1. How long have you been a teaching artist?
I
have been a teaching artist for 13 years.
2. What discipline(s) do you teach?
I
teach the skills and techniques of art making and the context of art history
and the current art world. I teach
Art as it relates to other subject matter, daily life, cultural and personal
experience, nature, the environment and current events.
3. Describe the setting(s) in which you teach.
I
teach in K-5 public schools, special education centers for teens and adults,
senior centers, community groups, and I lead field trips at the Fine Arts
Museum.
4. What funding source(s) support you as a teaching
artist?
My
jobs are funded by grants, city funding, the school district, the PTA, and a
variety of contracts from non-profit organizations.
5. Who shaped your initial thinking about teaching
art?
My
parents taught me to think intelligently and creatively about the world and to
be observant and inquisitive and to appreciate art and music. Then my professors at college and grad
school shaped my ideas about methods of teaching and learning about art. Reading Howard Gardener’s theories
about multiple intelligences, was an enlightening revelation about my own
learning style, my trouble with traditional education and an eye opener for
teaching a diverse body of students.
6. Describe the relationship between your personal art
practice and your art teaching?
I
feel that my art making and my art teaching are equally important in my life
and I am constantly trying to balance the time to do both. This includes marketing, exhibiting,
applying for jobs and shows and making and doing work. Both disciplines inform each other in
many ways. I am always looking at
the world and observing art in galleries and museums and on the street. These observations inform both my own
art and ideas about projects for the students. Sometimes the students give me ideas that I pursue through
my own art. For example, a recent
site visit to Maya Lin school to Emily’s 1st
Grade classroom inspired the direction of my new body of work. The students were working on the gloomy
city project and they had very insightful paintings and statements about what
our world would be like if there were no plants left. My own work depicts urban decay, construction sites and
overlooked areas of the city.
Using the children’s ideas I figured out how to emphasize the contrast
of urban decay and the beauty of nature.
7. How do you sustain your art while teaching?
I
need time to dive into my work in the studio. Hopefully this happens on a day off or a weekend. When I have started a few projects it
is easier to go into the studio in the evenings after work. Teaching is very draining and I am
often discouraged by not having the motivation to focus more in the studio. Although when I have too much time on
my hands I find that teaching helps motivate me to work on art too. I belong to a gallery have scheduled
exhibitions ahead of time to work towards. I am always following a new path or working towards a new
show or idea for a body of work.
And I am always looking at the world as I commute and sit in traffic and
ride the bart, there is inspiration everywhere.
8. Where do you get your lessons or project ideas?
Artists
and Art works and art historical themes and techniques
Nature
and Science
Culture
and tradition in art around the world
9. What training in the arts and/or education have you
had?
I
attended Hampshire College in Massachusetts, majoring in Painting and Drawing.
I also studied science, nature, literature and art history in undergrad. I received my Master’s Degree in Art
Education from the School of Art Institute of Chicago in 1999. There I studies printmaking and
ceramics as well as art education and educational theory. I wrote my thesis on The Environment as
Art Education. I also have my
clear teaching credential for Art k-12 and adults.
10. What are the biggest challenges you face as a teaching artist?
The
first challenge is finding consistent work that is sustaining and fulfilling
both monetarily and motivationally.
I have spent years working several part time, short term gigs that are
okay but disconnected and not necessarily work I can count on. I enjoy doing a variety of jobs and
projects and am happy to finally have a few jobs that are more secure and that
have a fair wage for all of the work that is put in to planning and
teaching. Sometimes it seems like
art is an after thought and the fact that you love it means you don’t need to
get paid very much or it is not as essential as other subjects and therefor the
budget for art is very limited.
Other
times the challenge is the particular job because of the extreme conditions of
our youth in schools in Oakland.
Some schools where I have worked both the teachers and the students have
limited resources and extreme frustration and behavior are evident in every
layer of the school day. It is
difficult to come into this situation and teach an art class. The students do not trust or listen to
you and they do not respect the materials or have the patience to listen and
understand the concepts you are trying to teach. They may not have any art skills to speak of, they may not
understand how to solve a problem on their own, etc.
11. What are the unexpected rewards of being a teaching artist?
You
get to be the celebrity that visits the classroom and brings joy and paint to
the kids! You get to witness
discovery and expression at its purest form through the art of children. You have the ability to challenge the
students to teach them to be thoughtful and precise and to express there own
capacity to create.
12. What advice do you have for other artists interested in teaching?
It
is rewarding but it is very hard and exhausting and it is not going to make you
rich!
Bonus*
What is your hope for the future of arts education?
My
hope for the future of art education is that it is valued as an essential part
of human development and as important as math and reading in a child’s
education. Someone said to me art
is a priviledge not a necessity in human society. I answered Then why does every culture throughout history
have there own art integrated into their society. I believe it is a necessity not a priveledge for children to
learn through the arts and make their own decisions about what is important to
them for their future.
Please
share one anecdote of a memorable Teaching Artist experience.
One
of my jobs is in museum education at the DeYoung Museum in San Francisco. When giving the tours of the museum
collection we use the VTS strategies to guide the students to talk about the
work. Recently leading a group of
first graders I found them to be particularly insightful about the works of
art.
Please
share any upcoming events or shows you are involved in so we can find out more
about your personal art practice. Provide links to websites, event sites, etc.
I
belong to Mercury 20 Gallery as an artist member. My next solo show will be up on Sept. 26th, 2013.
I am working towards it now.
I
am also hanging two exhibits this summer: The Urban Legends Wine Cellar in West
Oakland in July and the 817 Café on Washington St. in downtown Oakland for July
and August.
I
am also involved in projects in my own community of Jingletown in the fruitvale
district of Oakland. We just
completed 2013 Open Studios tours last week.
