Branches: Growth of the Contest

Sedat and I chatted for a moment, catching up since our last visit (in late October at the Fall 2010 Georgia Art Education Association Conference at Calloway Gardens). I have been to the Istanbul Center since that time, but on days when Sedat was off roaming about the Southeast, trying to sell other states on the idea of this or that project from the center. He and Sarabrynn Hudgins, Mr. Celik’s new assistant and program coordinator, are kept very busy. New brochures about the Istanbul Center’s projects are always being prepared by these two and Gonca Unca, the IC Director of Art and Design. The staff is traveling almost every day, as new teachers are being oriented at their schools by the IC staff toward a science education initiative that the center is beginning this year.

This is the fifth year of the Istanbul Center Art and Essay Contest — a good time to reflect on how the program has grown over the years. With contest experience as a hallmark of his leadership, Tarik Celik is the powerful force behind the success of this particular art and essay program. Still, I think he would quickly second that this success would not have been achieved if not for his excellent staff, including formerly Katherine Whitehead, Omer Ozbek, Gurkan Ekicikol, and now Sedat and Sarabrynn. Tarik has a way of getting what he wants from people, whether it be funding from his generous “friends” around the world or total dedication from the people working under him. He is a strong character, and is very bright as well. He does not generally accept “no” for an answer. While this is not a great quality in most people, it works pretty well for this CEO.

Istanbul Center Program Coordinator’s activities summary:

• Facilitate judges/staff/board members, etc. in debating and choosing annual theme
• Draft text for A&E Contest flyer/posters for publicity
• Review/edit A&E Contest flyers/posters once made by graphic designer
• Send A&E Contest announcement to teachers in May with dates and annual theme included
• Update the huge “Letter to Teachers” document, including contest and trip rules, with any changes decided upon from last year.
• Send contest announcement to teachers, superintendents, curriculum coordinators with contest submission dates and complete Letter to Teachers rulebook during 1st week of August
• Follow-up regularly with rounds of Phone calls to superintendents’ offices
• Calls/emails to previously-participating teachers, especially past trip participant
• Phone calls to curriculum coordinators
• In-person visits to area schools
• Calls to school principals
• Arrange awards ceremony
• Find venue & handle related paperwork
• Plan awards ceremony registration, nametags, seating arrangements, certificates and other paperwork/organizational tasks
• Notify winning students and follow-up on:
• Trip winners’ paperwork
• Awards ceremony RSVPs
• Getting student photos for awards ceremony booklet
• Post winners’ information on Istanbul Center website, including awards ceremony details
• Draft new text for “A&E Contest Awards Ceremony” booklet
• Review/edit “A&E Contest Awards Ceremony” booklet once made by graphic designer
• Send “A&E Contest Awards Ceremony” invitations to participating teachers/students/schools
• Execute “A & E Contest Awards Ceremony” with Educational Programs Director
• Send out unclaimed awards and certificates
• Process trip paperwork and handle student/teacher/parent questions about the trip
• Plan and execute trip orientation session(s)

When Tarik came on board in a full-time capacity as “Director of the Istanbul Center,” he instituted many changes. A former science educator and a sharp critical thinker, Tarik adopted and built upon ideas generated by the former volunteer director, Kemal Korucu. Part of his success is related to the security afforded by a full-time position; however, it also stems from his strong managerial style, including his solicitation of various opinions when trying to resolve problems. Each issue is explored with area specialists, but then debated in advisory board meetings and with other partners whose input may provide alternative angles from which to view the problem at hand. While initially it may be frustrating for specialists to have their educated opinions sought and then ignored, it also ensures that Tarik is gleaning the very best option from the many sources that contribute their views on an issue. One example of that reliance on a debated issue was the integration of a rubric for the art judges. Artists do not typically like to be restricted by numbers (it’s not generally their territory of specialization), but Tarik (and his larger group of thinkers) wanted to add this level of objectivity to the art adjudication process. So, we added a primary level of review with rubrics, using undergraduate art education students from my home institution.

I began involving my own art education students in the judging process of the Istanbul Center’s art contest in 2010. At this point in their training, these students were still learning about secondary school graphic development, as well as how to properly gauge success in artworks using a formal grading system. A rubric used at this preliminary stage of judging was helpful to the students as they reviewed and then ranked artworks. There was a practical purpose for the initial “hierarchical” rating, as it helped to cull through the over 1,000 works generally submitted to the art contest. Nevertheless, using rubrics for art contests is somewhat heretical in art adjudication circles. There is a tendency to use subjective, but more reliable methods of triangulation — combining several reviewers’ informed critical opinions when determining value in artworks. The students’ quantified rankings were met with suspicion by the faculty judges, who, in truth, were the “real” decision makers for our final slate of winners. While I regret that the faculty judges found this process unnerving, I do see clear benefits to my art education students. First of all, they were able to provide a constructive service to an active community organization that craves young partners who are willing to work toward a common good, in this case helping to identify ideas that provide “out–of-the-box” solutions/opinions on this world that we all share. For many of my art education students, the contest was their first contact with people from Turkey (or even Muslims in general). Just being at the Istanbul Center for two sessions of classes gave the students an idea of Turkish gentility and enthusiasm for building international relationships. My students also had an opportunity to see how artworks can be evaluated according to formal directives.

As more and more “objective” evaluation criteria are used in our schools to assess artworks (sadly, to validate the importance of the arts in our schools), I can be certain that my students can administer rigorous assessment according to well defined parameters when needed.