F.A.M.E.

I just have to shout out to the world how much I love my life today! What an exceptionally fun, invigorating day I have had. Did I ever think that one day I would actually put my master's degree in Art History to good use? Having very few options or teaching opportunities when I left grad school, I turned my attention to making art, instead of talking about art. But, recently I had the good fortune of getting involved in the elementary school's program of FAME (Fine Art & Music Education.) Once a month we present an artist and a composer to every grade, levels K-6. Previously, people at the school and friends kept saying "you should do the FAME program, we need you!" But, I was a little hesitant to get too involved due to my work schedule, time constraints and the responsibility of having a younger child at home. But, now my youngest is in first grade and I want to actively participate at the school so as not to miss a moment of his elementary school days. I don't want to have regrets later after he is all grown up. This is my last chance. So, this year when the teachers and coordinators started recruiting me I decided to answer their calls and have become a docent for Weibel Elementary's FAME program.

FAME is amazing. It brings out the actor and clown in me. Today I presented Edgar Degas' "The Ballet School" while another parent docent presented Tchaikovsky's ballet "Swan Lake". In all, we presented to two groups of first graders in the morning and two groups of sixth graders in the afternoon, each of us responsible for half hour presentations. Yesterday, when I was helping to set up the library with oversized copies of Degas' paintings and pinning up dance outfits and ballet shoes on the wall, I decided we didn't have enough props. I ran right over to the fabric store and bought four yards of bright pink tulle and lavander ribbon. Last night I stitched up a frothy tutu/apron that I planned to wear over a pair of black pants and shirt, hoping for extra giggles and a little comic relief. The kids were fantastic and the teachers even funnier, especially when I called the male teachers up to demonstrate ballet positions and made them wear the impromptu tutu that I had concocted.

Degas' painting gave me the opportunity to speak of how the artist loved to express form and movement through line, contours and cropping of objects. I was able to tell the kids that it is important to visit art musuems to get ideas and learn how to make art from other artists. I told them how Degas was influenced by Ingres, the draftsman and by Japanese block prints. I told them what made him a part of the impressionist movement and how his love of lines and delineating his forms set him a part from painters like Renoir and Monet. We talked of what is meant by "contemporary" subject matter as opposed to "historical" subject matter and why the impressionists liked to paint ordinary women dancing on stages as opposed to painting pictures that told stories of anciet roman gods. Last but not least, I spoke of Degas' personal struggles. He was a shy, introverted man who never married or had a family and was rather a fearsome figure that other Parisians found daunting. I told the kids of how he lost his vision late in his life, but refused to stop creating art. He turned from painting pictures to the medium of clay. Seeing with his fingers, he sculpted figures of dancing girls which he later had cast into bronze.

When I prepare for my FAME lessons I am always a little trepidatious as to how each session will go. When I am finished, however, I am energized and exhilirated. We had fun! I realize how much I really LIKE talking about art in leiu of doing art. The kids were wonderful, full of questions and intrigued by the artist Edgar Degas and I think that they learned something fresh and new from me today. I can't wait until next month when I have a new artist to tell them about. So, look afterall, in the end, I have my teaching career. Instead of chasing after it, it found me instead!