“Abigail critiques my work and if she did not know something she looked it up so we both learn. There was no pressure and I felt really comfortable.”

“I had a really great appointment with Abigail. She was patient to help me with my paper and to help me figure out what I wanted to convey in my writing. I was so glad that by the end of the appointment we were able to work together to improve my paper. She gave me a lot of compliments on what my paper does well which gave me more confidence in my writing capabilities.”

“I liked her jolly personality. She was very easy to talk with and share ideas. I liked how she wrote my thoughts down so I can better reflect it in my essay and not miss and points discussed.”

“My appointment with Abigail was amazing, and there isn’t really any suggestions for improvement I can think of. She frequently asked me about the ideas I was trying to convey, which allowed me to hear it and create a clearer sentence. I liked that she was flexible when I needed more time, and extended the appointment by 30 minutes. I knew what to improve by the time I left.”

“Abigail gave amazing feedback on my art history paper. Her experience in art history combined with her writing skills and kindness made for a very productive appointment.”

“Abigail helped me a lot in figuring out where to start with my assignment.”

“Abigail is the best!!!!! I went in really nervous about the public reading for nonfiction workshop, and left feeling a lot more confident.”

“Abigail was extremely helpful in directing the brainstorming process and pinpointing the next steps to move forward.”

“It was very comfortable, and gave me better ideas on how to improve my writing.”

“The appointment went really well because we addressed my ideas and how to start planning for my essay, as well as what materials to use.”

“I would go back to Abigail again.”

When I first started working at the Turning Sun Clairmont campus as an intern this August 2019, I was surprised by how much freedom and independence was given to every student. Initially compared to my lifelong experience of public school, the lack of clear top down teaching felt slightly chaotic. But this view was almost immediately shifted as I began working with the more experienced educators at Turning Sun. By observing the children, over time you can see their process of learning and how even the smallest experience can be a building point for a larger idea. 

I can give an example of the public school mindset vs a Reggio mindset that I have noticed in my own life. When I was younger I would always take the labels off of jars. This bothered my mom who told me that it would be harder for me to know what I owned. Now, having more experience in a Reggio system, I can see a different way to handle this situation. I would ask the child what they were doing and closely listen to them. I would document their actions and question how they relate to the child’s development. Was taking labels off of jars serving as some type of physical challenge? Or did the jars need to be clear for dramatic play that was being impeded by a brand? Did the clear jars just please the student aesthetically? I would come up with predictions and try to scaffold the activities of the student by giving them the resources to clean the jars better, or something else to build off of this activity. If it is purposeful, it is important. As an adult I take the label off almost of every glass jar I buy and I recycle them into my home, as cups or storage containers. Taking the labels off of jars was an important skill I felt the urge to learn as a child that is now serving me in my everyday life. This is not a skill they teach in school, in fact I am sure if it was a teacher who saw me removing labels, she would have had the same reaction as my mom. That is because the learner is not valued as an individual in our current systems which expect students to all learn the same thing at the same time. That seems so blatantly unrealistic to me after studying Reggio students this year. Every one of them has strengths and weaknesses and I do not believe they should be held to a singular standard when they all have different ways of learning.

In our changing world where anything can be learned from a YouTube video, and it is valued to be a self-starter, but so many of us have no idea what we really want, what type of educational system makes the most sense? I would argue that the traditional systems of education that view the student as an empty vessel to be filled up with basic facts and repetitive skills are becoming more and more outdated. Students are active learners and have always brought something to the table when it comes to learning. This is different today because anyone can learn anything by referencing the internet. I believe it is more important to foster a sense of independence, community, and joy in learning. With those skills the student is equipped to follow their own desires to more powerfully research and discover the things that really interest and inspire them. This is something I have been able to observe at Turning Sun and I know I will take these values with me wherever I decided to teach.

The Issue: Every day while I was sitting at the front desk welcoming visitors, I began to notice a trend. Many people stayed in the gallery for an incredibly short amount of time, such as 10 minutes. This did not make sense to me, because there were four gallery spaces and around that many large artistic installations. When I talked to the leadership of the Atlanta Contemporary about this, they verified that people not spending very much time in the gallery is a problem. When I began to watch tours and listen to people respond to the artwork, I overwhelmingly began to understand that many people, especially adults, think that they “just don’t get” contemporary artwork. They don’t understand that personal interpretation is an essential part of enjoying modern art. People don’t know how to have a positive experience with this type of art, and do not understand how a negative experience with art is just as valuable as a positive one. These thoughts came to a boiling point when I saw a tour given to children from a summer camp. The 6-year-olds had absolutely no issue talking about the art and exploring it. I feel that part of the reason people don’t like contemporary art is that we have been taught it is not for everyone, instead of being learning that there are certain ways everyone can appreciate it.

The Idea: To remedy the fact that adults feel uncomfortable and unable to have interactions with contemporary art, I decided to invent some kind of guide that used questions in an interactive and fun way to help people think more deeply about the art at the Atlanta Contemporary. I wanted to create a box that people could draw random questions out of and settled on the matchbox as both a size and conceptually appropriate format. I wanted this box to be able to be used by a pair, a group, or just an individual. They should stand in front of the work of art, draw out a question, and use it to guide their thoughts to a deeper level about the art.

The Process and Product: Using the Atlanta Contemporary font, colors, and logo, I designed the exterior and the interior of a matchbox in photoshop, then made several prototypes out of different materials. I usually make 2D art, so 3D things are always a challenge, but luckily I had some practice boxmaking during my time in Mexico taking a typography course.

The final prototype here includes the matches and is basically usable! Some difficulty using the material impeded the product from being as clean as I wanted, but I think that this idea could be a huge asset to the experience of those visiting the Atlanta Contemporary. This box helps the viewer understand that what they bring to the table in terms of their identity and prior thought is essential to be a viewer of contemporary art.

Designing this piece independently reminded me that I have a sustained interest in design as well as Art Education, as well as a curiosity about how those things intersect.