Elizabeth Unpingco's Improbable Beautiful

Fragile, Elizabeth Unpingco

1.     How long have you been a teaching artist?

In true form, I’ve been a teaching artist all my life.  Since early childhood, creation was the opening through which art encouraged discovery. I was born into family firmly planted in hand-crafted and hand-hewn, so artistic endeavor naturally allowed me to connect.  Professionally, I started working as a “teaching artist” in 2006 after I left a deceptively sexy and well-paid job at a non-profit. There I served in an administrative capacity developing and managing a countywide program that employed other teaching artists of various disciplines. I have been working as a teaching artist for nearly 10 years now – how time flies when one is fulfilling one’s true vocation in life!

2.     What discipline(s) do you teach?

My specialty is visual integrated with literary arts (dialogue, poetry, storytelling). I often ask my young students if they have ever heard the saying “a picture is worth a thousand words”.  Most of them have NOT as this is a rather out dated utterance, however it prompts us to explore the world of words that dance with expressive symbols, metaphor, and visual techniques through open-ended processes. I am not only a visual manipulator, but a “word smith” as well. Mindfulness and metacognition are guides for our work.

3. Describe the setting(s) in which you teach.

(K-5, after school, university, community center, etc…)

Presently, I am an art museum educator serving the Santa Clara, CA preK – 9^th grade community. I find working in a museum a magical setting in which to immerse kids in the world of art. It allows a freedom from convention that inspires deeper reflection and risk taking. Our classroom includes changing exhibitions that allow for exploration, dreaming, and even drawing in the galleries. There are many wonderful resources available in this kind of setting. Occasionally, the museum places me in local public school classrooms where I am honored to provide some much needed creative outlet.

4. Describe the relationship between your personal art practice and your art teaching?

When I create at home, I am dually evolving as a teaching artist. The more in touch and consistent I am with my own practice the more I have to authentically offer my students. Because I chose this profession to share my passion for living creatively, I must walk the talk. Of course there are periods of “ebb” that provide a contrast so that I deeply know and understand the difference between living the dream as opposed to going through the motions where teaching feels like just another J-O-B. I remind learners (and myself) that if we stick with it, remembering to breath, the joy of accomplishment returns and triumphs!    

5. How do you sustain your art while teaching?

Sustainability is a verb, an ongoing, dynamic process that changes, moves, and spirals in various directions.  As primarily a visual artist, I have learned to open my field of vision. I look, see, and interact with the world around me as fodder for inward alchemy, what we call “windows and mirrors” in the art education world.  Just about every thing I do in life is viewed through the lens of my relationship with ‘sense of place’ and how that place effects me.  I see and feel line, color, pattern, shape, relationship & juxtaposition, texture, rhythm & melody and on and on. I have struggled financially for most of my life, but my relationship to my art has remained primary and life-giving. Having a partner who values who I am and what I do; helping to support my growth and musings has become a necessity and a god-send. I gravitate toward and manifest diverse opportunities for creative/financial sustenance. Ideas come fast and furious so that it can sometimes become overwhelming. Sometimes these opportunities pan out and thankfully, oftentimes not. 

6. Who shaped your initial thinking about teaching art?

Being employed as an administrator for a newly developed, county-wide program where the organization placed teaching artists in classrooms initiated my desire to become part of this rich fabric. Instead of working around others’ successful residency placements, I realized I myself wanted to be “placed”– this emerging title “teaching artist” offered the best of both worlds in my mind.  The teaching artists I worked with showed me the possibilities of remaining true to oneself while simultaneously being valued (and employed) in the educational field.  I felt I had discovered my long, lost tribe.

7. What training in the arts and/or education have you had?

I earned my master’s degree in education (curriculum and instruction – integrated teaching through the arts) in 2013 from Lesley University as part of a San Francisco Bay Area cohort. It was the learning experience of a lifetime!  Prior to that, I earned a bachelor’s degree in graphic design emphasizing illustration, 1990 from San Jose State University. In between those two formal degrees, I participated in many trainings, courses, and life-changing events including employment by the City of San Jose Department of Parks, Recreation & Community Services for 16 years. I worked with a diversity of undervalued and at-risk communities; life experience no educational institution could ever provide. I am a lifelong learner reinforcing a love affair with creativity and knowledge in my students.

8. How do you develop and deepen your teaching practice?

I glean the wisdom of others:  artists, friends and relations, spiritual teachers, education innovators, and others who care deeply about our children and youth both now and in the future. I try to keep my ear to the ground to take advantage of what’s brewing in the field on local, national, and global levels. Mostly, I try to hear and discern the voice within and thus heed its wisdom about what is right and good for me as a practitioner.

9. What are the biggest challenges you face as a teaching artist?

Isolation & disconnect, financial uncertainty, diversifying lessons, marketing & selling myself, advocating for appropriate creative/arts-based curriculum within society’s education-machine, and the relentless onslaught of time.

10. What are the unexpected rewards of being a teaching artist?

Seeing how the field is growing in leaps and bounds – that recognition of the importance of what we do and opportunities to do it are gaining ground.  It is very rewarding, although not unexpected, to see the education-machine slowly acknowledge the tremendous impact an arts-based/integrated curriculum is having on closing those gaps we ourselves have created. I feel proud that I no longer must live out the story  “those who can do, those who can’t teach” I do both!

11. What advice do you have for artists interested in teaching?

Teaching is a noble profession, however; you must be aware of the critical need for patience with your students, administrators, colleagues, and most importantly yourself.  When you find yourself ‘assuming’ on any level, check yourself (you will save yourself much grief).  Learn within community, stay open, cultivate and share the quality of having fun! Grow in your capacity for independence, flexibility, and confidence in setting your own core criteria.

Please share one anecdote of a memorable Teaching Artist experience.

Working with a small group of middle school girls of varying levels of skill, socialization, and self-acceptance brings me back to my own awkward adolescence. Some sessions are arduous, but my own inner-knowing keeps me afloat along the choppy journey.  Eventually occurs the inevitable; I am privy to witness total engagement in the blissful assimilation of personal image and paint. I am blinded by the brilliance of each student in her own right. I experience fulfillment of my mission yet one more time. I recommit to continuing the work.    

On June 20, 2015, I will participate in the Triton Musuem of Art’s annual Summer Solstice Art Festival. I will be co-teaching two summer camps there as well:  Explorations in Drawing (3^rd-5^th grade), session 1 and World Art for (K-2^nd grade) with my collaborative partner, session 6.  The Triton MOA is admission free and extremely community-oriented, exhibiting works by primarily local and state artists.  http://www.tritonmuseum.org/

I am also applying to Recology’s artist 2016 residence program. As I create many of my pieces from recyclables, discards, and nature’s droppings, I feel this opportunity to be very good fit for me - wish me luck!

cube hands

Sam Weinberg's Improbable Beautiful

Sam's work with recycled material

1. How long have you been a teaching artist?

I consider the beginning of my being an artist around 9 or 10 years old when I would take my dad's camera to document and explore any and all types of events. I started to teach art classes back in high school, but have been doing so professionally since 2011. All in all, approximately 10 years at this point? ... woah.

2. What discipline(s) do you teach?

Drawing, painting, sculpture, collage, paper-making, digital photography, graphic arts, comics, ceramics... just about anything that my students will enjoy and/or aligns with some of their core curriculum.

3. Describe the setting(s) in which you teach. (K-5, after school, university, community center, etc &)

I teach at a K-8 charter school in Oakland. CA. There is a very diverse student population both culturally and socio-economically.

4. Describe the relationship between your personal art practice and your art teaching?

The focus in my own practice involves 2 primary elements: utilizing materials and resources immediately or already available, and creating something useful or functional. This often means a focus on resourcefulness in the form of using recycled and found materials, which is very helpful as a teacher with a limited budget and about 275 students. The functionality element comes into my integration approach where I try to create art lessons that connect directly with what the students are learning about in their core classes. I use art-making as a tool to reveal the connections between our visual, social, historical, scientific and mathematical worlds!

5. How do you sustain your art while teaching?

It has been very difficult. I feel like I have very limited time with the demands of my job (I am also an after school instructor and the facilities coordinator) and very limited space in my tiny apartment that it's hard to make the kind of art I would like. But that's really all excuses, and I have been able to work on smaller things like collage when I make the time for it. I took a drawing class, and found that I was much more productive when given assignments and deadlines and such. Ultimately, it comes down to making the time and doing away with excuses... easier said than done!

6. Who shaped your initial thinking about teaching art?

I'd have to say all the teachers at Pittsburgh's Manchester Craftsmen's Guild. This is an amazing after-school arts program that is free to all Pittsburgh Public School students. The experience differed so much from the art classes I took at school that I was inspired to become an arts educator just to try to replicate their approach directly in schools. I appreciated the art teachers I had in high school, but most of the time it just felt like arts and crafts. MCG showed me how empowering an arts education could be and I hope to convey that to my own students.

7. What training in the arts and/or education have you had?

I earned my BFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art in 2010, and then my MAT from MICA in 2011. I most recently completed the Integrated Learning Specialist Program offered by the Alameda County Office of Education. I have also been taking art classes again at Berkley City College just to stay on my game and keep the art-making going. Fun and cheap, I recommend it to anyone looking for some inspiration and motivation!

8. How do you develop and deepen your teaching practice?

I try to engage in as much PD as possible... the ILSP courses have had a huge impact on my teaching practice and philosophy. I've also tried to reach out to other teaching professionals in the area to observe their classrooms and pick their brains on how they conduct a successful art program.  

9. What are the biggest challenges you face as a teaching artist?

MAKING MY OWN ART!!! I always try to do prototypes of the lessons I teach, which is fun and interesting, but definitely not always what I would make on my own.

10. What are the unexpected rewards of being a teaching artist?

Some of the appreciation that I receive from students who have had a fun or transformative time in my class. Seeing a student all of a sudden "get" something and apply it right away is always inspiring too. I think the best however is when a parent approaches me to tell me about how their child tells them all about art class and how much fun it is, even when the kid never says anything to me! Teaching is not always a thankful profession but it's really nice when it is!

11. What advice do you have for artists interested in teaching?

I think teaching your ideas is one of the best ways for you to really articulate your own thinking. If you are able to effectively communicate your own approach to art making it shows and can often generate a greater understanding of your own practice. You will be amazed at some of the directions your students will take some of your ideas. The process of teaching will enhance and possibly transform your own art practice.

*Bonus*

Please share one anecdote of a memorable Teaching Artist experience.

All I'll say is this.... KIDS LOVE PAPER-MAKING! If you get them involved in the process from beginning (recycling and ripping up paper scraps) to end (arranging, pressing and drying the pulp) they will be engaged the entire time! They love getting messy, playing with the slop, and creating interesting patterns with different colored paper. Go for it!

No Mountain High Enough...

Learning to teach is like climbing a mountain only to find there's an even higher mountain beyond it. I have a LOVE/HATE relationship with being a teaching artist. My love starts with my love of schools.

I LOVE school.

I love being in schools. I love hallways, bulletin board displays, the sounds of chairs scarping the floors, pencil taping, kids scurrying to and from the bathroom, the hush and then the clamor as kids fall out of class to the yard. The bright colors, the hodge podgeness, the order and the chaos.

I love kids. They're nuts. They're funny and surprising and amazing.

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE teachers. Seriously? Who works harder for less? Teachers, they keep getting pummeled by our ignorant society. Still they show up at 7:15am to cut paper, grade tests, meet parents before they go to work, sweep the rugs  (it's not in the janitor's contract, or there is no janitor) fed the gecko, lizard, fish, tadpoles, feed the early kid, the homeless kid, do hair for the neglected girls, and wash the faces of the dirty children. And don't forget they actually teach tiny crazy people to read, write, add and subtract and more. AND they teach manners, caring, social, environmental and school yard justice. They sing, dance, drum and generally make fools of themselves so other people's  video addicted, attention limited, entitled, lost, lazy, rude, sad, sweet, spoiled, precious children can become engaged active citizens.

I love school.

I love the unsung heroes of every school. The front office ladies and men who hold down the fort, provide tissue (often paid for by them since, you know, tissue is a luxury and all), give band aids, advice, and tardy slips. They know who is fake crying to get out of class and who is really ill or sad. They are mean and strict in the best grandmother, great auntie or uncle kinda way. They know all the parents and who is in after care, who has a doctor or dentist appointment. They know who waits outside alone after school because mom is always late. They know which forms teachers have to fill out, they order your supplies and make sure they get to you on time, running the ins and outs of dry erase markers, No.#2 pencils and paper clips like a mafia syndicate (Oops, you didn't get that box of paper? Guess you shouldn't be so rude when you ask! Fuggeta 'boutit!)

I love school.

I love the crazy structure. Recess at 10:40 - 10:55. Whaaat?! Few other work environments run off the clock like that. I recently taught a group of teachers. When I said lunch at noon. There was a collective cry of Noooooo! That was too late. They wanted to eat at 11:35. We compromised with 11:45. bells ring at the oddest times  Nothing begins or stops on the hour or half hour. Always 55, 35, 25. Why? BECAUSE schools have to operate with illogical precision, no minute wasted.

There's sooo much more to love and yet and still I also hate schools, I hate teaching art, I'm over it! As I type that I'm already thinking about how I will rearrange my room, the systems I hope to put in place.

Art makes Creative, Happy, Brave Kids

Art makes creative, happy, brave kids!

Our centers experiment was a success.  Choice Based Art is here to stay! As a first attempt my students and I learned a lot. I look forward to fall and many improvements in the system. The kids did great work and more importantly they challenged themselves and they grew. When asked to give three words that describe the feeling of creating a treasured piece of art here are some of the words kids said:

Creative
Happy
Brave
Sad
Good
Amazing
Powerful
Radical
Great

 ACOE's Inventing Our Future Summer Institute.

More Teaching Artists needed! If you are out there in the "interwebs" reading this PLEASE fill out the Teaching Artist Questionnaire so we can continue to build a resource for each other. Read over past post to see what other Teaching Artists have to say about their art and teaching. get inspired, participate. The link is right u there on the right side...click it! Thanks!

How can I discover the World of Art, within me and all around me?

This is my throughline for teaching art. How can I discover the World of Art, within me and all around me? I want my students to think about this question everyday and figure out their own answers. I have come to believe you can't "teach art". Especially not to little kids, they already know art. Their ideas are so much better than mine. That is why I love the choice based classroom. 

I used to believe teaching the whole class a project was the only way to teach skills. Instead as each center opens I teach the skills needed to use and care for the material in that center. What the students make using the materials is up to them. In choice class the students figure out what they need to know. They take initiative and they ask for the skills, materials and techniques to make their projects work.  Within each project are challenges and questions that must be answered through the act of making. I facilitate students understanding of their work. 

I also try to apply the throughline to myself.  How can I discover the World of Art, within me and all around me? Can I give myself the freedom I allow/expect my students to have? How can I use what happens in the class in my own practice? 

This post is from my other blog C. Moore Art http://cmooreartblog.blogspot.com proof that my teaching practice and my art practice are getting more blurred everyday. You can learn more about Choice Based Art here Teaching for Artistic Behavior TAB

Big Ideas Fest's Improbable Beautiful

In December I was lucky enough to attend the Big Ideas Fest (BiF) in Half Moon Bay (http://www.bigideasfest.org/about-big-ideas-fest-2013). BiF is a conference like none other combining design thinking and improv in the service of innovation for education. This was my fourth time at the conference and one of the most interesting and productive experiences yet.

The thing about Big idea Fest is there's a lot. I mean a LOT! Rapid fire speakers, key notes, action collabs, Road Trip Nation, and 'smores. This means there's quite a bit to digest and for me it takes a while to distill it all down. In fact I'm going to talk about the key note speaker from last year, George Lakoff, because I am still processing all of the information garnered from his talk. Lakoff according to Wikipedia is an American cognitive linguist, best known for his thesis that lives of individuals are significantly influenced by the central metaphors they use to explain complex phenomena. He currently teaches at UC Berkeley.

George Lakoff tells us metaphors are at the heart of language and communication. Metaphors are a way of being more precise. At the Big Ideas Fest last year he used love as an example. How do we speak about love? We use metaphors (these usually contain image schema of motion). I'm falling in love, this relationship is a dead end, I'm so over him, things are going smoothly, etc.. Since hearing his talk I've been thinking a lot about metaphors and how important they are. We basically can't communicate our true feelings without metaphors. Metaphors help us be precise with language. The issues that are central to our heart , love, loss, joy, pain they need metaphor to be talked about with precision. 

As teaching artists we are well versed in metaphors. What I am interested in is how we show teachers, parents and administrators that Art is about communicating through metaphor and is therefor about communicating with precision? We teach students to express what they feel, think, believe, dream and hope. They are able to express often complex ideas and emotions through a symbol system. This is important work. Art (and I am including poetry, music, dance and drama) is at the core of clear and precise human communication. How do you use metaphor in your work and your classes?

I've been pondering the meaning of metaphors for a year now. George Lakoff was only one of the amazing speakers I've heard at ISKME's Big Ideas Fest. The presenters from the 2013 conference were equally amazing. For 2014 I plan to ponder the meaning of social objects and new ways of interacting in museums and beyond. To find out more check out their website and follow them on Twitter.

Happy New Year!

Sam Vance's Improbable Beautiful

Artist Clown, by Sam Vance

1. How long have you been a teaching artist?

I started teaching right out of my undergraduate program back in 1996.  I had the fortune to already be involved with a growing acting studio in Seattle where my wife was teaching.  

2. What discipline(s) do you teach?

 Theatre predominantly but I have also taught visual art and music.  

3. Describe the setting(s) in which you teach.

I am adjunct theatre faculty at Northwest University where I teach Intro to Theatre, Improvisation and Principles of Acting.  I am also a regular instructor at Taproot Theatre Company where I have taught classes, workshops and summer camps.  In my last job as Director of Education at Teatro ZinZanni, I taught juggling and circus skills to PE classes all over the Pacific Northwest.  

4. Who shaped your initial thinking about teaching art?

It's not something I ever really thought about.  It seemed to be a natural extension of my art practice and it has always been a factor when it comes to piecing together a living.  

5. Describe the relationship between your personal art practice and your art teaching?

It used to be purely financial.  But I have come to enjoy teaching and have been able to make connections to my own practice.  The most noticeable shift has been personal confidence when standing up in front of people, speaking, acting, improvising or directing.  I used to be very shy and nervous in front of people.  

6. How do you sustain your art while teaching?

 The important aspect for me is to keep building a body of work while teaching.  That is the thing that keeps me relevant and viable as a teaching artist.  

7. What training in the arts and/or education have you had?

 I have an Applied Associate of Arts Degree in Music & Business (after a failed attempt to get a degree in commercial art) from the Art Institute of Seattle, a BA in Theatre from Seattle Pacific University and I am currently a degree candidate for an MFA in Interdisciplinary Arts at Goddard College.  I also studied classical painting from a private instructor in Spain.  

8. What are the biggest challenges you face as a teaching artist?

 Complacent or uninterested students- it's rare but it happens.  

9. What are the unexpected rewards of being a teaching artist?

 Drawing connections from the classroom to the studio in ways that feed my practice.  Usually that is some sort of improvisation or "a Ha!" moment that makes me think about something I'm working on.  

10. What advice do you have for other artists interested in teaching?

I think you have to really like people and want to relate to them in order to teach.  It's one thing to be a master of your subject but you have to possess the ability to break that information down into reasonable chunks, build on that info in order to give your students a sense of accomplishment immediately.  Teaching art should be fun for you and your students.  

*Please share one anecdote of a memorable Teaching Artist experience.

 I was working with world-class Russian juggler, Sergey Krutikov on a circus camp for kids.  At the beginning of the week we had a 10 year old student who flat refused to participate.  His reason was that he didn't want to learn to juggle because he didn't want to live on the streets, juggling for a living.  Sergey was great because he didn't pressure the kid.  He just kept introducing different items to the entire class- juggling balls, rings, cigar boxes, scarves... gently drawing him into the enthusiasm the rest of the camp was experiencing.  By the end of the week, that kid was juggling like  a crazy person.  He is now living on the streets.  

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 will be acting, singing (and doing a little clowning) in an upcoming show that my wife and I wrote.  Le Club Noel opens at Taproot Theatre Company in Seattle on November 29th and runs through December 28th.  Tickets and info can be found at:

http://taproottheatre.org/le-club-noel/

Dr. Jerry M. James' Improbable Beautiful

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

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.

jerrymjames.com  caenyc.org

Daniel Kelin's Improbable Beautiful

 1. How long have you been a teaching artist?

Nigh on 30 years 

2. What discipline(s) do you teach?

 Theatre/Drama

3. Describe the setting(s) in which you teach.

In-School, after school, professional theatre, community centers, university...in just about every setting I can 

4. Who shaped your initial thinking about teaching art?

 Very probably my theatre teachers in elementary and high school, but it is hard to pinpoint one person or situation

5. Describe the relationship between your personal art practice and your art teaching?

 A tightly woven rope, as each depneds on the other for strength of purpose and effectiveness. Each has influenced the other to the degree that it is hard to know what was influenced by the other.  Each gives me the opportunity to practice approaches in different settings to gauge effectiveness.

6. How do you sustain your art while teaching?

My art is a part of my teaching so it is sustained by continuing to teach.  I also don't believe that I should be doing 'an' art, but engage in artistic pursuit in various ways and disciplines.

7. What training in the arts and/or education have you had?

My art was college and university, primarily and since then workshops as I can.  Education was initially practice.  There were not many opportunities for training when I first started.  Now it is sustained through conferences, workshops and collegial dialogues.  In addition I lead many trainings and learn through those.

8. What are the biggest challenges you face as a teaching artist?

The fact that in the US there is still the sense that TEACHING art is the bastard child of DOING art.  Stupid, egotistical attitude that cultivates an elitist attitude and makes it harder to rally support for the arts.

9. What are the unexpected rewards of being a teaching artist?

Relationships, renewal of purpose, witnessing the authenticity of response on the part of young children 

10. What advice do you have for other artists interested in teaching?

Reflect, often. Adjust to your setting, don't make the setting fit you. Be prepared to change at any moment and embrace it. There is no 'right' way.  Learn as you do, don't set yourself up as the expert.

Please share one anecdote of a memorable Teaching Artist experience or your favorite resources for lessons.

FAVORITE: Viewpoints, Studio Thinking, Releasing the Imagination 

Please share any upcoming events or shows you are involved in so we can find out more about your personal art practice.

www.htyweb.org

www.DanielAKelin.com