2020 –Responding to Art: A Life of Engagement

“I’ve had the joy of sitting in a circle on a carpeted floor with squiggly preschoolers while they delighted in examining their stuffed animals. They were both criticizing and notcriticizing their creatures. They were not judging their creatures, and they certainly were not finding fault in them. But they were engaged in art criticism by looking closely at the animals and telling each other what they saw. They noticed the variety of eyes the animals had and pointed out their different noses and ears. They thought about how a sometimes ferocious animal like a grizzly bear could be made into something cuddly that they wanted to hold and hug. By examining their animals and their feelings about them, they came to know them better and love them more, and I left with a new respect for the thinking of young children.”