philosophy

Striking similarities remain in many contemporary studio art classrooms and art education curricula to the first art academies in 16th century Italy, with their focus on debate and discussion, organized studio time, and weekly meetings. This is changing dramatically as society, the academy, and classrooms are rapidly transforming in response to radical innovations in technology, unprecedented access to information, and the sheer acceleration of the pace of change. My teaching approach is designed to meet the increasing demands for higher levels of creativity, innovation, and flexibility of mind, as well as to generate dynamic frameworks for the solving of problems and the successful execution of solutions. Increasingly, art educators need to be facilitators with highly educated senses and refined critical intellects who filter information and provide grounding for the development of their students' future creative processes, guiding them toward appropriate information and other sources for research, encouraging them to recognize and strengthen their individual perspectives and style, and helping them to maximize their unique potentials. Challenging students critically and personally is essential for opening their minds to new perspectives and possibilities.

As an art educator, there is no greater satisfaction for me than assisting students to connect with their deep and personal urge to create and seeing them gain confidence as they grasp and make use of their own methodologies, styles, visual languages and forms. My teaching approach is to create an environment where students learn how to investigate their own minds, explore new ideas, discover fundamental areas of interest, and begin to hone their unique forms of expression and visual language.

It is now widely accepted by cultural critics that art can no longer speak only to the educated elite. Art must have relevance in broad theoretical, historical and cultural contexts. I support studio art practices that engender
multicultural and interdisciplinary approaches, introduce divergent theoretical and historical perspectives, and stress
conceptual and formal principles in contemporary art practice, while simultaneously helping students connect with and integrate unfamiliar points of view with their own lived experiences.

As a teacher I strive to be approachable. This especially critical for many students during their first year at a university. I do this not only by clearly telling them that they can email me or call me anytime about classroom-related issues or questions, but also by learning their names as quickly as I can and letting them know that I am also a human being, with a life outside of the classroom that includes joys and challenges. Simply being myself in the classroom and sharing appropriate personal information—such as aspects of my art practice that I am excited about or having
difficulties with, upcoming exhibits, success in obtaining grants, and events such as the birth of a new niece or nephew—creates an affinity between myself and the students, making them more willing to trust my judgment in
providing them with assignments that are effective and applicable, to follow me down uncharted paths that might otherwise scare them, and put in extra effort beyond my levels of expectation.

In my classroom, a large portion of students' learning take place within the act of art making. After introducing theoretical and conceptual tools, I encourage them to reinterpret what they learn in life and in the classroom into their
art and art making. I meet with students in groups and individually to discuss concept, strategic development, composition and content; here critical issues are discussed and considered while new friendships between students are formed and their sense of community strengthened. Verbal and written skills remain a high priority. Asking questions
is a fundamental aspect of learning, and I encourage students to ask questions as often as possible in the classroom, reminding them that if they are afraid for any reason, many of their peers probably have the same or similar questions. Critical papers written by students about their work and the work of others must be informed and have a personal voice and address issues involving media, process, content and audience. These approaches are applicable to projects of any scale or scope and teach students to manage assignments that call for intellectual rigor and openness to possibility—helping them craft inchoate notions into satisfactory resolutions to concepts.

Many students are struggling to find their voice and identity as individuals and artists. A teacher's strength lies in the ability to pinpoint where the student's potential rests, and individually guide her/him on the appropriate road to discovery. Learning thrives in environments where there is reciprocity of trust, respect and openness, and where students are allowed to find their own personal relationship to art making and to their development. I am inspired when I can assist students in becoming aware of interests and capabilities they did not know they had and witness them self-motivate—going beyond the scope of the assignment to investigate a subject or activity about which they
have become passionate. Passion is at the heart of all the work we take seriously, and seeing it arise always reaffirms
for me the import and transformational possibilities of teaching art.