What does a high school art room look like in Bonn?
During our last day at Hardtberg Gymnasium I was lucky enough to run into the higher grade art teacher, Betina Dosch. I had been admiring the art displays around the school, especially because they seemed to all have a connection to current events or art with a purpose. Betina invited me to the art rooms to talk curriculum, process, and how art impacts our respective students. It was so nice to sit down at art tables surrounded by the smells of paints and charcoal and just be reminded of the fact that no matter where you are, an art room is an art room.
Much of what Betina teaches comes from the North Rhine-Westphalian art curriculum provided by the state. Like any good art teacher, she takes the lessons and makes them her own. For more on their philosophy of art ed, check out the school art page! I found her combination of skill, technique, art history, and art's bigger place in the world matched much of my own classroom.
Art and Activism
Looking at the artwork in the hallways of Hardtberg Gymnasium gave me an overview of what sorts of media the classes work with. With my school's upcoming grant to create a mural to raise awareness of social justice issues I was excited to see that several of the projects and accompanying signage investigated using art as a way to investigate social and political topics. As Betina was showing me examples of art she laid this one down. It immediately launched us into a deep talk about American politics, German politics, and how to work with students to digest what is happening in the world.
Her students do a printmaking project each year, and this past year the prompt was to make a surrealist piece about a topic that concerns them. This is just one example of how Betina takes the given standards and curriculum (surrealism) and adds to it (political responses). She also uses many activist artists such s Ai Wei Wei as examples to study in class.
I was surprised at how many of the students' prints dealt with American politics. In the aftermath of Uvalde, this first print is especially chilling.
General Curriculum
Betina waked me through the basics of her curriculum. Students can take art for two years, and some dedicated students find a way to take a little more. I was excited to see there was an art department at Hardtberg Gymnasium since I had read so many times that art and music are not always a part of the German school day.
Examples of beginning drawing students's work. Learning how to shade, arrange compositions, and draw from life.
Surrealism taught through drawing (animal combinations) and collage. Scroll right for more images.
I'm very excited to explore one project in particular that Betina does with her advanced students. I have been looking for a way to do printmaking other than linoleum block prints with my students. Betina teaches an intaglio process that results in some AMAZING works. She walked me through the entire process from carving, the initial drawings or photographs, and how she guides the students to create value.
Art Criticism
She had some great ideas for art criticism and history. Students pick an artwork from a list of pieces, write a short biography of the artist, then complete a full visual critique of the artwork. I especially loved the elements and principles analysis. Students would analyze the use of color, line, and visual weight by drawing directly onto reproductions of the artwork. I think this would transfer very easily to a lesson my students could do on their iPads. They would be able to create these different layers and flip back and forth between each to understand why the artwork is successful from a technical standpoint. Students do not usually enjoy writing paragraphs about the art elements, but this more interactive method would be sure to keep their attention.
Art Around the School
Betina and the art department do a wonderful job of filling the school with student works. There were displays of projects on nearly every floor and wing of the main buildings I visited. All of the displays had signage to help the viewers understand the guiding ideas behind the artwork.
One way art is woven into the very being of HGB is through the senior murals. Each year the graduating students leave a legacy through a mural featuring all of them somewhere in the school. The murals were clever and often funny plays on words or pop culture moments.
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