After receiving my BFA in Photography, I began to research Art Education graduate programs. I wanted to continue to develop as an artist but I was also drawn to the collaborative, thought-provoking and inspiring atmosphere created when teaching in a studio art environment. I found the Artist/Teacher program at the Massachusetts College of Art and earned a MS in Art Education. I was able to grow my studio practice and take inspiration from it and directly apply it to my teaching. I gained experience teaching in a wide range of settings- museums, various community arts programs and in a high school as a student teacher. I received certification to teach art for grades 5-12 and was intending to become a high school art teacher post graduation.
Upon returning to Chicago, I began to work as a teaching artist at community arts organizations and museums and got a job on the Education staff of a non-profit art and youth development organization. I fell in love with the variety of communities I was able to serve, the autonomy in the courses I taught and the pedagogical exploration and freedom that was encouraged. To date, I have over 15 years experience teaching studio art courses for students in grades 6-12 and professional development courses and workshops for school teachers and teaching artists. To build relationships and connect with young people through art making is a gift that I don’t take for granted. Making art has been an essential tool for me in understanding myself and the world I inhabit since high school. The foundation of my artistic and teaching practice is rooted in a lifelong desire to explore, learn, collaborate and connect with others.
This video was created in 2018 and followed one of my photography courses at Marwen and our field trip to the DePaul Art Museum to see the Yasuhiro Ishimoto exhibition. I try as often as possible to look at contemporary art with my students, in-person on field trips to museums and galleries and in the studio as part of our syllabus.
