely with oil-paints and acrylics. He worked his way

through college on the money he made from his art until he met my mother (he dropped out and

got a “real job” after that to support his newfound family). The two of them nurtured my abilities

for many years, so most of my knowledge and skillset come from them. Since high school, I only

remember taking a modern art course. Even though I no longer pursue art as a personal skill, I

have always enjoyed viewing art. I would like to foster an appreciation for art in my own

students using the skills and methods I learn in this class; and to support the students in my class

who are passionate about creating art themselves.

I have been to more art museums than I can list on a single page, but my favorite one was

the Norton Simon Museum in Los Angeles, California. I adored the Degas exhibit there where

the museum hosted one of the twenty-eight bronze repetitions of the Little Dancer of Fourteen

Years, my favorite piece of art. I have fond, happy memories of touring through museums
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throughout my youth and lament the lack of museums most of all since moving to Klamath Falls.

It’s difficult to choose a favorite artist; I often default to discussing Degas, the grouchy French

sculptor and painter who focused primarily on capturing the movement of ballet performers. But

I know much more about Vincent van Gogh, though I do not prefer his art. When talking about

artists, I think to myself “which artist fascinates me?” Where Degas’s art can hold hostage my

attention for hours, I don’t find the artist himself personally interesting. However, for many years

I adored van Gogh, not for his art, but for his life, passion, and the mysteries surrounding him. I

think van Gogh, then, is my favorite artist. I was able to connect to his love for his art and for

others.

Art is such an important part of childhood development. We should teach art, therefore,

not only to instill an appreciation for culture and the humanities, but also to foster positive

cognitive and creative development of students. I believe, then, that students should be taught

both how to appreciate and critique art and how to create art themselves. The basic elements

should of course be included, but opportunities to explore and experiment with the complex

techniques should also be provided. I also believe that art throughout history and across cultures

should be showcased. I wish I learned more about east Asian art and South American art but had

few opportunities to explore the art of these cultures during my schooling. How often art can be

incorporated in the classroom depends on the grade level and administration support for adding it

to the curriculum. For lower elementary grade levels, I feel that art should be incorporated into as

many lessons as possible. For upper elementary grade levels, I think a more focused lesson plan

would be appropriate; perhaps incorporated into social studies, to explore art throughout history

and cultures. I feel that providing opportunities to students to creatively explore topics and ideas

is important to improving their learning outcomes.