How 6th-Grade Boys Became Art Snobs

You hate art. Or to be precise - you hate the idea of sitting in a museum and staring at motionless paintings for hours. Who wants to sit in silence and literally watch paint dry? No one in their right mind, for sure. I thought the same, until a certain professor in college helped me discover the depth, life, and stories hidden in art. Ever since that class I've always kept a few prints around my room, workspace, and camp cabins. I mention the latter because something incredible happened last summer while I was a camp counselor.

As I leaned back in my fold-out chair attempting to journal some thoughts, one of my 6th-graders walked over and boldly pointed at the wall. "What's that?" he asked, indicating the small print hanging there. Without looking up, I told him it was a copy of a painting and that he should hurry up and put sunscreen on before the next activity began (and you better put some behind yours ears this time or I swear I will throw you in the lake, kid). But he interrupted with me with a surprisingly sincere "but Josh, what does it mean?" Moments like that make you stop. So I cocked my head to one side and smiled, then sat the kid on the bed next to me and asked "well, what do you see?" Of course, the others wouldn't be left out, and soon the whole cabin of 6th-grade boys piled on the bed, paying rapt attention to a 19th-century painting.