TEACHING PHILOSOPHY

 

      Creating art and teaching impassions me greatly.  When students can sense this excitement, it transfers onto them.  Teaching fulfills me because of the constant exchange of information: with the knowledge of processes learned and with student-mentor relationships.  I look up to and respect many professors and artists who have counseled me and helped me grow as a student, artist, and as a person.  These symbiotic relationships and mutual respect contribute to positive studio work ethics and attitude, and provide a level of comfort in which students can ask questions and seek advice.

      When instructing, I assess the class as a whole, but also recognize the need to strategize differently with each individual.  If a student does not understand, I enjoy the challenge to restructure and represent information in a new manner.  Through visual examples and analogy, I give students something recognizable or tangible to better retain information.

      Within all of my classes I emphasize quality and craftsmanship by giving them the skills to execute correctly, no matter what the process.  Students should, in beginning courses, gain the visual and verbal vocabulary to make strong, visually convincing work that is aesthetically sound.  Upon this foundation of knowledge, they should then learn to push themselves conceptually, by making work that expresses and explores their own personal views and ideas.  Across all of this, it is important to enthusiastically promote the use of all media within art for expression.  It is just about finding what form best suits the idea. 

      Students should also have an idea of where they fall within the context of art making.  In class, I expose them to art historical information, as well as contemporary sources through examples of work, lectures, class critiques, and individual research and meetings.  I also strongly advise my students to attend conferences and workshops, which are crucial to recognizing the context of recent art history.