Do you know what you want to be when you grow up

Susan Striepe

The characters in this story are based on real life art educators. Apart from highlighting their educational approaches, there is no attempt at a realistic portrayal of who they were. A very elastic artistic license is in operation here.

Victor d’Amico did not know what he wanted to be when he grew up. So, he asked some of his friends, who were hanging out in the Louvre, what they were planning to be when they grew up. Here are some of their responses…

The Egyptian Seated Scribe

Do you know what you want to be when you grow up

?

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Abbot Mena and Jesus3 4Michelangelo’s Standing Male Nude

Victor decided that he wanted to do something different from his friends. He thought being an artist would be fun, but he was not sure what type of artist he wanted to be. So, he made a list of all the different types of artists he knew about and proudly showed the list to his mother.

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Victor’s mother grew alarmed as she read this long list and thought that maybe Victor was neurotic. She started waving her finger at Victor telling him, “Victor, you need to make up your mind.”

Her fingers looked very big and round. They bounced around like breakfast sausages. Victor wondered if he ate too many sausages that maybe he would end up with bouncy round fingers and vowed never to eat any more sausages ever again.

The next day Victor’s mother texted her famous friend who was an art educator—Viktor Lowenfeld. Viktor Lowenfeld understood all about art, education, and psychology. He replied, “Don’t worry Mrs. d’Amico, I know exactly how to help Victor in his self-discovery process.”

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The next day Victor’s mother drove Victor to Dr. Lowenfeld’s school. Victor knocked on the classroom door labeled scribble. A tall kindly gentleman with glasses, curly hair, and a friendly smile greeted him. There were only three other students in the room. In the center of the table was a tin of large black crayons, some pots of poster paints, and some paint brushes. Dr. Lowenfeld asked Victor what he wanted to draw and as he drew, and drew, and drew, he described all the things he was drawing that had been locked up in his head for so long.

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As time progressed and Victor grew older, he advanced in his drawing and painting abilities. First he moved to the classroom called preschematic, then schematic, and after that to another class called dawning realism. Each class introduced new materials. Victor managed to check all the different types of art careers off his list that he had made so many years before. He had explored all the materials that those different artists would have used. Any time Victor drew, painted, or sculpted something that he had done before, Dr. Lowenfeld always encouraged him to be more daring and Victor became more and more confident.

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Eventually, Victor grew so confident that when he was moved up to the final class called descision/crisis, he suggested that the whole class go on a field trip for inspiration. Dr. Lowenfeld was delighted. The whole class took their sketchbooks and went to Coney Island to sketch.

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After many inspirational field trips in the decision/crisis class, Victor finally knew what he wanted to be. He wanted to be an art educator too!