Starting this week, Art If…! Podcast will switch to a bi-weekly production schedule. We will post full length episodes with gallery and interview every other week. We will post minisode episodes where we discuss the provocations in the interim weeks. In other words, we will be posting alternating episodes: Full length episode one week, minisode the next, then repeat, so there is still something coming out for you to enjoy every week!

Episode Summary: This week’s theme is Art and Education. As the new school year starts off, Haddy and Yassi discuss the relationship between art and learning. Haddy invites you into the world of toy design and Yassi explores the history of children’s museums. Then they chat with Michaella Beatty, about the role of art in the learning process and art as self-care. Michealla issues 2 provocations that help you see yourself and the world around you a little more clearly.

Michaella Beatty is a current school counselor with a MS in Counseling and an EdS (educational specialist) degree. She uses art as a self care practice. Michaella taught painting classes for two years, and used artwork from this studio to transform canvas into wearable art. She makes upcycled canvas earrings, bags, bows, and even passport covers. Recently she has taken up urban sketching and watercolor landscapes. She enjoys the act of creating, as well as teaching people how to create for themselves.

Find Michaella Online:

Instagram: @michaellamade

Facebook: www.facebook.com/michaellamadeit.

Etsy: Michaella Made. etsy.com/shop/MichaellaMade.

Provocation (#artifpodcast):

#1: Create a target (one circle inside of another). Using pictures or words or whatever inspires you, fill the inside circle with things you can control, and the outer ring with things you cannot control. Let your creativity help you cope with whatever stresses are weighing on you right now!

#2 Urban Sketching: Grab your pens, pencil, or water colors, (or whatever medium makes the most sense for you!) and go out into the world (if it’s safe to do so!) and sketch the landscape you see before you, whether that’s the city, the park, your back yard. And if you can’t go out, don’t worry! Find a photograph you love and sketch away. Either way, sketch fast! See what you can come up with in 20 minutes. But also, feel free to stretch that time out. Let this urban sketch bring you joy!

Mentioned on the show:

Cas Holman

Rigamajig

Early Children’s Museums

Progressive Education Movement 

Please Touch Museum

Children’s Museum of Art, NYC

Moxi Museum 

International Museum of Children’s Art, Oslo

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

Post Secret

Urban sketching

Wild Orchid