I decided to be a high school art teacher when I realized the importance artmaking had for me as a teenager and the key role it played in my development as an individual. I have always hoped my teaching would help students discover the value and power of artmaking so they could put it to use in their lives. Recently I gave my students a survey about a painting unit we had just completed. Reflecting on the unit, one student, Renaissance,2 wrote, "I was . . . able to discover what kind of artist I am." Another student wrote, "I know what I want to do from the project and that is to go to an art school and become something using art ..." Normally these comments would have aroused my …