Best & Worst memories of Art... So far.

B1: I was in the 4th or 5th grade when our teacher had given us the project of creating our own board game, we'd get to play each others (anonymously, to make it fair) the day we presented it and gave us the incentive that we'd get a surprise for the 5 people who made the best games. I guess I did enjoy board games as a kid and getting to make my very own was really cool. I had a really cool idea... which I don't quite remember now, but it was good, I remember it had to be something that helped us study for an upcoming test in... I don't remember which subject. But the whole idea was good because it incorporated art with another subject matter. My board game was coming along quite nicely and was looking really good. It involved color coding with question cards and game pieces, it had a fun and twisty game board, all made of cardboard and construction paper and cool colored gel pens. The due date came and we all played our games, even the teacher. It was a fun day and when the class was over the top 5 games were selected and mine was one of them! I was exceptionally happy especially because the surprise was two tickets to a B4-4 concert, that now I look back on it, was a super lame prize. But I definitely thought it was cool at the time. Nonetheless, me and my best friend at the time had a pretty great night watching those fools.

This memory was one of my favorite art experiences because it was a learning tool that we could have fun with. We got to play games all class and learn at the same time. Making the game took time and hard work that paid off and gave me a sense of pride and ownership.

In the 7th grade my humanities teacher gave us a mini art drawing project to do for homework or to start after the assignment we were doing in class. She told us that we didn't have to be the best artist, she was looking for concepts, the work had represent something. I can't remember what the art project was suppose to be about but I remember I had finished my assignment and had started and finished my drawing in class that day. I remember specifically drawing a red bicycle, a rainbow of some sort and stars and pathway or something. It was very girly, but then again i don't remember what the project was supposed to be about. While we were all working some people were looking at what I was drawing and giving compliments here and there or asking to see it. The next day was the due date and before class some of my friends and other students were talking and comparing drawings. No word of a lie that probably about 3 or 4 of the other students had basically copied what I had drawn in class the day before with slight variations of the red bike, rainbows and stars. Even the smart kid of the class. Obviously, I was really annoyed but didn't really say anything as my face said it all. At the end of class I told the teacher what I thought and she told me she'd take that into consideration and would mark those students accordingly. Well it turned out that most of the students that copied me got around the same mark that I did and the smart kid did better than all of us.

Similar class experiences like this have happened to me before, but this one was one that stuck in my mind because it was the first experience i'd had like this. At first, while I was drawing and getting compliments I was happy and proud and gained a sense of encouragement and ownership. But once I'd seen that my work had been copied, my sense of ownership and encouragement were stripped away. After the grades were revealed I felt even worse since I knew that the smart kid had been favored over all of us. And because of that I felt I was treated unfairly and that my work wasn't seen with it's true potential and made me question all my other grades.

Comparing the two situations, I think the anonymity of the board game helped bring forth a true winner, whereas the second situation the teacher clearly was favoring students. Especially since i'd told her my thoughts before she graded us.

Best & Worst memories of Art.. so far.