ART Studio

MY TEACHING PHILOSOPHY

Through a community of caring and inquiry, students learn to investigate, question, and make decisions. I invite risk-taking in artmaking and thinking, as students search for personal expression. Art is one of the ways people reveal how they see the world. Or, what it means to be here, in this time and place, or to explore the worlds of others through their art.

Art education encourages a desire to understand people, events and cultures. Art is a language of thought which should be accessible to all students, not just the talented few.
Teaching non-Western art, European art, and Contemporary art is important because it’s a  part of everyone's story. 

My curriculum is theme based which explores enduring ideas that reflect big questions about the human experience. Themes are broad, umbrella-like ideas that guide students in understanding what it means to be human and live alongside others. Themes celebrate commonalities around the world and throughout time. Students are not just taught skills but are taught how to interpret meaning and message. I love that!

COMMON THEMES IN ART

-The life cycle: birth, growth, death.

-Work: all people produce and consume.

-Symbols: symbols express ideas and feelings.

-Thinking visually.

-Time & place: past and future places.

-Search for purpose & meaning: direction for our lives.

-Aesthetics: people respond to beauty.

-Social Bonding: membership and belonging
-Nature & Us: we are part of the earth.