Teaching Philosophy

Visual Art Education is arguably one of the most important aspects of education for our youth today, no matter what age level or grade level.  Our culture is so heavily impacted by what we see, whether it is through social media, internet imagery, photography, television and movies, or in a museum or gallery.  Our youth are inundated with visual imagery.  It was the relationships that I built with my high school, college, and graduate school professors that took under their influential and encouraging wings why I decided to study art, not give up, and ultimately get into art education.  That was twenty years ago, and visual culture has evolved exponentially since then and since the first imagery seen on cave walls.  I am passionate about integrating the past into the present, working with the disadvantaged, imbedding multicultural elements, and how visual art interplays into nearly all other aspects of a student’s education.

As stated above, my relationships with my art teachers and professors is what led me into education and encouraged me to not give up making art.  Art was always something I loved and felt confident about through elementary and middle school.  In high school, it was the calm and encouraging high school art teacher that allowed me to regain that confidence.  Once again, in undergraduate school, I lacked the confidence to continue with art until I met my drawing and printmaking professor.  He had an encouraging, intellectual, and fun demeanor in his teaching style.  I also had the same experience with my sculpture professor.  He even drove me to the University of Notre Dame to visit their sculpture graduate program.  I ultimately got my Masters of Fine Arts at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.  Once again, I lacked confidence until I met George Cramer.  He and I became very close; he would take me out to lunch and he and I drove all the way to Idabel, Oklahoma together to install one of his sculptures outside the Museum of the Red River.  During that long drive from Madison I learned about his indigenous culture, his kindness, and his love for classic country music.  All of these beautiful experiences deeply affected how I teach and why I teach.

Upon leaving graduate school, I taught at the middle school, high school, and college level.  I chose to get my Master’s in Education and teach art to students with high needs.  I have done that for the past 17 years.  During that time I have learned how to teach to different modalities of learning and behaviors.  Through the process, learned from my experiences stated above, of building relationships with students you begin to understand the best way to teach them.  For example, many of my students can understand art processes quickly and often times intuitively. Others need concrete, step by step, direct instruction.  The more advanced students who excel in the process I will question them, make them dig deep, into visual culture and how history and present methods of visual media affect the art that they make.  Finally, exploration and experimentation are held in high regard in my classes, no matter what medium we work with.  Those elements are integral in expanding abilities in all aspects of their education and future endeavors. 

So, why do I love teaching art?  It is so important in our lives today and often we aren’t even cognizant of it.  It is such a wonderful way to not only make both beautiful things but also to make us think about what we are actually looking at.  It expands our intellect.  It taps into different parts of the brain that other parts of a student’s school experience often aren’t reached.  It gives students confidence, makes them courageous, and gives them chances to explore and experiment.  I believe, if one chooses to think this way, art is involved in all aspects of our lives.  I believe strongly and have experienced many times the power when a student, with low confidence, blossoms when they create something that they are proud and excited about. That is the beauty of art and why I teach art.