Yesterday was a good day as I joined two art classes in my role at a primary school
One of those was the "special education" class, which brings together neurodivergent students.
It was a question that I thought about briefly, before remembering to say "yes."
Maybe it was because my role at the time was "paraprofessional," which is vague and I mostly follow the teacher's directions in art classes.
At other times I've described myself as an evangelist for creativity, as I think more people need to recognise the diverse benefits from having a creative practise or three.
This morning I was pondering my reluctance to accept the title of "artist" yesterday, reminding myself that I've had exhibitions and won prizes.
It really is important to raise the profile of the arts and validate the activity for others, I think.
As the art lesson progressed this student shared that her mother was an artist who sometimes made collages and other assembled artworks.
Then, nearer the end of the lesson, she said quietly "I'm a bit of an artist" and it was the conversion that I realised one should be working toward.
