Every art teacher knows that organizing is a big part of the job. Whether your art room is super tidy, a bit cluttered, or organized chaos, sprucing up is constant. From paint, oil pastels, and glue to piles of work to return, the art room requires ongoing care. What if this necessary work also became a time for ideas and reflection? When you allow cleaning and organizing to be a mindful reset in your school day, it can become a pause for creative thinking and a catapult for your creative practice.
Nurture your art room and plant ideas for the future with tips for clever thinkers like you!
The Conditions for Creative Thinking
You have likely experienced inspiration coming at the most unlikely moments. If you look back, you may notice that many of those moments happened while you did everyday tasks, like cleaning and organizing. If you listen, you can hear them! Because routines foster creativity, our innovative brains start working during mundane tasks.
Twyla Tharp, the famous choreographer of modern dance, states in The Creative Habit that artistic people need to create a routine and the right “environment” for thinking. She suggests a morning routine, but any time is helpful. “Sometimes disengaging is the best way to engage,” states author Rick Rubin in The Creative Act. Transform loading the kiln, putting project materials away, and cleaning glue lids into useful brain breaks, an unwinding process where ideas will naturally surface.
To cultivate a new ritual, consider using white noise or soft music to reduce overstimulation. This state of mind will keep you healthy and open to ideation. When the brain has space to wander and daydream, teachers can problem-solve more effectively and support their mental well-being.
The Season for an Inspiration Sketchbook
Keep your ears open to thoughts such as, “I could use this puffy paint the next time my students make desserts.” Fleeting thoughts like this disappear quickly, so keep an inspiration sketchbook to record them. As we move materials around, our minds make new connections. Any idea that pops into your head, write it down or sketch it out. Don’t overthink or judge what goes in your book. This is a seed phase where you’re simply collecting.
Collect these “seeds” in your inspiration sketchbook:
- Written reminders
- Quick sketches of project ideas
- Colorful gallery cards
- Questions you’re curious about
- Strategies to try
- Fresh classroom layouts
A Greenhouse for Experiments
Art teachers love to investigate and explore—but where does all of the stuff go in a busy art room? Eliminate visual piles of clutter and give your experiments their own workshop-in-a-box! Use lidded boxes, drawers, or other methods to contain your in-progress projects. Artist Jack Whitten said, “I like to think of my studio as a laboratory where experiments are conducted.” Let’s keep that laboratory spirit without all of the disarray.
Your idea box is a place to plant materials and tinker with small works in progress. Ideas can take root as you return to them, letting new connections grow over time. Like an inspiration journal, these experiments are a creative garden that you nurture through repeated visits and play. This kind of exploration can ease the overstimulation of teaching, offering a restorative pause in your day. Plus, developing new projects is often one of the most rewarding parts of teaching art!
Limit yourself to a small number of “sparks” to work on at once. Concentrate on the ideas that will benefit you and the students most. Those who speak and write about the ideation process, such as Laurie Anderson and Elizabeth Gilbert acknowledge that not all concepts deserve follow-through. That’s liberating because, honestly, we have so many ideas! Follow those that seem “right” and remember that it’s okay to toss or save ideas for later.
Encouraging Growth with Gratitude
While you tidy, you will also think of those precious moments and unexpected glimmers in your day. Like reflecting, journaling is a healthy way to avoid burnout and a scarcity mindset. Researchers link gratitude practices to increased well-being because they shift attention from stressors to moments of meaning and success. If you haven’t started one, a gratitude journal will help you focus on the blooms rather than stay stuck in the weeds.
Take your gratitude one step further (and make it more lasting!) by revisiting your positive moments. Your gratitude journal can be especially grounding on difficult days, helping you keep perspective and hold onto the impact you’re making as an art educator. You can also keep a set or two of art postcards or thank you cards. These are handy for making your gratitude visible by acknowledging helpful parents, staff, and students.
Nurture Your Creative Practice
It’s time to add some sunshine and grow those visions into actionable tasks. What do you need to make your ideas blossom? Do you need further training with art education-specific professional development, or do you need community connections? Perhaps you need funding or resources for the new unit you imagined and planned. Maybe journaling has uncovered areas you would like to strengthen as an art teacher. Keep growing!
Find a sketchbook and set aside space for your tinkering to take shape. Working on mundane tasks you need to do anyway can be a pleasant break that yields fruitful inspiration. Balance out your day with a little gratitude to keep your roots firmly planted. Your art room is a visionary garden where you and your students cultivate ideas, and where creativity blossoms! It’s always a work in progress, and it won’t look perfect, and that’s okay. Make simple shifts as you wrap up your studio for the end of the school year to gently encourage growth in your creative practice.
What method works best for you to nurture your creative practice and fresh ideas?
How can you turn cleaning into a chance to reset your space and your thinking?
To chat about spring cleaning with other art teachers, join us in The Art of Ed Community!
Magazine articles and podcasts are opinions of professional education contributors and do not necessarily represent the position of the Art of Education University (AOEU) or its academic offerings. Contributors use terms in the way they are most often talked about in the scope of their educational experiences.
