Lauren Jacobs

Teaching Philosophy

Since the 1950s, art has continually become more interactive with the viewer. Art lessons should be at least as interactive. Forcing a budding artist to make work they don’t care about is a way of ensuring they won't learn from it. Artists learn through their passion. I don’t think art should be easy, but neither should it be boring. I’m a believer in nuts and bolts foundations, and some academy practices, but I also believe in sensuous and intuitive exploration, experimentation with media and materials, and focusing on concept and context. Art is a discipline, and only achieved through hard work. I think artists grow most effectively through being prolific in the studio, getting regular critiques, and being thoughtful critics in an art community.

It is important to learn how to structure studio time: preparing with research, plans, sketches, and samples, and not considering the work done until it’s been written about and documented. Artists need to find a balance in their body of work between complete experimentation and refining a personal visual language. They should also practice studio exercises to continually sharpen sensory perception and become more aware of the separation between actual and assumed perception.

I want to create an environment of dialogue. Learning how to discuss and write about art, becoming literate in art theory and aesthetics is essential. I want students to see art as a series of questions rather than statements they can memorize.

We have done our students the disservice of teaching them that art and academics are instrumental, measurable, and commodifiable. As a result we leave them completely ill equipped to think critically about subjective topics, not only art, but also politics, ethics, and any other subject that requires judgment that cannot be reduced to strictly objective measurements. Art is about asking questions and initializing a dialogue both with yourself during the making and your viewers during the showing. Because of this, I believe art has the ability to bridge the gap between what students have categorized as “school learning” and “life learning”.