Saturday, December 21, 2013

Random Thought After Staring At Spectacular Art Today

Vincent Van Gogh is far and away my favorite artist. I was lucky enough to spend a couple hours in a great exhibit about his work today in Washington DC. And while I was awestruck by Van Gogh’s ability to make meaningful images from such disparate colors - the way I always am when I look at his work - I left the exhibit with another thought.

As most folks know, Van Gogh struggled with some form of mental illness his entire life. Despite his widely acknowledged brilliance today, he sold only ONE painting during his lifetime.

As I rewandered through the exhibit a second time, I wondered how many kids sneak through two years in my class with underappreciated - or even worse unknown - genius. I know that number is lower now than it is in the past, but as I near the end of a two year loop, I hope that number is zero.

Foolish I know, but hey - it doesn’t hurt to dream, right? Because none of us want to miss out on the possible genius of our students.

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