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Caroline Carson teaches visual art at a small, historic, neighborhood school in Columbia, South Carolina, where she has worked as a general education and art teacher since 1996 . She believes that becoming an art teacher is a process. It doesn’t happen when you graduate from college, pass the Praxis, or become a certified teacher. Becoming an art teacher happens over time and it lives deep within your identity.
Ms. Carson recalls beginning her process when she was three years old. Her older sister, Jenny, criticized her artwork, a beautiful drawing of her family. Caroline was so proud of it. Jenny was less than enthusiastic. Ms. Carson remembers her sister’s dramatic critique, “Your head is a big circle, your ears look like the letter C, and your fingers are super long and stick out like we are all doing some kind of scary looking jazz hands. Everyone’s hair looks like straw, and you didn’t give anyone a neck. All of those big round heads will just roll off those bodies.” Caroline was overwhelmed with the brutally honest criticism, but Jenny didn’t stop. “The grossest part of your art, the most disgusting part is the belly buttons. Everyone has a bellybutton the size of a basketball!” Jenny’s finger pointed at one of the oversized bellybuttons. “Look!” With her other hand, Jenny pulled up her shirt and pointed at her navel. “It’s the size of a dime! And, just so you know, we all must be naked. If we were wearing clothes,” Jenny flipped her shirt back down, “you wouldn’t be able to see the navels.” Jenny, spun around, and was off before the first tear fell. Caroline was crushed. She stopped making art of any kind. A few days later, her mother noticed this change and found her box of crayons and sketchbook hidden under her bed with the dust bunnies. When confronted, Caroline broke into tears and described her sister’s criticism. Caroline’s mom pulled out a book on Pablo Picasso and the two of them studied his work. Next they studied some of Jenny’s old artwork from when she was three. Jenny’s artwork looked just like Caroline’s - minus the bellybuttons. She didn’t know it at the time, but this was lesson on growth mindset. It was a lesson, taught by a loving mother that seamlessly merged creativity and criticism through deep and thoughtful reflection and analysis. Creativity, criticism, reflection, and analysis are important parts of Rosewood’s art program.
There is a famous quote by Pablo Picasso that shows up in art rooms around the world, “Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he [or she] grows up.” Ms. Carson’s mother ensured that she remained an artist. In turn, Ms. Carson believes that helping all children remain artists is her challenge as well. She does this by developing and implementing rigorous, integrated curriculum engages, educates, and empowers her students in and through the arts.