LTAB workshop

Louder than a bomb is a group for teens around the country to explore beat poetry and express themselves through it. I observed their ekphrastic writing workshop that took place at the Art Institute of Chicago. The rules were simple students went in groups to explore the museum on their own and to get inspired. They had choice over what they wanted to look at, and they were open to explore what they felt was most interesting and inspiring to them creatively. During this part of the workshop I explored with a teen from Oklahoma and a teacher from Mississippi. The teen was able to tell us a bit about the program at her school and what it meant to her, in this way none of us were the "teacher" the teen facilitated with the writing and inspiration, the english teacher and I observed and discussed with our group the art that we were looking at. It was an interesting approach to museum education as no one was the "leader" of the group, we were all in it together to become inspired on our own. I observed other discussions with the groups and it seemed to be the same way, everyone was interested in what anyone else had to say, and they were just looking for open discussion to explore their thoughts with others. It was not a teacher tell me kind of educational experience.
The second half of the workshop was a more structured yet not overly structured writing exploration where the teens led the group in the ekphrastic writing prompt. They explained to their peers to write about what inspired you, respond, to a painting, put yourself in the artwork. there was no right or wrong answer here, just freely exploring a new side of being creative through writing. They were given free time to think through their thoughts and write a poem down. When the group was finished the poets went around in a circle and shared what they had written. It was a supportive circle of sharing. Nothing was off limits, they wrote about reactions, social issues, feelings, hatred, love, disgust or whatever they felt. Everyone was supportive after someone shared snapping for them and not commenting or criticizing. it was a forum to share openly. i thought this would be an intimidating process, but there was nothing but support among the poets.
I found their approaches interesting and loved how everyone had power in the group. There was not just one facilitator, but everyone facilitated their own experiences. They all learned in different ways and understood that in this type of creative excercise there is no right or wrong answer you can respond to art however you like. this is something that i am increasingly interested in as i develop my practice as a museum educator. I like the idea of students coming to their own knowledge and creating their own meaning for artwork. It allows them to teach and learn at the same time and understand that they are in control of the situation. The program was very democratic in nature and allowed students to learn in ways that they might not have the opportunity in schools.