Mindfulness

“In the art classroom, expressive arts and mindfulness inspire a consciousness that leads to greater curiosity and exploration, offering a safe place for self-discovery.”

—Jane E. Dalton, author of The Mindful Studio: Cultivating Creativity & Well-Being in the Art Classroom

Left: Nancy with artist and keynote presenter Sarah Nisbett at the 2023 Michigan Art Education Association Conference. Right: A portrait of Nancy created by Emily Banol during Sarahʼs presentation.

A friend of mine once gave me a little copper plate that he engraved with the words “Be Here Now,” a concept that represents being fully engaged in the present moment. As a volunteer at the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum in Santa Fe, I see this level of focus in many visitors who are transfixed by her artwork. I think O’Keeffe would be pleased.

This quote from O’Keeffe exemplifies her approach to art:

When you take a flower in your hand and really look at it, itʼs your world for the moment. I want to give that world to someone else. Most people in the city rush around so, they have no time to look at a flower. I want them to see it whether they want to or not.

One aspect of mindfulness that may feel more familiar to you is flow, the state of mind that happens when you become fully immersed in an activity. You may be involved in something so completely that you are surprised to learn that hours have gone by. As artists and art teachers, that is a familiar state we are happy to attain.

Another approach to mindfulness through art is found in Sarah Nisbett’s Drawn on the Way: A Guide to Capturing the Moment through Live Sketching (Quarry Books, 2021). Sarah is a self-taught artist who began making quick drawings of other people on the subway while commuting. She stated in her introduction, “I only had a little time, a little sketchbook, a bumpy subway ride, and a simple pen to describe what I saw on the way.” During her presentation (see caption above), Sarah gave us just three minutes to mindfully focus and draw someone we didn’t know at our table using only a pen. You can see some of the results in our photograph.

In This Issue
At the elementary level, in “Mindfulness in Motion,” Marci L. Drury describes how a museum visit inspired her to have her students mimic the poses of figurative sculptures.

In “The Garden of Joy,” middle-school teacher Pooja Nair introduces mindfulness by engaging the five senses through nature.

In the high-school lesson “The Gratitude Project,” Tim Needles used the concept of gratitude as the focus of a printmaking project that was shared with the school and community.

Many thanks to Jane Dalton, author of The Mindful Studio: Cultivating Creativity & Well-Being in the Art Classroom (available from Davis Publications) and Kristi Oliver, professional development manager at Davis, for their editorial contributions to the development of this issue.