Help me, see me is the culminating exhibition for Asha's Masters in Arts; Art Education (MAAE) degree. This work chronicles significant milestones in the artist’s adult life (ages 18-34) that led her to become a community art educator. Through exploration of significant life experiences, the artist discovers how support needed during her own developmental milestones resembles the support needed by the artist’s current, transitional youth students in their journey to adulthood.
Utilizing arts-based self-reflection in tandem with a reconstructionist pedagogy, this exhibit asserts that a valuable support system for transitional youth can be found in community art education. Within a reconstructionist community art education approach, students will find opportunities to explore social justice issues; seeing themselves in the world in a broader context (i.e., privilege, race, class, etc.); and learn how personal, individual drives and passions can be channeled beyond the self toward making a better existence for others around them.
Help me, see me is the culminating exhibition for Asha's Masters in Arts; Art Education (MAAE) degree. This work chronicles significant milestones in the artist’s adult life (ages 18-34) that led her to become a community art educator. Through exploration of significant life experiences, the artist discovers how support needed during her own developmental milestones resembles the support needed by the artist’s current, transitional youth students in their journey to adulthood. Utilizing arts-based self-reflection in tandem with a reconstructionist pedagogy, this exhibit asserts that a valuable support system for transitional youth can be found in community art education. Within a reconstructionist community art education approach, students will find opportunities to explore social justice issues; seeing themselves in the world in a broader context (i.e., privilege, race, class, etc.); and learn how personal, individual drives and passions can be channeled beyond the self toward making a better existence for others around them.
Title of Work: Time, Power, and Privilege Medium: Mixed media sculpture Date: March 2023 Description: In the fast-paced world we live in, it is difficult to take time. Time to be still, time to think, and time to create are all privileges that yield power to those who possess it; however, these things should not be privileges but rather basic human rights. When I look at my accomplishments along the road to becoming an art educator, I am reminded of times when I was unable to slow down and how it impacted my practice and my overall well-being. In that same reflection, I am also reminded of the privileges I have been afforded that allow me to make time for my art practice, largely because I do not have to worry about my basic needs or the needs of those who depend on me. When I look at my students and fellow artists, I can see that the same ability to slow down is not a universal one.
Title of Work: Vocal II Medium: Oil on Canvas Date: October, 2021 Description: Vocal II is a reflection of the healthcare system and the need for Black Women to be outspoken about healthcare providers not taking our concerns seriously. Implicit basis and racial disparities in the healthcare system have proven, black people do not receive the same quality healthcare as our white counterparts. Racism in the healthcare system has caused generational trauma for many years trigging mental health. This work is part of a series exploring the artist’s mental health during the pandemic in 2020-2021. See the full body of work by visiting https://ashatheartist.com/moody-monday
Title of Work: STOP! I've Lost Count Medium: Oil on Canvas Date: July, 2020 Description: STOP! I've Lost Count" is dedicated to Elijah McClain and all the other black men and women who have lost their lives at the hands of white supremacists and the police. This work is part of a series exploring the artist’s mental health during the pandemic in 2020-2021. This work discussed the tragic loss of Elijah McClain, at the hands of police in 2019. McClain was placed in a chokehold causing restriction of blood flow to his brain ultimately leading to his death. Police stopped McClain because someone had called 911, describing him as “sketchy” because he was wearing a ski mask and waving his arms. McClain was a massage therapist and an avid musician, who enjoyed playing the guitar, and the violin. McClain was also described as being an animal lover who enjoyed playing the violin for stray cats to soothe them. Friends and Family described him as “exceedingly gentle” and an “oddball” who never looked to fit in McClain was simply himself. Guiding students to create works exploring identity by understanding how the world sees you versus how one sees themselves can help students better understand how identity is co-constructed. Creating and discussing works like these can give permission for students to simply be themselves while acknowledging how their realities fit within the social identity that society has constructed for them. See the full body of work by visiting https://ashatheartist.com/moody-monday
Exhibition guests were invited to write a message to a younger you and gently place your message in one of the supportive hands that extend out to you from the gallery walls. Their generous gift of reflective knowledge will be shared with my current and future students. Your words will serve as the community support that transition-age youth need as they navigate adulthood.
Title of Work: Help me, see me Medium: Sculptural Mixed media Date: November 2022 Description: This piece is inspired by a poem documented in my written thesis project and presented in these works. This work and the poem anchor the personal connection I have with my research. Reflecting on my own experience entering adulthood, and the lack of support I felt in understanding my purpose. This work is a call to art educators to reflect on their experiences as transition-age youth (15-25) as a tool to meet the needs of this demographic. My hope is that through this process of self-reflection in conjunction with a reconstructionist pedagogy, community art educators can help students identify their purpose work, which I define as the use of one’s talents to enhance the well-being of others and that contributes to the well-being of those performing the work.
