"An award-winning Texas art teacher…has lost her job." So begins one of the hot stories of the day here in the metroplex. Check out the full article at http://www.nbc5i.com/education/9936513/detail.html?rss=dfw&psp=nationalnews
Here are the basic facts. The principal approved a field trip for the fifth grade. The parents signed permission slips for their kids to go to the art museum. The kids saw a nude sculpture. The teacher lost her job. Is anyone else baffled by this?
I can maybe see where a parent wouldn't want their kids to see a nude sculpture, but I can't imagine a parent approving their kids to go to an art museum and then being surprised that their kids saw a nude sculpture. That's part of art. It's been a part of art as long as art's been around. It's not surprising, shocking, or new. The only shock here is that the parents apparently didn't know there would be nude sculptures.
If you could take kids to any art museum in the world, wouldn't you want to take them to the Louvre? Heaven forbid that they see Venus de Milo, though. Not only is she one of the greatest art finds of all time, not only is she missing arms, but her breasts are exposed. Worse yet, we could take them to Florence and show them Michelangelo's David. Oh no, is that a nude man? It's just ridiculous.
Don't get me wrong. I don't advocate provocative, borderline porn as art. I don't advocate pushing the limits of reason and getting away with it by labeling it art. I am, however, a fan of art itself, and I am a fan of the great masters that have been able to capture the beauty of the human form. There is nothing wrong with the human form. It just is. We don't need to broadcast our privates to the world, but we also don't need to be ashamed of God's work of art.
One of the great revolutions of the Renaissance was the nude form. Not because the artists wanted to see naked people. Not because it was titillating (just look at the art; it's not getting anyone's engine going). Because they wanted to understand the human form. It was the precursor to modern anatomy and physiology classes. The leading edge of modern medicine. It's a part of our general collective knowledge, and it's a good thing.
It really concerns me that an obviously outstanding teacher can be run out of town with a huge blemish on her record for something so silly as a field trip to an art museum and for doing nothing wrong.
3 comments:
That is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard. How could she possibly be fired if all the parents signed the permission slip. Just another reason I am going into Dental Hygiene and not teaching. Teachers have to put up with way to much CRAP like that!
Don't even get me started! Some people are just idiots and they look for any reason to start controversy. This of course is coming from a girl that had to sit through hours and hours of art classes. (Even nude ones). You're right Michael....it is all about the human form. Have you ever tried to draw the human form using a clothed model? It is always done with professionalism and class.
what? teachers put up with crap? never! yeah, and I will probably get fired because one of my babies peed on himself in class after he told me he didn't need to go to the bathroom. (by the way, he's 10)
Post a Comment