How to Write and Artist Statement

 Writing An Artist's Statement

The first question is, what is an artist's statement? And the second question is, why do you need one? To answer the second question first, it is a requirement for most good artists to have and I require it for your portfolio.  Then you have to tackle the first question--what is it and what should be included in it?

Your artist's statement can be anything you want it to be, but primarily, it should help people, students or employers to understand what you believe to be the most important aspects of your art, the techniques you use to make it, and what you have learned through the art class/ classes. Also, what you like and dislike about your art. The statement should summarize these things in as few words as possible, preferably short ones, and not be a lengthy dissertation on your place in the future history of art. A three  paragraph statement should do it. You won't keep your readers much longer than that.

Do some brainstorming or journaling on these questions, as though you were interviewing yourself:

    •      Why do you like to make art?

    •      What subjects do you prefer? Why?

    •      What processes and techniques do you use? Why?

    •      How is your work different from others?

    •      What do you see in your artwork?

    •      What do other people say they see?

    •      What are your goals and aspirations as an artist?

    •      Who or what inspires you?

Enlist the aid of a trusted friend and do some brainstorming. Don't analyze, just put it down and keep adding to the lists. Once you have a good start, start comparing one thought to another and decide which one grabs you. Throw the other one out. Keep comparing and eliminating until you have three or four main ideas that express the essence of your artistic purpose. Your statement should be short, clear, understandable, not over-stated, and not too mystical or spiritual. Everything in your statement should be relevant to your art.

In short your artist statement should be broken down into three sections:

1.   Why/what got you interested in art/this class?

2.   What have you learned/liked the most in this class/art?

3.   Where do you see your art/yourself with art going in the future?

EXAMPLE STATEMENT

Artist Statement

As far back as I can remember I have been, first and foremost, an artist. In elementary school, I was always the girl who would get asked by other students to do their drawings for them. By high school, I was regarded as the creative type. I began to develop my artistic skill in Advanced Placement Studio Art senior year of high school. It was in that class that I became infatuated with oil painting.

I went to school at Illinois Wesleyan University to progress as a painter. My junior year I traveled to Australia and had the possibility to study painting there. It was at Illinois Wesleyan and in Australia that I explored different painting techniques and styles. By senior year, I was painting with mainly acrylic and some enamel. Heavily influenced by David Hockney’s flat acrylic poolside paintings, and bay-area artist Wayne Thiebaud’s thick brushstrokes and repetitive subject matter, I started to really come into my own as an artist.

In my most recent works, I began to incorporate other interests into my work. I got really into color, and found avant-garde music videos to provide me with many different approaches to color. Also, I found myself drawn visually to 1940’s pinup girl posters, and wanted to take a modern slant with my newest paintings. A favorite part of my most recent work would have to be the incorporation of hand painted borders. I thank my painting instructor Miles Bair from Illinois Wesleyan University for that. He had a couple exhibits up in Illinois while I was at school, and I was grateful to be able to see such eloquent work. Not to mention, his hand painted borders.

By looking rapidly through my life as an artist you can see how many influences have crossed my path. I thrive on looking at other peoples work. I feel that if not given the opportunity to experience everything I have, my work would be very different today.

WELCOME

On this site you find everything you need for 

Pickerington Central Art

There are Hand Outs, Calendars, Project Examples, again all things needed for our art classes.

Foundations in 2-D (2D)

Foundations in 3-D (3D)

Foundations in Computer Graphics (CG)

Intermediate 2-D (INT2D)

Intermediate 3-D (INT3D)

AP/Advanced Studio Art (ADV/AP Art)

• Site is updated weekly and all assignments should be current.
• Click on the classes you need information for.  
• The links will direct you to the site that has the information for that class.
• All class information should be in order that it was assigned (IE: First project top of page, Last project at the bottom)

Huffman and Young can be reached at 

craig_huffman@plsd.us and matt_young@plsd.us

Scholastic Art Winners

Standing in the gallery where his artwork is being showcased, 18-year-old Joshua Tufts discussed da Vinci, Michelangelo and other old masters with the confidence of an expert. 'If you don’t understand classical mediums, you won’t understand the majority of art,' said Tufts, a senior at Tolles Career & Technical Center in Plain City.
His contention doesn’t necessarily mean that he’s headed for a career involving oil paints and canvas, though. 
Instead, like other serious high-school art students today, Tufts envisions a more-modern outlet for his creative passion.
“My interest in art grew when I started playing the video-game series Legend of Zelda,” he said. “I wanted to be on the same team that did all the graphics and music — the entire art direction. So that’s my ultimate goal.”
Tufts is in good company: His works and those of 135 other students from 10 Ohio     counties were selected for the 25th Central Ohio Regional Scholastic Art Awards exhibit, on display through Feb. 4 at the Columbus College of Art & Design.
Students interviewed by The Dispatch said they are considering careers in computer-aided design fields.
“I have more former students in design than any other field,” said Hilliard Davidson art teacher Dan Gerdeman, who has taught for 19 years. “We probably have 15 or 20 graphic designers who went through here. We have two or three (graduates) who are in Los Angeles working in the computer field, helping produce videos and other film-type work.”
CCAD officials say that 25 percent of their students are traditional fine-arts students; the other 75 percent study in fields such as animation and graphic, fashion, industrial or interior design.
Yet the show at CCAD — of works by middle- and high-school students — consists almost entirely of traditional mediums: painting, drawing, sculpture and photography.
When Pickerington Central art teacher Matt Young talks to parents about their children’s interest in an art career, he said, “sometimes, they freak out.”
“They have this image of their kid going to France and wearing a beret or something.”
Young responds by suggesting that parents consider their cellphones.
“Most of them have smart-phones, and I tell them, ‘Look at your apps, your screen   savers, your graphics — all of that is done by art students.’ ”
The motivation for the modernization is simple: Jobs are available.
In the most recent Bureau of Labor Statistics jobs outlook, released in 2009, employment in several art-related fields were projected to rise significantly by 2018: graphics design (up 13 percent), multimedia design/ animation (14 percent) and Web design (30 percent).
The bureau says video gaming is a $10 billion industry employing 32,000 people.
The shift has helped keep students interested in arts careers, even as Ohio schools battle funding cuts.
In the past three years, area districts such as Pickerington, Westerville and Reynoldsburg have cut or threatened to cut arts programs at the elementary- and middle-school levels.
Kevin Conlon, vice president for academic affairs at CCAD, has worked at three arts colleges and has judged numerous high-school competitions.
“The amount of exposure that students have in classrooms to fundamentals is what’s evident now,” Conlon said. “It used to be that students could demonstrate a certain level of competency. And now it’s clear that some schools are not providing students enough time on task for them to develop a consistent portfolio for their applications to colleges.”
Conlon said CCAD has recognized the need, and instructors now spend more time bolstering students’ fundamentals.
In response to the cuts in school programs, cultural organizations including the Columbus Museum of Art have also   tried to help fill the void.
“No question, schools have been impacted,” said Cindy Foley, the museum director of education. “ We also see right now that our relationships with the schools have strengthened and become deeper. We’ve had some really good success lately with our high-school programs.”
Bishop Hartley senior Ogechukwu Mora, 17, said she first thought seriously about art as a career in the seventh grade after being involved in CCAD’s Saturday-morning program for children.
“I love art because everyone has stories and things they want to tell, and emotions,” she said. “ Art is a great medium by which I can express myself — my dreams and desires and beliefs.”
Mora had three pieces selected for the regional exhibit and was one of five students who received best-of-show recognition. Her work qualifies to be judged in a national competition in March in New York.
Winners there are eligible for scholarships to more than 50 participating art colleges nationwide.
Students such as Tufts and Mora underscore why, despite the program cuts, teachers and arts officials say they are encouraged by what they are seeing from high-school art students.
“It seems that the quality is still there,” Conlon said. “There is a certain enthusiasm manifested in the better students — that no matter how little time they’ve had in the classroom, they still figure out how to be creative.
“You can’t hide it.”  Columbus Dispatch Atricle