Hello! My name is Emma Stoolmaker, and I am currently a sophomore and second-year Citizen Scholar studying Art Education. Trying to select a major that encompassed all of my passions and goals for my career prior to arriving at Michigan State was a tough feat – though I loved expressing my creativity through visual art, I also aspired to collaborate with others, remain intellectually and academically stimulated, as well as build stronger, more visually-adept communities. Becoming an art educator checks all of these boxes for me, not only will I be able to observe and participate in art-making processes with students, but I also have the opportunity to redefine what a fine arts curriculum promotes and use visual art as a tool to enact social change through my students and surrounding environment.
My major focuses on how one can master both technical and conceptual processes of fine art in a way that is easily accessible to others. Though I will not be graduating with a degree in Studio Art, I am required to take a plethora of studio classes in order to experiment and familiarize myself with the many forms of art-making to pass on to future students. Moreover, I am exposed to several forms of experiential learning where I am able to interact directly with students. As a part of the degree program, Kresge Art Center hosts an art camp, Saturday Morning Art (SmART), where students from the K-12 age group can come to the building on weekends to take art classes taught by art education majors themselves. Last semester I volunteered as a classroom assistant and helped run the registration table, and I plan to do the same this semester. Furthermore, I will be able to directly engage with a classroom in my fifth year of the program during my student teaching, where I will be placed with a specific group of students and another educator for a year of instruction to observe, participate, and eventually help to manage an art class ranging from any K-12 level. One of the most challenging aspects of the degree program (and my future as an art educator) is preparing myself for any age level of students. Rather than having a specific elementary or secondary route like other education majors, Art Education prepares its students for any grade level, meaning it’s extremely important to learn how to interact with and teach all stages of cognitive development in a student. Time management is essential to my studies because I must be able to account for time to work on my various projects for my studio classes and to engage with groups of students outside of the classroom as preparation for when I will student-teach later on.
The class I have enjoyed the most in my time at Michigan State has been the 3D Form studio class with Professor Jae Won Lee. Before last semester, I had never really experimented with sculpture and using unconventional materials to create art. Through new learning processes and a great amount of collaboration between my classmates and I, my understanding of multi-dimensional art as well as concept and process improved. Professor Lee cultivated a classroom environment centered around sharing, constructive critique, and new ideas, making it easier to experiment without the worry of being “wrong” or straying too far away from a prompt. I hope to model my future classroom around her techniques and methods she used to teach this class.
Outside the classroom, I have had multiple job opportunities on campus to further develop my skills as an art educator. Last semester I began to work for the Eli and Edythe Broad Contemporary Art Museum as a Gallery Guide. As a Gallery Guide, I rotate through the various gallery spaces, help to protect the art, and engage in conversations with visitors about the current works on display to answer any questions they may have or to further discuss the interpretations of pieces. This has helped me greatly in my ability to talk about art with others and to cater to multiple age groups and varying perspectives when it comes to contemporary art. Moreover, this semester I am involved with an internship through the museum as a part of their Family Programs management. Through this position, I help plan, coordinate, and engage with events that the Education Department hosts, including our monthly Family Days, programs with neighboring school districts, and even events planned for the students on our campus. By giving me the opportunity to develop different projects and activities for students of various ages, backgrounds, and understandings of art, I have become more aware and accommodating as an educator and made new connections with people in this community. It has also given me a window into the realm of museum education and how that could potentially fit into my future career.
This upcoming spring semester, I am planning to study in Rome, Italy through the international John Cabot University. I am interested in gaining a new perspective when it comes to different structures of education both as a student who will be taught in a new way as well as observing the educators I meet and their approaches to an international art education. Being surrounded by artwork that inspired the progression of “modern” art as we know it is something I am very excited about. As it will be my first time in Europe, I hope to explore all of what Italy has to offer in terms of the country’s art history and their contribution to contemporary art practice. I am also looking forward to meeting people from completely different backgrounds than myself. Eventually I would love to teach abroad, and exposing myself to an unfamiliar environment now will make it easier to establish connections for a future position in another country.
Ideally, following graduation, my goal is to teach a fine art curriculum in a high school setting, because I will teach students with more complex concepts and techniques as well as with portfolio development and the relationship between their art and social justice. Whether abroad or within the States, promoting the importance of art education will be a main goal of mine as well. Whether this means traveling to other districts to advocate for increased fine art program development in schools that do not have it, or continuing to be a representative within my own district for elevated awareness, education, and funding I want to be an advocate. I also hope to have my own practice where I will be able to make, share, and market my own work. While the adage “those who can’t, teach” is often attributed to degrees such as Art Education, I hope to remain just as much of an artist as I am an educator.
The most valuable advice I would give to any incoming art education major would be that there is no “right” way to teach art, “correct” technique to follow, or “accepted” process to use. Art is subjective, personal, and should be taught in that way to others. Focusing on concept and development is far more constructive than the end result or final product. Try to get as much experience with students as possible!
I am so grateful for my involvement in the Citizen Scholars community in tandem to the experiences I have had thus far within the Art Education degree program. Not only has it increased my understanding of the relationship between fine arts and community engagement but also my ability to contribute to a future where more people are influenced and helped by art in their daily lives.