A Master of Writing

The Portrait Society of America

Writing articles does not come easy for me. I struggle to get my thoughts organized and then shaped into something resembling a readable form that, hopefully, is both clear and concise. Being an accomplished procrastinator doesn’t help one bit. I can easily waver on facing up to the task at hand or caving to the Siren’s bewitching song of any of my current studio art projects. However, when the subject is an issue that I am passionate about and has concerned me for years, and in listening to the complaints of college art school students I mentor has unfortunately not improved, I find the task at hand flows easily.

I have listened to story after story of university art school instructors pushing the importance of the intellectual content of the student’s work while totally neglecting teaching artistic technique or skill development. Students are taught to think like art critics but are not given the fundamental tools to becoming productive artists! While attending art school 47 years ago, I had this very experience, and unfortunately, I am still hearing these same stories of ideology of theory over skill.

Each year at the annual conference, we host a special event called 6x9 Mystery Art Sale: Limited Size, Unlimited Talent. Leading artists, past award winners and faculty create small works—6 by 9 inches. These works are signed on the back only, mounted on large panels, and on Friday evening in the Grand Ballroom, we unveil them. Attendees vie for the chance to purchase their favorite panel at a fixed price of $250 each. The energy in the room is palpable as the names of the artists that created the works are revealed. All is for a good cause as the proceeds of this event fund our scholarship program, which awards tuition waivers to students to attend the conference.