Sometimes, a week emerges with a totally unplanned , yet coherent, theme.  For me, the serendipitous recurring theme of this week seems to have been ‘the arts’.

It began last weekend when, at the urging of some Awty parents, I attended this year’s annual “Art a la Car” parade.  Held on Allen Parkway, just west of Downtown, the first art car parade was held in 1988 with 40 highly decorated cars.  This year’s parade, the 25th, featured more than 300 vehicles with spectator numbers in excess of a quarter of a million people.

I was told that attending the parade would give me a great insight into Houston – its people, its quirkiness, its priorities, its loves and , yes, its artistic community.  They were right.  Held under beautiful, sunny, clear blue skies, the parade was an insightful display of original and often brilliantly executed art, a form of homage to that icon of modern America – the car.

Unfortunately, I fear that my photos do not do justice to the atmosphere of the display, with its music, fun, water sprays and joie de vivre.  Nonetheless, let me share a few images of this truly distinctive event.

My second encounter with the arts occurred on Thursday afternoon when I accompanied my ToK (Theory of Knowledge) class to the Menil Gallery in Houston’s Montrose district (http://www.menil.org).  ToK is a course about thinking and knowledge, showing students how the various ways of knowing and types of thinking fit together.  My class and I recently completed a series of lessons on Art and Aesthetics, and Thursday’s visit to the Menil concluded this unit of reflection.

The students were asked to address a range of questions, including (1) give an example of a work of art for which the aesthetic judgement is objective, and say why; (2) give an example of a work of art that contributes to our knowledge of the world; (3) give an example of a work of art that might not have been intended as art, and suggest its original purpose; (4) what is your favorite work of art in the gallery, and why? – and many more.

The Menil Gallery was an excellent choice for our students’ visit.  It contained a diverse range of art forms from a vast range of historical periods, and yet was small enough to be accessible without spending excessive hours and effort.  Moreover, it was free!

I had not expected such a range of high quality of art works, including two Picasso originals, the original of the iconic ‘Ceci n’est pas une pipe’ painting by René Magritte that is probably referred in every ToK class in the world at some point, a gallery of photographs by Danny Lyon, a mini-gallery of works by Richard Serra, a Dan Flavin installation, African art, ancient Greek pottery and Russian icons, a superb collection of surrealist works (by artists such as Giorgio de Chirico, Max Ernst, René Magritte, Man Ray and Yves Tanguy) and a great range of cubist art by painters such as Fernand Léger, Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso.  The building itself added to the quality of the display, using diffused natural light in a range of truly evocative ways. 

Unfortunately, the Menil gallery does not allow interior photography, so it is difficult for me to share many of our experiences visually.  However, I am looking forward to returning one day soon to enjoy the art in a more meditative manner than was possible on Thursday afternoon.

My third encounter with the arts also took place on Thursday this week.  As part of the two day ‘Art and Sustainability Design Challenge’ we conducted, kindly sponsored by Total and ConocoPhillips, students were encouraged to create pieces of art using recycled materials.  (The second part of the Sustainability Challenge took place the following day, when four teams competed in a ‘sustainability campus project contest’, addressing themes such as better insulation, reducing the use of disposable plastic water bottles, improving environmental sustainability of the bathrooms, and introducing solar technology at Awty).

The recycled art was often quirky, always original and universally enjoyable.  The judges faced a hard task in evaluating the works of art, and you will why when you view some of the photos below.

The display of recycled art coincided with the visit of 28 Heads of School from various parts of northern India.  The visitors were in Houston under the auspices of the International Space School Educational Trust (ISSET), a registered British charity that aims to utilize space exploration as a means to inspire and motivate young people to believe that they can become what they want to be.

I welcomed the visitors in the cafeteria with a brief illustrated introduction to Awty, after which they inspected the recycled art works, visited classes, mingled with our teachers and held a riveting Q&A session with some of our senior students.

My final encounter with the arts was a bit different.  On Friday morning, I was invited by the Grade 2 teachers to speak to their students in the International Section about Australia.  The students had recently completed some excellent units of work on Australian Environments for the Science Fair, and having visited their displays and asked them questions, I knew they were already very well informed.  But so was I – having been born in Australia many years ago, “Australia” was a topic that I had been preparing and studying for many years.

I chose to focus my time with the students around 116 photos I had taken in various Australian environments – deserts, wetlands, coasts, forests and cities.  That was my artistic input to the lesson (together with my green tie peppered with little yellow kangaroos that I wore especially for the lesson) – a linking of photography, geography and the environment.

The students were absolutely perfect in every way during the lesson.  They made a very deep impression on me for their attentiveness, politeness, eagerness to ask questions – and their ability to remember the answers!  I was also humbled by their thoroughly genuine appreciation (I don’t usually get hugs at the end of my ToK classes like the 2nd Graders ran up to give me so spontaneously).

The students’ farewell ‘thank you’ rendition of “Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree” brought tears to my eyes; it was so beautifully performed.  These children’s teachers and their parents have good reason to be extremely proud!