Art Food

My class Friday was the last class of the last day before the holiday break, and I didn't want it to be a wasted session. I knew for some kids it would be impossible to focus, but I also knew there would be kids ready to draw and I wanted to be there for them. I brought my Dover book of Reginald Marsh's art, and I went around the room having one-to-one meetings with the students, showing them his work. I am so glad I did because even a few kids who were chatting and not working stopped to let me show them every picture! I had a hunch that my enthusiasm might rub off on them. The fact that Reginald Marsh was an urban artist who drew people on subways, beaches, and in bread lines during the Depression was also a plus. I showed them that Marsh was an amazing photographer, too, and his photos that he took for reference are now in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art. We laughed about the 1930's bathing suits in the beach photos. I told them, "You never know where your inspiration might come from. Look at this guy, he carried a sketchbook everywhere, and here he is drawing bums passed out on the street." The students were fascinated and I was pleased to have reached the sometimes-hard-to-reach kids. Maybe I should introduce a favorite artist each Friday.

One girl told me she was too exhausted to work, but I asked her to let me show her this cool artist who I thought she'd appreciate. When I showed her Marsh's engraving of a dance marathon, she told me she had been in a dance marathon once, dancing for eighteen hours with her mother to raise money for a homeless shelter when they lived in Maine. I told her I'd never met anyone who had danced in a marathon, but that I had always wanted to do it. She said she hated it, it was torture!

Another girl who knew about New York City recognized Times Square and the subways in Marsh's drawings. She told me her mother and sister had both worked at a hotel in the city. Her 27-year-old sister had the job of walking the famous rich hotel owner's poodle. The poodle wore a diamond-studded collar, and when the sister took the dog out she had to be accompanied by two bodyguards. Her sister hated the job and quit after three weeks. I told her I didn't blame her sister for quitting and that sometimes dignity and fulfillment are more important than the paycheck.