Teaching art to high school students may be more than you think. If you add into the lesson plans some physics, chemistry, discovering new talents, patience, and triggered memories, well, you have just entered Lee Rosenberg’s art class.
Long ago and far away I had heard that good teaching is something like 90% entertainment. I believe that. Lee’s teaching has an adventurous quality to it; he is open minded, open hearted, respectful of his students and clearly joyful at their success. Never drawn a picture before? Lee’s amiability and appreciation of his students make it comfortable for students to jump into a new arena. Yes, some discover talents they never knew they had.
Although art classes are not only alive and well as part of a high school curriculum, it is a graduation requirement. Good news! But keeping classes optimally supplied requires some extra participation. From us. Do you remember the joy you felt at the very sight of a new box of crayons, pastels, colored pencils or water colors. Remember the magic of what you could do with a piece of charcoal. Well, call me sentimental, but I remember all of that. Easy enough to provide those new paints and pencils if you care to help.
Listen to Lee talk about his road to the art class, what goes on in his class and what happens to his students as they enter the room. He is, of course, aware of all the tangential lessons that come with an art class. Oh, I forgot to mention that we are right in his class with him, his students and a wall full of color and sophistication. What about those old lame rules of the 40s and 50s that dictated what colors went with what other colors? Laughable today. No one in Lee’s class is bound by outdated rules.
Love Letters? I was surprised at the depth and artistry of what Lee and his class has done. I was thinking simple love letters to friends. He has done so much more than that! Lee has his hands and heart so wrapped around the whole topic in, yes, astounding way.
Come take a look as we join Lee in his class. Not just for what he offers in conversation, ideas and realizations, but to be surrounded by color and form. Pure joy!