PRESIDENT'S GREETING

Groundhog's Day 2011 dawned with a vengence here in Wisconsin and nobody could talk about this past week or upcoming month without mentioning the epic snowstorm we endured. With all the Packer Super Bowl hype the weather was the only thing that could change the subject and cause us to focus elsewhere. As my husband said when we headed out to dig out "looks like 40 more weeks of winter." With this turn inward it is my hope you carved out some time to catch up on your artmaking or perhaps your online art gazing. I know I spent a fair amount of time on the computer editing photos I'd taken of the historic drifts and other views from around my neighborhood.

I'm not sure these images would amount to art, but a few were memorable and got some folks on Flickr.com to comment on their beauty. I told you when I first took office as MATA president that my goal would be to focus on technology and the integration of technology into art. There are so many amazing finds on the Internet. I thought I'd discuss a few of them in this greeting. Of course if you haven't discovered flickr yet I'd say what are you waiting for!!! Flickr is a free online place to upload your photos and share them with the world or whomever you choose to include in your world. There are groups you can join that are for special interests you might have. While there are other places online for sharing images (Photobucket, Picasa, which allows you to edit images online ), I have found Flickr to be the most artistic. There are many artful souls posting images to flickr. I am in several groups including a macro photography group, a flower group, an alternative photographic processes group, an all black and white only photography group, a moleskine sketchbook group and a chairs of flickr group, which I actually created. That is the cool thing about Flickr, you can create a group or join others. When you post to groups you are sharing your images with people from all of the world. I get comments in Spanish, French, Italian and more when I post to my groups. You can be as involved you want on Flickr. It's a lot of fun. You can make your images public or private or somewhere in between (friends only etc.). There is also a Flickr community blog which often has pertinent topics posted. There is also the Flickr Explore tab which has all kinds of features on it.

Another wonderful site that I have discovered recently (from one of my Twitter friends) is The Google Art Project. You can curate your own art collection from some of the more famous Art Museums in the world including the Uffizi in Florence, Italy, the Tate in London, England and of course MoMA and the Met in New York City. You can take virtual tours of the museums you choose, view art work and learn facts about the works. When you first get to the site you might want to click on the Visitor Guide. It gives an overview of how the site works and what you can all do to customize your visit. I think as a teacher this has great value. Students could set up their own accounts and create their own customized art tours. It could be used in other disciplines as well since some of the features include a map of the Museums and the surrounding city that the museum is in. At one point I actually found myself virtually out on the street in Florence. (not a bad place to end up). I have just started playing around with this site, but know I will come back to it again and again. It is really interactive and a lot of fun.

These are two of the sites that I find useful and enjoyable. There are so many others. One of the places where I learn about sites to check out and follow is through Twitter. I have a number of artist educators whom I follow on Twitter and many of their tweets include links to fanatastic resources and finds on the Internet. There is an edchat that happens every Tuesday evening around 6:00 p.m. It is fun to follow this lively chat that always features interesting conversations. To find the chat you just search for #edchat and you'lll see all of the posts that relate to that chat. UsualIy if you want to respond to the chat you include the #edchat tag to be sure your response is seen by participants. I encourage you to consider creating your own PLN (personal learning network)through Twitter. If you choose to join, my Twitter name is: @bellafiore3. I'd love to follow you.

Enjoy your February. Hopefully we won't be forced to spend the entire month indoors, but if you are, now at least you have some art-full websites to check out and have some fun with. Happy Winter!

Jeanne

 

Archive of President's Greetings for 2010-11

September 2010 Web 2.0 Technology in the Art Classroom

October 2010 Literacy and Visual Literacy

Novemer 2010 Thanksgiving Quiet

December 2010 Winter Solstice and Time for Being An Artist

January 2011 Vacation to California and Revitalizing in the Sun