Witnessing the Effect of Art and Belongingness on Growth
For the first two weeks of July, our youngest child had the incredible opportunity to attend the School of the Art Institute of Chicago on a scholarship. The program focused on visual storytelling through alternative comics and graphic novels. The caliber of work that these high schoolers produced blew minds! Their bold character design, edgy and compelling storytelling, and their depth of understanding of various media, such as pen-and-ink, watercolor, markers, and mixed elements, made me feel like I had stepped into a professional art gallery.
Equally heartwarming, our child quickly bonded with a group of students at the school. Despite often struggling with social anxiety and selective mutism, our beloved artist found their voice and expressed both professional and friendly admiration for their classmates. I found the level of support and attachment that developed among the group over these two weeks (which culminated in a touching group hug at before parting ways) truly inspiring. This experience showed how the act of creating art and sharing stories can foster a sense of kinship, collaboration, and camaraderie in a profound way.
From an art jam session where the students drew new characters over shapes and forms from other students to collective storyboards, the program engaged the students as a workgroup. Furthermore, they held critique sessions, which have remained the SAIC’s method of grading and feedback academically since its inception. The critiques do not aim to diminish or correct issues with artwork. They intend to push students to think about their work in new ways and push themselves to further their skills and abilities beyond their level of comfort.
Each student developed multi-panel stories in the style of comics or graphic novels. These mark individual achievement and allow each student to express their own individual style, perspective, personality, and skill. The instructor helped the class to collaborate to combine all of the completed, critiqued, and finessed stories into a final printed booklet, which provided a real-world application of the knowledge, skills, and abilities they acquired during this course.
Our child’s piece held some deep meaning for me. First, I earned an art degree from COVA (College of Visual Arts – now DOVA, Department of Visual Arts) from UChicago alongside my sister-in-law, who teaches art at the high school level. Our “little one” – though looking more like Momma’s “Mini Me” – feels like a “chip off the old block” with much more deftness and artistry than I ever mustered. Also, our kid performs percussion in several ensembles in high school. As a percussionist myself, I beam when I see those sticks in hand beating on a marching snare drum or playing the vibes.
The final layout told the story of a drummer who broke a drum head and some headphones and needed to visit a music store to have both replaced. This very familiar scenario spoke to me as an audience member, and I appreciated both the reality-based aspects and the humor our artist employed in the storytelling. The clever use of multi-media effects from Post-It notes and sparse neon-colored markers punctuated the tale in ways that made the comic relatable and engaging.
In two weeks, this course challenged students through goal-oriented learning. I simply adore that! By setting SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-constrained) goals, each learner persevered through multiple drafts, sweltering heat (the workroom was incredibly warm), confounding critiques that challenged them, and their own introversion (in many cases) to make their creations. The experience and outcomes align well with expected results according to goal-setting theory (Latham). This group of young students demonstrated a level of resilience and grit found among elite and well-trained workgroups.
Likely in my next blog, I’ll explore community and its effect on organizational behavior and individual achievement. In the meantime, I would like to share that recently I have read Community by Peter Block, The Greatest Personal Brand Story Ever Told by my mentor and friend Lisa Apolinski, and I’m reading Big Potential by Shawn Achor. I have found a common thread among these and other evidence-based literature: community among people with common goals, similar values, and a sense of belonging can feel less isolated than working purely as individuals, can participate and collaborate within their workplace more freely, and can experience greater personal achievement.
I’m grateful for my child’s experience and immersion into community art-making and for my ability to share in some of that vicariously through observations. I hope the young learners will carry some of the lessons forward in their academic and professional careers. I also hope that organizations can learn from the arts to create more collaborative and harmonious workplaces.
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References
Achor, S. (2018). Big Potential: How Transforming the Pursuit of Success Raises Our Achievement, Happiness, and Well-Being. Crown Currency.
Apolinski, A. (2024). The Greatest Personal Brand Story Ever Told: A 2,000-Year-Old Guide To Make Your Brand More Human.
Block, P. (2009). Community: The Structure of Belonging. Berrett-Koehler Publishers
Duckworth, A. (2016). Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance. Scribner.
Latham, G. P. (2012). Work Motivation: History, Theory, Research, and Practice: Vol. Second edition. SAGE Publications, Inc.
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