Artists have always been leaders and forerunners of new movements. In the 20th century, the Fauves led a shift in how we see the world. For the first time, color did not serve as a mirror of objectivity, but expressed departure from norms, causing the viewer to see things differently.
Similarly, Cubism, the avant-garde art style that led to an artistic revolution in the early 20th century, does not present an object from just one perspective but sees it from all angles simultaneously. At the time, the artistic approach was revolutionary, and the world hasn’t been the same since.
There are countless ways artists have led the way fearlessly to change. This can happen in our classrooms, districts, state, and on a national level. Leadership takes on many forms. As our artist predecessors, we are trying to create a movement - new creative approaches to common things and things that don’t yet exist. One of the most important ways to lead as artists and educators is through advocacy.
WHAT CAN WE DO?
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| "Woman With A Hat" Henri Matisse, Leader in the Fauve Movement |
the arts and from other disciplines,
to see arts education differently.
• We can lead students to be agents of
change through their work as artists.
• We can model this through our own
risk-taking and assumption of leadership
roles.
HOW CAN YOU DO IT?
• Lead a school-wide initiative
around the arts, maybe it’s a
school-wide effort and you’re at the
helm.
• Assume a leadership role
in your arts professional organization or
lend a leadership voice at your local
arts council meeting.
•Lead students into community
engagement that changes
how we see issues and society
through social artistry.
• Start a chapter of
the version of A National Arts Honor Society at
your school, and begin cultivating
the next generation of leaders.
Leaders bring people together around new ideas and start conversations. Leadership starts with stepping into an arena that puts us a little out of our comfort zone. It doesn’t have to be
big. It’s a metaphorical shift through small, incremental experimental steps like painting portraits with arbitrary colors. Leadership is listening, identifying patterns, and finding ways to
meet needs and improve systems, organizations, and human experiences. Research shows that students engaged in art tend to be more civic minded. As artists, we can observe the human condition and think critically about how to present it and offer new ways of seeing everyday things.
We need the mindset of leadership in our work as educators, not as a way of
taking on one more thing that makes us feel overwhelmed, but as a means
of more effectively unifying forces that collectively distribute the workload and, ultimately, make things easier. We need leadership to offer us a new way of seeing things to push us to the next level, even after achieving success. If we stay comfortable and status quo,we won’t find that next avantgarde movement that pushes us to stay up with the shifts in the global creative workforce.It takes creativity and tenacity to be a leader. That’s who we are as artists. And, that’s what we bring to our role as arts educators. What’s your next step in leadership? Who and how will you engage in paving the way to the next revolutionary innovation? As anew year begins, I encourage you to reflect on what your next steps are to grow as a leader in arts education.
