Establishing Connection Through Collaborative Studio Making: Working Alongside Students as an Artist

Abstract How does working alongside students during studio time build relationships and foster a community within the studio? For art educators Morgan Clifton and Victoria Goeckel, their job as art educators is to nurture connection and collaboration with and amongst students by working alongside them as artists and mentors, beyond the traditional interpretation of “teaching.” When students step into their classrooms, they are transported to a space that serves as a shared studio for the teacher-artist and the student artists. This practice shapes up differently within their respective high school and elementary spaces. For Morgan, this practice has evolved into a treasured tradition after a student jokingly asked her if they could be her for the day, igniting a revolution in collaborative studio making. For Victoria, this practice is best embodied in the annual school mural that is created with the year’s fifth grade students. Intentional communal art education experiences such as these, when students and teachers share their workspace and artistic practice, encourages conversation and exploration of the artmaking process between peers and teachers alike as artists working collaboratively.