(Respondents: Lee Hansley, John Craven Bloedorn,a brilliant writer whose name we've lost, Ellen Sung, Rock Kershaw, Kirk Taylor)

Lee Hansley (Lee Hansley Gallery, Raleigh)
While I understand your frustration with the current system of "teaching" art, I can't see it changing in the near future. I do, however, has some strong feeling about this subject. While I think it is important to go to good art schools–schools with a varied faculty and schools which teach techniques–I think it is just as important to be exposed to a universe of ideas that will broaden the pool of possible subject matter for an artist. While there may be some value for the small art institute situations, I think an artists will fair much better at a large university with a diverse population and many schools under a single umbrella. The opportunity for exposure to many ideas is far greater at a large university than at a single purpose institute. It is also important for artists to know where they fit in the context of the big picture and to understand the origins of things, thereby making art history a very important aspect of the whole teaching process. Some artists will have the "it" that it takes to be an artists. Some don't. Some people are driven from within to make things and produce art while others have to force themselves or discipline themselves to make art. When asked if I am an artist, I always reply, "I have an artist's point of view, but I'm not an artist." I qualify that by explaining that I am not drive to make things, to create pictures or objects. I can do that, but I'm not driven to do that. To me a true artists has that built-in drive. And, to bring this comment back to center, the "true" artist probably needs very little "teaching." So there you have it. Lee Hansley, Proprietor, Lee Hansley Gallery
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John Craven Bloedorn (Craven Allen Gallery, Durham)
I am a strong believer in a liberal arts education. Technical skills can be acquired at any time; first it's important to learn how to think.
[The following insightful remarks were written by….we don’t know. The artsRambler’s organizational skills need honing. Sadly the name was lost and although we asked around, we came up empty. We could have simply deleted the comments and spared ourselves this public humiliation. But the comments are soooo good, we are willing to take the mock and ridicule and publish them them with our apologies to the writer.]
Creativity is a natural process, but its initiation…its activation if you will, must be learned…or, more importantly…regularly applied. Let me elaborate.

Every human is hardwired to think creatively…it is our physiological make-up…it is our means to survive.

Imagine some poor caveman lout…scrapping along for food off somewhere in a primordial savannah…along comes a saber-toothed beast. He sees that the carnivorous critter is just within striking range…should he fight or take flight. He chooses escape. His imagination allows him to devise…visualize…a retreat. He scans the horizon for a safe haven high up on the rocks, and calculates how he might get there. He sees a pole leaning conveniently near a ledge…he visually ponders how he might use it…visualizes his scarpered actions. If he is unsuccessful he will be a candidate for the Darwin prize…if he is successful, then he contributes his superior visualization skills to the humanity pool. Simple as that.

Creativity is activated; then it is expressed. Communication is the optimum term here…and its expression comes in two categories: esoteric art or communicative/production art. Both are important to society, but they serve distinctive niches, so any education must address both of these idiosyncratic functions.

Esoteric expression is primarily a FINE arts function…it encourages individualism, and normally focuses on an introspective/exhibitionistic trigger…motivated by a compulsion to deliver a visual soliloquy to the world stage. Training for this type of creative expression must include a thorough analysis of art history, aesthetics, and studio habitude…an approximation of the atelier system would fit nicely into this milieu.

Communicative or production art focuses on mass marketing or rather visually conversing with as many people as possible. There is little doubt that this form of creative endeavor is powered by business functionality. Creativity is a “practical function”…it is tempered with the idea that ultimately all endeavors must be created/communicated/marketed for profit…and more importantly it is a collaborative procedure…seldom will any decision be exclusive to an individual…creativity is cultivated and filtered within a co-operative environment.
Gary Goldman, an animation industry legend puts it this way when describing his duties as a producer…
“I've never seen any production without a daily problem in its schedule or meeting its budgetary requirements. In many cases, you end up making decisions where you have to cut either story content, production value, or eliminate a song you've already paid for. You have to wear two hats in this area, too. You have a creative integrity hat you have on and you also have a marketing hat that you must wear with your investor and the distributor of the film. You might want to hold your integrity to something you feel is quite beautiful on the screen, but you might have to alter it to achieve commercial success”

Commercial art is a type of training best served within a collaborative facility…one that operates or mimics the production pipeline. Allowing a student to thrive creatively within this type of environment is more practical…it allows the student to prepare to participate and contribute to a capitalist society. Not that the esoteric/fine artist doesn’t contribute to the social process (I am a fine arts educational protégé), but this is smaller niche market…a beau monde…and it seldom redeems the promises of career aspirations.

I hope these thoughts are can help you…good luck.

Ellen Sung (N&O)

Here's my take on it. If you use this, please note that I'm speaking only for myself and not The N&O.

As an art lover and an arts writer, I read at least a dozen artist's statements every month. And I'd say they damage my understanding and appreciation of the art more often than they enhance it. At her blog (tireshop.blogspot.com), Nancy Baker has a snarky take on how hard it is to write an artist's statement. As she alludes, it's really difficult to shift to words when you fundamentally feel most comfortable expressing your ideas non-verbally, especially painful ideas. And by the time you have a show, you're probably about to fall over from exhaustion. The artist's statement becomes a last-minute addition.

My advice is to write early — if at all possible — and get a tactful but forthright friend to read your statement. Maybe have it be someone who isn't in the art world. Some of the most common sins I see in artist's statements are:

- claims that are so vague they are irrefutable. If your work "deals with identity, gender, politics, and the space-time continuum," don't just tell me, but show me.
- pretentiously lofty claims. Again, if you say you're going to address such a sweeping, impressive array of issues as identity, gender, politics, and the space-time continuum, be prepared to back it up if asked. If 99 out of 100 open-minded viewers don't see what you're trying to communicate, maybe this piece didn't quite work.
- lack of useful context. Galleries provide resumes, partly because they help reassure collectors about economic value. I'm less interested in a Rhode Island School of Design degree and a big federal grant than in the specifics of how this work or series of works came into being. What were the specific forces that triggered so much creativity that you felt compelled to make 36 miniature paintings? What styles influenced you? How have you made it your own?
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Rock Kershaw (Designer)

Train them to draw. Every day.
Teach them to read. Every day.
Teach them to write. Every day.
Teach them to speak in complete sentences. With voices that are clear and confident.
Train them to maintain mental and physical health. This is based on moderation, exercise, sleep, and a relationship with a higher power.
Train them to say please, thank you, and can I help you.
Train them to listen.
Remind them that the library is a magic place.

Send them on their Wanderjahre to far off distant lands for two years to learn about Kuba cloth, Ethiopian processional crosses, scrimshaw carvings, Russian icons, kilims, La Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, 16th century armor, Paris haute couture, Guatemalan huipiles, SoHo, St. Peter's in Rome, set design, museums and wheels of invention…
Draw, photograph and keep a journal.

Have them watch films every week on the big screen. Films by the Marx Bros., Chaplin, Fellini, Spielberg, John Ford, Martin Scorsese, Pare Lorenz, Leni Reifenstahl, Jean Renoir, Akira Kurosawa, Ang Lee, Vincent Minelli, Orson Welles, and Clint Eastwood. These are shown at revival houses and museums.

Find pleasure in dance of all kinds, music of the spheres, theatre, costumes, graphic design, multimedia, music of the decades and centuries, prison art, outsider art, tatoos, Botticelli, 18th century British furniture and architecture.

Train them to draw perspective, architecture, anatomy, hands, faces, flora, fauna, mechanical devices, lettering, cartoons, light and dark, texture, and self portraits. Like Leonardo, ask for the job.

Train them to embrace a ferocious work ethic filled with passion, love, and humor. Remind them not to take themselves too seriously.

If you want to learn painting, you might want to go to a studio instead of a university. Trouble is that if you want to find a job, you might want to go to a university and get a degree.

All work on this site © 2004 by Andrea Gomez, all rights reserved. Unauthorized copying, reproduction, republishing, posting or duplication of any of the material on the web site is prohibited without express written permission from Andrea Gomez. The artist reserves to herself all rights of reproduction and all copyright of her work.

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