About 12 years ago (maybe 13?) our department decided to celebrate special art students-- students who might not otherwise be celebrated before graduating. The first couple of years, I did not take photos or if I did, they were in black and white film. We did not do a gathering but rather had the students put on a gallery show. Eventually we got routine going, a special luncheon after finals, certificates, cake and a photo taken and the gallery show kind of went out the window. The first group photo documented in Facebook is 2007 but I'm pretty sure we had at least one group before that, maybe 2. I think about how much documentation has changed with the onset of the digital camera. Now we take photos of everything. We used to not do that.
My students used to be primarily metals students and now they are primarily digital artist and yearbook editors. The criteria for students to be chosen as a significant senior artist is not only a student had made artistic production an integral part of their experience at Madison Memorial, but one who had taken at least 3 art classes and had exemplary attendance. These are student who had been positive influences and inspiration to his/her classmates. Often it's hard to come up with 3 kids for this honor, occasionally an art teacher only picks 2. Only once did Geof ask to have 4.
Comments