2014 COASTAL CAROLINA SUMMER ARTS ACADEMY
Week One: Throughout my two week observation during the Summer Arts Academy, I was inspired by the students, teachers, and projects. My first day of observing consisted of Caroline and I introducing ourselves to a group of high school students and middle school students. The students had just begun the reflective process of their theme and how to portray it through the mediums that were used in their classes. Dr. Danker gave us a tour where we saw Logan Woodle's students experimenting with wire and Professor Dominguez and her students sketching outside for inspiration. I wish I could have stayed with that class all day to do their activity. I came in for an hour in the morning several days after the first day to talk with the students about their themes and how they were portraying them through the wire sculptures, mixed media pieces, digital characters, and fiber art pieces. It was amazing to see how much thought each student was putting into their work and trying to make the connections between them. On Friday, I met up with the junior group at the Seacoast Artist Guild Gallery at Market Common. The students were so into looking at the different styles of artwork and talking with each other about what they were seeing. I talked with a few students and they all seemed to be into the wildlife photography and paintings. After lunch, we all met up with the students at Myrtle Beach State Park to begin our co-teaching activity. Caroline and I struggled a little bit with what the students wanted to create within our group. Some students were uncooperative and others had strong ideas that they had to compromise on. I could definitely tell the students were tired from being out all day and the heat wasn't helping, but they did an amazing job. One girl stuck out to me because she reminded me of myself when I was younger. She was so inspired by Andy Goldsworthy and had so many ideas. We would go into the woods to find the sticks she needed for her vision and she would pick up bugs and stick them on her. It was great to see a student get so into their art making. Reflecting on this experience, I would come up with a better game plan or organize strategy before going in with no idea what the students want to do.
Week Two: I finally had a day off and where did I want to spend my morning? The Summer Arts Academy! I went for a couple of hours Sunday morning to see how the students were fitting in to their new classes. I was able to see the junior group start on the mural outside of Edwards with Cat Taylor and I spent some time in the sculpture classroom while the students began to experiment with smaller sticks to create their surf rider sculptures with Mr. Grega. The students seemed to have teamed up to create their wood sculptures and I watched them go through several trial and errors with their ideas. On Monday morning, I observed Mr. Bosse demonstrate the printmaking process to his senior group students which was amazing! The students were so into the process and I could tell how excited they were to start on their own. The mural outside was also making progress whether rain or shine. On Thursday after Dr. Bunch's class I rushed to the gallery to help Kendall and Rachel put together the student show. I was happy to help since I once was a part of the gallery family. I also had forgotten how stressful it can be to put up a show. After spending 4 hours in the gallery, the work was up and it looked amazing. We were all definitely proud of the hard work we had put into hanging the show. On Friday morning, I was so excited to see the junior and senior group in the duct tape fashion show. They all did a great job and had the crowd laughing and very impressed. It was also great to see some teachers that have taught me there to support their students. All the students should be so proud of the work they created during the last two weeks and more importantly Dr. Danker should get a few rounds of applause for the great outcome of this year's Summer Arts Academy!