Keiko Nemeth and Anthony Hughes discuss the fantasy hair painting.

Sixteen fourth graders gaze intently at a painting of an unsmiling man and woman seated in a dimly lit space. The man is closer to the front of the painting and looks much larger than the woman, who is placed behind him. The two people look directly forward, not at each other.

Led by two program facilitators, the class speculates about who these people might be. There is much discussion of the man's Argyle socks, an item of wearing apparel that the children have never seen. When the girls are asked if they'd like their portrait painted next to a much larger male, all want him behind them. One boy is satisfied to have the woman smaller than the man, but another declares that both should be equal in size. Nobody thinks that the two people are married. One student suggests that the man is a train conductor and the woman is his passenger.

Anthony Hughes talks with the class.

The painting of the couple is one of eight artworks that students at Lincolnwood School in Evanston, Ill., see during "Multicultural Perspectives," a two-part classroom presentation that teaches them ways to look at art. During the first hour ("People" theme), they see the couple; a painting of a cheerful woman with a wild hairdo; a pencil drawing of a black boy holding a bale of cotton; and a computer-manipulated photograph of a young woman in a room where the walls are big yellow peppers. One week later, they see four artworks of "Places." Local professional artists made all this work.

Many Ways to See
Fourth and fifth grade classes in six of Evanston's 12 elementary schools will experience "Multicultural Perspectives" during this academic year. Each class group consists of about 30 children from a wide range of socioeconomic backgrounds. A school may get as many as 72 separate presentations, depending on its size and level of participation. Everything is supported by grants and available to schools without charge.

"Multicultural Perspectives" is the newest educational creation of Art Encounter, a nonprofit organization that brings fine art into schools, community centers and retirement homes in the Chicago area. Founded by three Chicago artists in 1978, Art Encounter helps people of all ages and backgrounds understand fine art and the creative process. Joanna Pinsky, co-founder of Art Encounter and its artistic director, estimates that at least 10,000 people benefit each year from its activities.

"We started Art Encounter to reach people who'd never looked at art before," says Pinsky. "We discussed different teaching approaches, visited the Art Institute of Chicago to study the development of modern art and held trial sessions. Out of this, we developed a question-answer discussion approach in which program facilitators show artworks to people and ask for a response."

By interacting with groups instead of lecturing to them, Art Encounter fosters a lively dialogue that helps people understand the art through their own perceptions before it is placed in historical or critical context. "We want everyone to discover art on their own—and to learn that there are many ways to see," says Pinsky.

Out of the Studio, Into the Classroom
Anthony Hughes and Keiko Nemeth, who facilitated "Multicultural Perspectives" at Lincolnwood School, are professional fine artists who have completed an intensive program in Art Encounter's teaching method. Before the class began, they carried in the artworks and turned them to the wall. As the discussion unfolded, they revealed them one at a time with a theatrical flourish, drawing delighted "oohs" and "ahhs" from the fourth graders.

The kids just loved the art. They wiggled in their chairs, raised their hands frantically to get the facilitator's attention and talked excitedly among themselves. One boy forgot classroom decorum, rose from his seat and walked up front to point something out in the drawing. The facilitators kept careful control of this joyfully noisy throng, leading it through the entire lesson plan without wasting a moment.

Hughes and Nemeth encouraged even the shyest children to participate and listened to every opinion without passing judgment. At the end of the class, the kids chose their favorite artwork. It was the woman in the room of peppers. The gloomy couple did not get a single vote.

Hughes then revealed that he had made the drawing of the black boy—and that it showed his own arms.

Anthony Hughes shows the drawing of the black boy with the bale of cotton.

Hughes, who is black, added that the drawing was a personal commentary on child labor. "Kids don't get to go to school in some countries," he explained. "They're forced to work at a very early age and never learn to read." This gave the class a special understanding of Hughes' drawing and showed the children how this artist's origins and personal experiences became part of his creative work.

A Quilt and a Manual
Over the past several years, Art Encounter has presented its 'Roots' program in about 15 Chicago schools. 'Roots' consists of three hours of presentations and two of art making. One of the most imaginative activities—creation of a class quilt—combines important lessons with a great deal of fun.

Here's how it's done: Each child makes a painting, drawing or collage on a single piece of paper. Depending on the individual student, this design might be African textile patterns, a family tree or images clipped from magazines. Next, the children arrange the finished sheets into a group quilt, which reflects each student's personal background and the unique makeup of the class. Children learn a great deal about themselves—and the need to respect individual differences—as they work together to assemble the quilt.

Pinsky explains that Art Encounter did 'Roots' in Evanston until it became a "tough sell" with principals. Evanston schools are under pressure to excel on standardized student achievement tests and they don't spare much classroom time for art. To sustain a presence for Art Encounter, Pinsky devised the two-hour "Multicultural Perspectives" and created a manual that shows teachers how to continue art appreciation programming on their own. "We wrote it with a grade level expert at our elbow," she says.

The Teacher's Manual puts Art Encounter's 25 years of community art teaching experience between two covers. It shows a person with no art background how to look at an artwork, make sense of it, and help elementary schoolchildren do the same using Art Encounter's question-answer method. It reviews works that children see in "Multicultural Perspectives," provides discussion questions and supplementary materials, and tells how to organize related classroom art-making activities

Wild-Haired Woman
For Keiko Nemeth, program facilitator, her work with Art Encounter has given her a way to connect with another artist, as well as with the children. "Painting is very solitary," she says. "Collaborating with another presenter opens me up to working with my fellow artists. We experiment when we facilitate those sessions. Sometimes I lead. Sometimes Anthony does. Collaboration is a skill—you learn it.

"This is an age of film, not of painting," Nemeth continues. "Painting is so much a part of me, has given me so much pleasure, that I want to share this with the children. During our presentations, they allow themselves to enter a space where they've never been before."

Anne Strandberg, who is the art teacher at Lincolnwood School, says that "Multicultural Perspectives" fits perfectly with her curriculum. Art Encounter "got our kids to think on a higher level, to ask why artists make their work a certain way," she adds.

Strandberg says that her students have so much going on in their lives that they "very quickly forget" their classroom experiences. Art Encounter's visit was "an event," according to Strandberg, that left a more lasting impression on at least some students. Two months later, one boy used the wild-haired woman from Art Encounter's painting in a poster. "I was astonished," says Strandberg, "and delighted that he remembered her."

Resources:

• Art Encounter is a nonprofit educational organization for the improved understanding of fine art.
• Visit Connect for Kids Topic Pages on arts.
  

Talk Back

If you've got comments or questions about this story, we'd like to hear them. Send your response to Susan Phillips.

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Victor M. Cassidy writes regularly for ArtNet, Art in America, Black and White, and Sculpture Magazine.