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Helping Kids
Express Themselves Through Folk
Art |
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Wednesday, 04
February 2009
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The rich tradition of American
folk art has traveled many roads
over the years, from its
beginnings in the seventeenth
century to the wide variety of
creative works that are being
produced today in many formats
and media by America's self
taught artists. Over the years,
American folk art has advanced
from those early primitive works
to the honored status it enjoys
today in prestigious museums and
galleries throughout the
country.
In 1990, fewer than 10 museums
included contemporary folk art
in their collections; today;
more than 50 museums vie for the
best folk and "outsider" art
America offers. New York's
Museum of American Folk Art
moved into a permanent new home
in January 2002 amid much
publicity, and Baltimore's crown
jewel is its American Visionary
Art Museum. The annual Outsider
Art Fair in New York has marked
its tenth anniversary, and
Atlanta's Folk Fest routinely
attracts 10,000 collectors,
dealers, and artists every
August. Clearly, this art has an
audience. Along with this new
visibility, folk art is being
introduced into curriculum in
colleges, schools and other
learning environments, such as
in library, museum and summer
camp enrichment programs.
Miz Thang's enthusiasm for this
art form and its positive
influences on children has
motivated her to become a
visiting artist for the Critter
Folk Exhibit at the Georgia
Southern University in
Statesboro, GA., the Alabama
Blues Projects in Tuscaloosa,
Alabama, and at schools in Pawleys Island, SC.
and Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Folk
art is not taught. Miz Thang
gives students the tools they
need so that they can express
themselves. She doesn't teach
them how to be artists, but she
encourages the artist that is
already within them to emerge.
The bright colors and
imaginative shapes of Miz
Thang's art hold special
attraction to the creative and
inquisitive minds of children
and teens. They are enthusiastic
participants in the classes,
partially because unlike being
in a museum where they are
forbidden to touch anything; in
these classes, kids not only
touch art, they create it!
Folk art is not possible without
imagination. Every child who
experiences Miz Thang's magic
has not only been exposed to an
American art tradition, but has
been given an opportunity to use
their own imagination to express
individual creativity. Miz Thang
leads classes where the
participants make bird houses
using wood cutouts and aluminum
cans. Musical instruments are
made out of cigar boxes or
gourds, and ordinary materials
are transformed into a work of
art. Besides being creative,
her students learn to recycle
ordinary household discarded
items into fun art.
The 2008 Alabama Blues Camp in
Tuscaloosa provided Miz Thang
with a wonderful opportunity to
help kids and teens discover how
art and music blend together.
Check out the scenes from the
2008 Alabama Blues Camp shown
below and read the article
"Saving Kids through Music and
Art* to learn more about
this great event. Better yet,
get the whole story of the 2008
Alabama Blues Project at the
Alabama Blues Project website.
Group Art Experiences for
Children
Miz Thang conducts innovative
group art experiences for
children and teenagers. She is
available to lead various group
art projects. Her favorite
classes are those that involve
"recyclable art."
Miz Thang is a certified special
education teacher at a high
school in Georgia and enjoys
working with children and teens
of all ages.
Miz
Thang is available to lead group
art classes and projects for
children and
teen-agers.
Email
her to set up an art program for
your group.
 
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