Reformulating Crafts in Art Education Curriculum

As a university supervisor for intern students, I have the unique pleasure of witnessing interesting projects created and taught by clinical teachers. One such lesson was “Let Your Inner Monster Out,” taught by art teacher Charlotte Kassnove to 5th graders at the Eastern Elementary School in Greenville, North Carolina. In this project, the students (1) learned basic stitching techniques; (2) looked at and discussed the “art dolls” made by artist Catherine Zacchino (a.k.a. “Junker Jane”; see Figure 1) to learn how an everyday object like a sewn “doll” can be a fantastic artwork; (3) explored facial features related to various emotions, which is a basic vocabulary for visual communication; and (4) planned and constructed their own monster dolls, cutting and stitching fabrics, stuffing forms with artificial cotton, and decorating them with different materials, a process that encouraged the students to think logically and procedurally. This project had everything I like to see in art classes: the serious acquisition of a skill, emphasis on multistep procedures, and the incorporation of children’s own personal choices with inspiration from an adult artist. Moreover, it is a project that centers on crafts.