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| Beginner's Luck, Jerry M. James |
1. How long
have you been a teaching artist?
I was a teaching artist at Lincoln Center Institute (LCI) for 15 years
I was a teaching artist at Lincoln Center Institute (LCI) for 15 years
2. What
discipline(s) do you teach?
Visual
Art
3. Describe
the setting(s) in which you teach: K-5, after school, university, community center, etc…
All of
the above
4. Who
shaped your initial thinking about teaching art?
Fay
Zetlin, Maxine Greene, John Toth, Paulo Friere
5. Describe
the relationship between your personal art practice and your art teaching?
When I was a
teaching artist, I participated group shows with other TAS. Also had my own
shows and projects. I felt that in particular, teaching the
Aesthetic Education model informed my philosophy of art and piqued my curiosity
about all the arts. Leading sessions at museums opened my eyes to different genres,
ultimately affecting my own work in positive ways
6. How do
you sustain your art while teaching?
Maintaining a
private studio and selling my work
7. What
training in the arts and/or education have you had?
BFA and MFA in
painting Ed.D, in art education
8. What are
the biggest challenges you face as a teaching artist?
One challenge
was switching approaches to suit different arts organizations. Some were more skills based, others
more aesthetic still others more arts integrated. Since my work involved
teaching in other states and countries managing my schedule was
challenging at times. Fortunately, as a full-time TA I had four weeks
paid vacation time I used blocks of time to prepare for shows etc.
9. What are
the unexpected rewards of being a teaching artist?
The joy
evident as students learn, witnessing improved collaboration among school
communities, planning with teachers and other stakeholders. The transformative
effects of arts experiences on people of all ages, as reported in discussions
and written
reflections. As an administrator now, watching the professionalization of the TA field
unfold has been a pleasant surprise!
10. What
advice do you have for other artists interested in teaching?
Learn how to
facilitate learning, rather than only teaching what you know. Many of
your students will benefit more from working on big ideas with TAs than they
will from learning a specific artistic skill.
Please share one anecdote of a memorable Teaching Artist
experience.
I
usually time the components of workshops. Demos, if any, are short. I devote
most time to arts making, which is interspersed with reflective activities of
varying lengths, One of these, poetry writing, usually lasts five
minutes. In Mexico, however,
participants wrote poetry for 20 minutes and they could have kept going!
It was my first direct experience of educators in another culture having a
relationship with culture that was much different than mine. For them poetry
was as natural as prose.
Please share
any upcoming events or shows you are involved in so we can find out more about
your personal art practice.
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