Hi, all.
As you know, I am passionate about getting kids excited about art history. Oh wait, I am not supposed to say art history! My kids tell me that term is "very boring." 😂 I might disagree with them on that, though, their point is well-taken. What is art history? When I was a professor of art history, most of my colleagues outside of art history (even historians!) had no sense of what I did or what my field does. So how can I expect children (or really anyone for that matter) to understand?
Long have I tried to find ways to get my kids interested and excited about art and its histories. I've had opportunities to experiment with many ideas and activities; some have been successful, others were duds. One of the most exciting experiments has been to create a new series of videos that are conversations with kids about works of art. I asked my oldest daughter what artwork she wanted to talk about or learn more about, and she chose Hokusai's Great Wave. I have a sneaking suspicion she partly chose it because I was writing about the adventures of Mira and CeCe, my sister sleuths in my first middle-grade fiction novel who are investigating strange circumstances surrounding a Hokusai exhibition at their local museum. My daughter was very curious to see the print hanging above my desk each day (a reproduction of course—though, if anyone would like to donate an original, I won't say no).
So we found a time when the house would be quiet, I set up a mic, and we looked together at photos. She'd seen the print at an exhibition months beforehand, but we didn't have a chance to see it in person together again. I pressed record, and we talked. She asked questions, and I'd answer. I asked her questions, and she'd respond. At one point, surprisingly, she decided to offer three fun facts about the print. I thought this was a brilliant idea to wrap up our conversation, and I was so inspired that I've carried her "three fun facts" idea into other projects.
Her three fun facts were also a wonderful way for me to see what stuck with her. What did she think was important about our conversation and Hokusai's famous print? I love how I can hear her emotion and concern at different points in the recorded conversation, as well as her excitement! She was so proud.
Fast forward in time: that conversation got edited down to a shorter length (it was about 40 minutes originally) and I made it into a video. It went through many different drafts. The idea for the series was born. More videos were made. And now, this very first video has been published! I'm excited to share it with everyone, and I'm so proud of my daughter, Eleana.
[Side note: I am not an expert on Japanese art, even if I teach some of it in my classes. I made sure to consult with people who have actual expertise on this topic.]
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