I’m an art teacher.
but I tell my students
this all the time,
“You don’t have to like art.
I get it. Art’s not everyone’s thing.”
When I say it, I mean it.
It doesn’t bother me when
kids don’t like art.
They all have different experiences
and backgrounds. The kids who don’t like
art probably didn’t have many if any
positive experiences WITH art.
No, it doesn’t bother me if kids
don’t like art.
What bothers me,
is if I don’t try to
get them to like it.
It’s hard work.
Probably the hardest work I do.
I’m not always good at it.
I usually don’t know how.
I don’t always have the energy.
I get frustrated. I lose my patience.
It’s what I’m working on.
These kids are making me better.
Forcing me to search new paths.
They make me roam the edges,
expand possibility.
Oddly, if I engage these kids
who don’t like art,
if I explore new ideas,
show them new ways of making art,
show them new artworks that I discovered
with them in mind,
it gives me an opportunity
to like art even more.
Trevor (@trevorabryan)