thoughts on the panel

it's tuesday night and my brain is already fried. hence, the bullet point form of my reactions from tonight's event:

•  major props to everyone else in the class for your past, current, and future work in schools. my brief stint teaching english in the french school system (which is extremely screwed up as well, although for different reasons) helped me realize that the classroom is not where i want to be. that doesn't mean i'm any less interested in the current state of our schools, or that a big part of me doesn't feel that schools are the most important place for art educators to be right now, but i know that i function better in and get more out of working in alternative settings. anyways, i'm really glad i have the chance to get to know you guys and be inspired by your work and ideas through this class!
• speaking of alternative settings, if you hadn't guessed, i am mostly talking about museums. thinking about the sad state of arts in schools makes me wonder, should museums be picking up the slack? do museum educators feel pressure to do this? what kind of museum programming is the most beneficial and most necessary for kids: family programs, teen lab-type programs, school tours, teacher workshops?
• i loved hearing from the girl from cyic about student organizing. what she said about the student bill of rights made me think of voyce, a multi-neighborhood organization of high school students working towards school reform. i did a research project for a class last semester that involved talking to some people from and about voyce, and it was so awesome to see what happens when youth are empowered to identify and work to solve issues that affect them directly.
• the "magical thinking" comment from the woman suggesting how liberals can live with the current state of the school system made me think about several of my friends who are coming to the end of their commitments with teach for america. tfa seriously expects their employees to have superpowers, or at least to be (enthusiastically) inexhaustible. i have witnessed several spectacular breakdowns à la "i just can't do it anymore!" over the past couple of years and thanked the gods i didn't go down that road...

that's all i've got. happy thesis-ing, everyone!

mp3 experiment: chicago

this is the youtube video of the mp3 experiment that happened a couple of years ago in lincoln park during improv everywhere's tour of select us and canadian cities. the weather wasn't great, but i think the addition of umbrellas to the mix creates an even cooler visual effect.