Art History 101: Building your own Art history.
I ask students to examine their personal art history.  I tell stories about the rich childhood I had, with no video games, no cable, and no internet.  They are amazed that we had anything to do.  Many will ask "What did you do?"  Well...  We read books and were outside all the time except in the winter.  In the winter we read and we drew pictures all the time.  We went to the library and looked at books.  We were blessed to have elementary art programs and teachers that were charged to teach the whole child. Mrs.  Welch, my third grade teacher, hung my dinosaur pictures behind her desk and noticed me as an artist.  She started this ball rolling.  My high school art teacher, Mr. Becker, allowed me to experiment with any and every media possible and allowed me to nurture fascination for learning new things.

Today, I hope I carved a little bit into my portfolio student's histories.   We laid under the tables in Portfolio class and attempted our best Michaelangelo work ever.  I did this with last years portfolio class and I feel it created a bond that we share, sort of secret and decadent and without permission.

I want my students to continue their art histories.  I want them to find a place that is their niche in life and to love what they do.  I hope art guides them.