On Eating and Art

There is an expression in painting–Start with a broomstick and end with a paintbrush. A 3rd grader had asked me, “What do you do when you get stuck?” Pati Bonfe and I were co-teaching a class of 30 students. I explained to the class that it was the last day my piece, Iris, would be displayed in the classroom. This understanding that the 30x40 oil painting of Iris was being returned to my studio brought on a spontaneous lesson of celebrating the work, celebrating asking questions, and drawing. 

I replied to the student that If I get really stuck, I move on to a different area of the painting. I said it also helps that I start with big brushes (broomsticks) and move on to small brushes (toothpicks)--a complicated metaphor for 3rd grade. Pati Bonfe, a teacher of 32 years, added, "It's sort of like eating, you move all around the plate.”

Pati had hit on a theme for me that I had spent a lot of time thinking about. At the end of last year we set up our classroom like a dining table. Explaining to kids that they needed to politely pass supplies, like at a dining table, made sense. 

Setting up the classroom this year, we threw out ideas for set up, and one that stuck was placing the desks in a U-shape surrounding a table of supplies. I brought in a 14 ft. dining cloth that had been my aunt’s (she moved out of her house and had some beautiful embroidered floral prints). This dining cloth was light blue. The embroidered flowers (also in light blue) had a subtle sheen to them. As a Teaching Assistant at another middle school in Syracuse, I had seen another great teacher cover her desk with a home table cloth. Not only was she an excellent teacher, she could explain the wobble of the earth’s axis away and toward the sun with balloons in a way I had never understood, her classroom felt homey.

Pati and I had shared much of our Italian culture with each other. For me growing up, the dinner table was a place for Sundays. As a child I had to learn to sit at the table for long hours. Even after dinner was over, there was bringing dishes away, cleaning up together, a return to the table while coffee was brewing and an Entenmann's cake to be heated and shared. 

Children are asked to sit for long hours in our public school system. Without the rewards of food, what is the motive to sit for long hours? In art, should children be sitting or standing? An occupational therapist might say a strong posture is important for handwriting. In our classroom we say, “Sit smart, write smart. You don’t have to be robots–we are not robots. But we sit well to write and draw well.” Another OT has told me students should stand to practice cutting skills. Another OT has disagreed with that OT.

Our school system changes year to year. What I grew up with–the belief that there are learning styles (auditory, visual, etc…) has been disapproved. I learned in Adelphi’s Masters of Art Education that there are formats of learning that are best suited for different lessons. 

One thing that will endure is the sharing of a meal and the sharing of different cultures. 

I first drew on a plate after a Thanksgiving meal. I was with my husband’s family. I had forgotten my sketchbook. My husband’s sister was curled up on the couch with a blanket. I had drawn her before, so I knew she wouldn’t mind if I drew her sleeping. I think I gave the plate to her and I have no idea where it is now. But I posted it to instagram. 

Years after that I was running an afterschool program. All of a sudden we needed an activity. I had visited the Cleveland Museum of Art and seen a great show on animal art for kids. I was interested in if immediate drawings (30 seconds) were better in some way then drawings that took longer (5 minutes). In a circle of about 40 children sitting on the floor I handed out paper plates. I told them they would have 30 seconds to draw an animal. The kids waited in suspense. “Lion.” Pencils were flying. When time was up I let them know they would get to keep drawing. I asked them to flip over the plate and draw the lion again, but this time they would have 5 minutes. After 5 minutes I asked the kids to decide which one they liked better. In the circle, most of the kids favored their 30 second art. 

Drawing on plates has been a functional way to make art in the artroom. Not only are some plates made of a cartstock material, similar to expensive paper, but they are cuttable, flippable and therefore 3-D. 

When I mentioned my capstone project to Pati Bonfe, veteran teacher, she mentioned Judy Chicago’s The Dinner Party. I had seen the ceramic work. I was most struck by the triangle shape the tables formed. The Triangle for a dinner table was so unexpected. I didn’t take the time to appreciate the ceramic work, but I believe I would now. I must have been eager to get to the paintings the day I saw it.

Now The Dinner Party reminds me of how to set up a classroom. It reminds me of how to share a meal. How to share ideas with other artists and other teachers. Another interaction with a plate in a school environment happened while I was a TA assisting a health class. I learned that there was a new way of teaching proteins, carbs, and vegetables to kids. The pyramid that I had grown up with was out, and the USDA My Plate Portion Guides was in. Students drew and colored their favorite meal, but they had to abide by the USDA regulations for serving size. This project aligned with Michelle Obama’s advocacy for healthier eating in schools. Not only was I inspired by Michelle Obama's advocacy of healthy eating, but I took it upon myself to help one 7th grader give up her addiction to soda by replacing her reward for soda at the vending machine with seltzer. They called it bubbly water. It fizzed, it popped, it caused laughter. And it was healthier. 

Food is complicated. Art is complicated. Some of the kids I’ve taught live in a food-desert. Some of the kids I’ve taught were affected when snap was cut. School lunches and breakfasts are provided–thank goodness. At least kids aren’t asking for lunch money. Forgetting your lunch (like I did growing up) doesn’t mean your mom is going to have to drop it off at the school. Turkey sandwiches aren’t thick with meat one day, and thin with meat another. But food is served in plastic bags. And it’s natural to have preferences. Buffalo wing dip is a win. Carrots and celery in a bag…not so much. 

I have a crew this year. I have 40 minutes a day to create a community with 10 kids. We sit in a circle and we talk. I want to feed them because that is a community. Eating is a community. And I think we will be using paper plates for eating most of the time. I’ll keep drawing on them for art on my own. I’ll keep ordering them in bulk for their thick cardstock and cuttable qualities. Mostly, I’m happy Walmart sells them in bulk and we are creating together.