How to Teach Artist Statements

It was hard to find ways to teach artist statements to children, pretty much all of the stuff I found was easier for adults to understand. I do think it is easy to simplify it down in order for kids to understand. First off, it would be a good idea to show my kids examples of artist statements, or even one that I wrote about my own piece of work. An artist statement shows what the artist is thinking and why they created what they did. Some questions you can address in writing an artist statement could be:

• Why do you create art and what does it mean to you?
• If the statement refers to a specific piece, why did you choose to represent this piece in this way? What do you call the piece and why? What materials did you use? 
• What artists (living or dead) have influenced you?
• How much time is spent creating your pieces?
• How is your work a reflection of you?

http://www.ebsqart.com/ArtMagazine/za_400.htm

"An artist statement is what, how, and why you do what you do, from your perspective." 

There is no correct way to write an artist statement. An artist statement is personal and reflects you as an artist. "When done well, the statement and your art support each other." I think it is best to have your students write why they created what they did, what they were thinking, and how it relates to them.

http://www.artist-statement.com/whatisanartstate.html

From researching all of this I think it's important to keep it short. "Write enough so that you can get your ideas across, but keep it to one page or less." No one wants to read a super long artist statement, they want to understand the piece of art and know where the artist was coming from without having to read a novel about it. 

http://www.examiner.com/children-s-crafts-in-springfield/learning-to-describe-your-art-work

I think when explaining how to write artist statements to children, it is important to make it as simple as possible. Also, that it is about why they created what they did.