Research and Creative Profile
In my life, art and education have been inextricably linked interests. I naturally entered the extraordinary field of art education, where my philosophical, professional and creative endeavors merge. Since 2009, I've taught elementary art, most recently in the Mohawk Trail Regional School District in Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts. During the summers I have directed arts programs for children and worked in collaboration with Double Edge Theatre as a painter, immersed in research-based collaborative set design. This time has been filled with many rewards and challenges that have helped shape my vision for continued research.
Through my scholarly, professional, and artistic work I explore themes such as art of place and time, collaborative and interdisciplinary art-making, and social justice. As an educator, I am essentially concerned with how to create and implement an art program that responds to local and global issues and interrogates individual and social responsibility. To this end, the primary questions I am posing are: What practices best harness the cathartic, transformative power of creativity while fostering critical engagement? What methods result in the most meaningful, relevant, and innovative student work? And, what institutional changes are necessary or possible in order to restructure art education to fulfill this potential?
I am looking forward to working toward the answers!
Identity Portrait, Rachel Silverman, 2015
Critical Voice Action Plan:
Re-Imagining Art Education with New
Lines of Inquiry
This document is a research-backed proposal articulating strategies and objectives for a critically engaged art education program. This requires shifting the focus away from purely aesthetic or historical concerns and integrating contemporary issues in both art, society, culture, and the environment. In order to re-imagine art education we must introduce new lines of inquiry that frame studio practices within critical discourses.
Independent Research References
My research and painting explores themes of identity and art of place. According to Stuhr (1992) and other authors, it is critical to begin inter/multicultural education by knowing one's self and place first. By interrogating one's own history, values, culture, and beliefs one gains insight into the complexities of identity. This is the natural antecedent for expanding inquiry into the unknown and is preparation for a social justice approach to learning about other identities/cultures. Additionally, a strong sense of identity and of place can contribute to finding one's unique creative voice and artistic perspective.
Final Research Paper:
Layering Identity and Place: Imagining/Imaging the Self
River (Valley) 24"x32" multi-media