Teaching

As an educator I have worked with everyone from early childhood aged art makers to incoming college freshmen to graduate fine arts students as well as life long learners in extensions programs. Engaging with the different perspectives and needs of each population keeps me nimble in thought as I prepare plans to support developing artists. By sharply focussing on clearly defined learning outcomes I easily and effectively articulate questions about material methodologies and pose challenges while explaining concepts in various ways so that I can reach students with different learning styles from different backgrounds. 

For me, education is critical thinking and working with students is more than developing skills. While this concern is paramount I move beyond this to foster my students’ ability to be creative and adaptive in their thinking. I accomplish this by balancing demonstration and explicit direction with options for personal research and open-ended interpretation for any given project. Simply put, I do not model specific outcomes but challenge students to develop ways of thinking through materials to approach personal outcomes.

Collaboration is an important part of my approach. I co-create an environment with my students where I can  safely ask challenging questions and encourage them to take creative risks. Collaborating with my students in this way creates a community based in mutual respect, honesty, trust, and humor. In this space, I initiate thoughtful, rigorous, and critical conversation from the point of view of the artist, whether at the first-year or graduate level. 

I bring an approach of critical self-reflection from my studio practice to my teaching practice. I strive to improve my teaching effectiveness and work hard to evaluate the students’ various outcomes.