Creative Inspiration You Can See

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As a high school music teacher, I have had the privilege to co-teach with visual art teachers for the past 7 years in a course at my school: Art, Music, and Culture. This course is a graduation requirement and lasts for one semester. In this course, we help students connect their creative capacities with projects that involve multiple means of expression. Students make music, create visual work, make films, sculpt, write, and much more! As a musician, I have found that I often draw inspiration from the visual world. I think that music educators could benefit from doing the same. There is so much that visual artists can offer in way of creativity that could enliven our programs and help us rethink creative endeavors in our classroom.

“This is Colossal,” a blog for visual ingenuity, has potential to inspire! One recent post featured an artist who used weapons to create fully functioning instruments. Pedro Reyes comments on his own work: “I believe that the purpose of art is to transform the most negative instincts into creative instincts…” While it may not be appropriate to construct instruments out of weapons in the classroom, this project could inspire other ideas: Could we use our school’s “trash” to make something of use to the music program? Do our students see their physical instrument as a piece of art? Could the art and music program work together to create something with visual and aural appeal? How do our music programs transform negative instincts into positive means of expression?

What about you? Where do you get your inspiration?

To read about Pedro Reyes and explore “This is Colossal,” click here: http://www.thisiscolossal.com/2013/09/disarm-pedro-reyes/

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