clumsygirl: art + craft + tomfoolery

Went to the Oregon Art Educators Association conference yesterday. Got lots of free stuff and took 3 workshops, that were fun and interesting. What was really cool was listening to Elliot Eisner as the keynote speaker. He's really amazing. One of the things that he said that really resonated with me was regarding the big push for standardized testing. He said, "Not everything that can be measured is meaningful, and not everything that's meaningful can be measured." Brilliant, kind, funny man. He talked about how our society says that the smartest people become physicists, doctors, scientists, theorists, etc. Yet he has a Japanese basket that was hand woven, which most physicists he knows could never accomplish. When asked by a guest what the basket was used for (which got some laughs out of the audience), he had told her, "The same thing a symphony is used for." I really love that he emphasizes the intellectual and aesthetic nature of art, as opposed to the popular opinion that art is all mushy feelings and hand/eye coordination.

Today we go to the first half of the Portland Open Studio tours. yay! art!