Anybody who's been around me or this blog for very long probably knows that I am a huge fan of Hugh MacLeod (gapingvoid.com). I get a cartoon a day in my email very weekday and many of them are archived in a "comics" folder on my computer desktop. My business cards feature MacLeod's art.
My admiration for Hugh MacLeod continues to grow. This week, I was doodling around in Twitter, waiting for the timer to go off so I could move the hose from one part of the dry spot in mom's lawn to another, when I found this article he wrote: In Praise of Small Art. Go ahead and read it. It's a short article.
In some ways, it seems to me that Education (capital E) can be equated to Big Art. What we do in our classrooms when we close our doors is Small Art.
And the more I think about it, many of the classroom practices that are the most powerful are also Small Art: read aloud
, Poetry Friday, 15 Minutes on Friday, reading/writing conferences, minilessons
.
Small Art was at the heart of the poem I shared last Friday for Poetry Friday, and -- how far will this train of thought lead me? -- poetry is definitely a Small Art.
Today, right now, is Small Art. My life, constructed of these small installations, is Big Art, and to make the Big Art as beautiful as possible, each bit of Small Art needs to be well-crafted and intentional. Praise-worthy.
Here's to Small Art!
Go make some.
, Poetry Friday, 15 Minutes on Friday, reading/writing conferences, minilessons
.Small Art was at the heart of the poem I shared last Friday for Poetry Friday, and -- how far will this train of thought lead me? -- poetry is definitely a Small Art.
Today, right now, is Small Art. My life, constructed of these small installations, is Big Art, and to make the Big Art as beautiful as possible, each bit of Small Art needs to be well-crafted and intentional. Praise-worthy.
Here's to Small Art!
Go make some.
Love this, Mary Lee:
ReplyDelete"Today, right now, is Small Art. My life, constructed of these small installations, is Big Art, and to make the Big Art as beautiful as possible, each bit of Small Art needs to be well-crafted and intentional."
Would make a nice poster!
I've been having fun working on small art over the past few weeks. It's been an eye-opening experience and given me lots to think about in terms of my work with students and teachers!
ReplyDeleteLovely and thoughtful! I like this idea of "small" vs. "big" art and will continue to mull it over. Thanks, as always, Mary Lee, for nudging us all.
ReplyDelete