Teaching art remotely a creative endeavor

Going digital has been the norm in public education since the COVID-19 pandemic forced classes on-line last spring.

But within the La Conner Schools art department the learning curve has been less steep.

District tech director Ryan Hiller brought a digital art class into the curriculum several years ago and last September veteran art teacher Patty Weber began teaching a technical art class on distance education platforms.

Weber, who majored in Fine and Applied Arts at the University of Oregon, leads a teleconferenced class designed for sixth graders through high school seniors.

Her students have proved fast learners, both in terms of mastering technology and course content.

“I love seeing the incredible artwork that the students produce,” Weber, who grew up in the Tacoma area, told the Weekly News, “and the progress that they make going from simple, basic first attempts to highly developed, thoroughly creative, mini-masterpieces.”

High expectations for her students have created those results.

“My goals for student achievement,” Weber explained, “are for students to become familiar with digital art, digital art apps, and digital art devices that are available to them on-line, to learn how to use them to express their own creativity, and to take a first step toward becoming a professional digital artist in areas such as product design and communication arts for companies such as Netflix, Hulu, SpaceX and Mattel.”

While in-person instruction is much preferred, tech art is a class that has lent itself well to remote learning. At La Conner Middle School and High School, classes are conducted on the Canvas Learning Management System and Zoom Video Communications.

“Tech art classes,” said Weber, “are delivered through Zoom classes three times a week and a video of the instruction, plus requirements for each assignment are available 24/7 on Zoom.”

Weber said the tech art course begins with a class exploring “How to do Digital Art” on-line. Students are tasked with finding a favorite digital artist and/or type of digital art of their choice.

“They are also advised how to download free digital art apps on their computers, phones and tablets or iPads,” she said.

From there, students move on to experiment with brushes in the free digital art app they have selected on their chosen digital art device.

“Assignments thereafter focus on progressively learning the Elements of Visual Art and Principles of Design such as line, shape, repetition and pattern, and on developing drawing skills,” Weber said.

“In Zoom class and through videos on Canvas, I show students step-by-step how to draw such things as Manga characters and cabins in the woods,” she said.

As a product-oriented course, the final exam calls upon students to produce their own artwork.

Student feedback has been positive thus far, said Weber.

“(It) is shown,” Weber, a 13-year member of the La Conner faculty, said, “through their expressing their excitement in discovering how to do some new thing with their digital app, and most of all, through seeing their progression from very basic first attempts at using their digital app to very professionally done digital artwork.”

Weber’s varied career experiences have helped her appreciate and value the creative spirit of her students.

She worked as a vocational rehabilitation specialist, helping injured workers return to their jobs, before going back to school to obtain a teaching certificate. She then completed work at Western Washington University on a master’s degree in education.

La Conner Schools has been an ideal venue for her to bring that background to the classroom – and now, to the distance learning format made necessary by the virus crisis.

“I would like to thank all the people in the La Conner community who support the arts for children,” Weber said. “We have amazing artists in our midst. Some of them already know they have great talent, others of them have not yet discovered it.”

“Each time I go to grade assignments,” she added, “it’s like opening Christmas presents – just seeing the wonderful gifts of artistic skill and creativity that they give to me.”