Danny- I too am an art educator-taught art in the public schools for 28 years-now teach the art ed methods at the small university where I moved- yes- many have had terrible experiences but there are many great teachers-working in a profession that many in our society no longer respect. I thought your response was heartfelt and I thank you for that. I look forward to my copy I have ordered- also I'm a friend of Roz-as I use to live in Minneapolis- she's a gem.
Terry

I have been interested in both starting an illustrated journal and making new connections with other artists for some time. When I learned you were giving a class at The Open Center, I was sooo excited. Then I learned the time - Tuesday nights, 8-10PM. Sooo disappointed. Not being a young chickie AND having a full-time job AND living all the way uptown, West Side, it was just not an option. So,could you let me know when you will be teaching another class? And can I put in a bid for one at a more reasonable hour? Love your book(s). Love your blog. Love your art.
Best regards,
Judith

Hmm. I think I'll hold out and take a class from Jack Tea! insanely great indeed.

Loved the Obama exercise!!

I also enjoyed Seth's blog on your class. Anyone else blogging about it? I'd love to see more, since I can't be there.

one never knows how students - or anyone - will react to the off hand comments that their teachers (or parents or trusted friends) might make.

it sounds like both of you, danny and steve, fell victim to that phenomenon. danny in his youth and steve just now.

as an art teacher who hated as many of his own art teachers as he loved, that's something i think about every day. the encouragement that helps ten students can scar ten more. because every student needs something different. some need praise. some need criticism. some need freedom. some need rules. the list goes on and on.

in my experience, there is no avoiding it but we can make up for the blunders by paying close attention to our students and always trying new and interesting ways to encourage them.

like both of you just did.

Danny, I'm totally blown away by the post-it note exercise results. I believed in my heart when you told me about it that it would be really cool when your class did it, but it is beyond cool. I love it. It is that wonderful type of experiment which proves so many things. Most clearly for me it shows the signature line and touch that people bring to their mark making, regardless of their drawing experience. What fun to see the joy and recognition when you put all the post-its together. I would have loved to have been a fly on that wall.

I know you will keep enjoying the class; you will continue to learn about your own process too. You're inspiring them while they are inspiring you.

Roz

Hey brother Danny - I was told by my art teacher that I was not talented enough to take art at high school. I was also rejected from art college based on a reference from that same teacher. I did not draw for 20 years because I thought I was not good enough. Finally in my 30's I exploded with frustration at an artist who was illustrating the first book I wrote. After an argument with him I decided to try and illustrate the book myself. Although I did not do a brilliant job is was the start of my full-time illustrating and writing career. My journals and sketchbooks became my training ground. I have now written and illustrated 30 children's books with over a million and a half copies in print in 16 languages. The cherry on the top is that I am included in your new book. Although you don't know it your books and blog have taught and inspired me more than anyone else about art and how to draw. I totally get what you were saying in your post.

Trevor
romainportfolio.blogspot.com

Re art teachers...a slightly different perspective....
I "assumed" I could not draw and thus could not make art (a false correlation) because I was told by my teacher in kindergarten that I'd best not "try to draw, you're not very good." It has taken until age 55 (I'm 64 now) to question that certainty. What it took so long to realize was it was NOT an art educator offering that opinion - it was a kindergarten teacher with no training in teaching art at all. Her opinion (we're talking 1949 here) didn't matter because she probably didn't even like art and was "teaching" it merely to fulfill some requirement. We're all so vulnerable when it comes to art (a situation aided and abetted by art critics and gallery owners who both need to earn a living by saying some art is worth $ and some isn't, i.e. some is good and some is bad). The expressions of our unconscious can be fragile when expressed in our "rational" left brain world. In the art classes I've taken I often felt my "seedlings" were mowed down by a lawnmower before than much chance to grow and that's where the art teachers Danny mentions have some blame.

danny, can you say more about this exercise. how did you set it up? what were your students looking at? I'm fascinated. tx. dana

danny, can you say more about this exercise. how did you set it up? what were your students looking at? I'm fascinated. tx. dana

Hey Danny, first off, I'm blown away by the art posted here! The Obama post it piece had my jaw on the floor (just when I though he had been rendered every which way possible). Secondly, thanks so much for exploring these matters further - it's testimony to the integrity you have as a person and the respect you have for your readers. I sure hope I didn't come off as too whiny or pissy! I guess us art teachers in the public school system are always "fighting" - always feel we have an uphill battle and have to prove ourselves time and again to the majority of higher ups who tend to view art as a "fluff" or "filler" subject. My colleagues and i discuss this a lot. Last year, when my district's superintendent decided to actively promote "A Whole New Mind" by Daniel Pink - a book which makes a case for the enormous value of creativity in American society, it felt like pigs could fly. Anyhow, in a strange coincidence, today, a second grade teacher told me how lucky her kids were (in front of all her students) to have me as an art teacher. In no way am I patting my own back here, because what she said afterwards was what made me think about your perspective on art education, mentioned earlier. She said how she's currently taking water color classes but id by no means an artist. I told her, half jokingly, how I always tell my students who say they want to be an artist when they grow up, that you already are an artist the moment you begin making art. She went on to say how when she was a kid, that wasn't what her art teacher would say, and how as a kid, her art teacher made her cry every day. Wow, it made me think of some other similar things I've heard from folks, somewhat older than myself. I can't say I've ever had those traumatic experiences, though, like Rama mentioned, there was an equal amount of dislikable art teachers to those who where inspiring.

I think, despite the battles and the budgets, we are making progress and people are finally waking up to the bigger picture. Hopefully more schools will "see the light" and add more Daniel Pink books to their library, as well as Danny Gregory books.

I really love that Obama piece. That is such a neat concept. I wish I could be in your class, those lucky students.
On a side note I really agree with what you said about art education. I wish I had an encouraging teacher at a young age as I gave up art when a teacher overly criticized my work. Took me 10 years to get back to it! Wasted years maybe, but just part of my story.

Can't wait to get the book!

Wow Danny! The Obama piece is incredible. I thought maybe you had done 1 piece at a time while you were working or something. To hear that it was the whole class working on sections is even more delightful. The 30 winners & finalists in the Obama art competition for the DNC were incredible. The array of mediums and takes on the person/situation blew my mind. Lately there have been lots of reminders, like the Obama art, of how there's so much more than we can even begin to imagine that's possible. I keep running into my own lack of imagination or lack of belief that there can be even more out there than I can ever hope to see. That is the essence of good art education--to remind us to constantly expand our thinking and feeling and to teach artists how, when/as they grow up, they will shine lights for others to follow, expand from, promote fearlessness and philosophy. That naturally spills over into all other subjects not to mention life.

The Obama drawing reminds me of an exercise from Design 101: listen to music, everyone makes a drawing, post them and guess the title/theme of the music by our work. The classical piece about birds and flight inspired images of that or related to it somehow. It was so clear after 3 pieces of music how we could all get the message of the music through drawing even if we couldn't ever express it in words. Have you done something like this in your class?

I had a mix of teachers as well. Fortunately, the really great ones had by far the most influence on me. My optician (a real design afficcionado) gave me a huge art lesson 5 years ago the first time I went to him. He looked at my boring copper wire frames and said: "You're an artist? You need to look fearless. That's what other people look to you for." I walked out with gorgeous colorful glasses and color in myriad forms has been screaming into my life ever since. They actually inspired me to transform my life. Next time I see him I'll tell him he's an art educator too. He'll enjoy that. And thanks to all of the other art teachers out there--you rock and you change the world. And thanks for your blog & books Danny, it's always inspiring. Today's post on Cindy touched a deep nerve. Her spirit lives on.