I was listening to a talk about creativity and art.  If you check out the past few posts, there are some about the creativity and art.  I’ve quite enjoyed the challenge of these talks.  It has pushed me to consider what the medium is for my artistic expression.  I write.  I sing.  I play the guitar.  I take pictures, but I am an educator.  I don’t typically think about my teaching as art.  I am not sure my job is seen as having an artistic expression, but I wanted to try and figure out what it would be for me.

As I was listening to this talk, this artist was sharing what her art was like.  She definitely created things, but got to the point where the creating had become something other than art.  When this happened, she had to figure out what the new artistic expression was.  She said that creating the space for people around her to create became her new medium.  Instead of being one of the main creators of the art – she ended  up creating the space for others to create.  The medium for her art changed from creating and producing a show to creating space.

I teach.  I talk to students.  I get to bore students and sometimes challenge their minds.  I don’t think about what I do as art – I guess you can ask my students – but don’t.

The medium for my art is students.  What I create as an artistic expression is sometime anxiety and angst.  Sometimes I give new information.  Other times I just share stories of what I’ve done.  I give information and data.  I end up asking a bunch of questions.  I try to evoke emotion.  I get to do all of these things – at just the right times.

I”ll be the first to tell you that I am not always successful.  I walk away often thinking – that wasn’t very good.  It’s a great feeling though when every now and then they come back and tell you that they have been thinking about things that we had talked about in class.  That gives me great joy.  It is definitely my art.

How about you?  Does this make sense?  What is your art?  What is the medium for you art?  It really helps me to want to do my job better.