Serious Thinking about Art

At the Crystal Bridges Museum of Art

“Art-making requires serious thinking.” —Studio Thinking 2

Way back during my first university experience, I had a professor who was known for his blistering
public critiques of student artwork. I remember a fellow student bursting into tears and running out of the room after the professor told her she would be better off as a business major. Fortunately, his time at the school didn’t last very long. Hopefully art educators these days are much more considerate.

Significant and useful guidance for leading contemporary class critiques is provided in Studio Thinking 2: The Real Benefits of Visual Arts Education. The book’s “Reflect” chapter provides meaningful suggestions for helping students learn how to question, explain, and evaluate their own artwork through self-reflection and discussion, both in class critiques and in one-on-one conversations with their teachers.

In Studio Thinking 2, “reflect” is referred to as aesthetic discourse; most simply, thinking (and talking) about art. Aesthetics is the branch of philosophy that is concerned with concepts of value and beauty as they relate to the arts. Aesthetic questions often arise when students look at and think about art. The challenge is to provide opportunities for students to practice reflection about their own work in a safe, comfortable environment. Discourse should focus on the positive aspects of students’ ideas and artwork, using questioning to encourage them to reflect on their work and push it further.


Teachers can use questioning strategies to help students talk about their work, reflect on its meaning, and explain how they are working through- out the art making process. Reflecting on one’s portfolio and exhibiting work are two ways students learn the value of evaluating. Through this skill, students learn to make interpretive judgments about works of art and to support their claims using evidence.

At some point you have probably heard someone say that there are no right or wrong answers in art,  but I believe that is not true. There may be multiple solutions to a problem, but some answers can better than others if they are supported with reasons for the decision or choice.

What, in practical terms, does Studio Thinking 2 suggest art teachers do to encourage students to reflect upon, question, explain, and evaluate their own artwork and the artwork of others? Try mid-process, more positive class critiques; have students reflect on the development shown through their portfolios; exhibit their artwork with accompanying artist statements; and help them learn to make aesthetic judgments about artworks and defend them. Create a supportive classroom culture in which you encourage students to engage in reflective thinking and continuous self-assessment of both their ideas and the art-making processes they investigate.