Art and Art History

Teaching Philosophy

“You cannot grow unless you attempt things beyond your powers.”

-Charles Burchfield

 “The soul should always stand ajar, ready to welcome the ecstatic experience.”

-Emily Dickinson

My teaching philosophy embraces the importance of discovery. My greatest ambition as an educator is to foster a life-long love of learning, making, and questioning. I am a mentor to all of my students. Working one-on-one and taking the time to get to know each student is integral to my teaching philosophy.  Whether my class is small or large, each day I work with students independently to offer my experiential insight, provocative questions and lists of contemporary and historical artists that are relevant to their interests. I offer guidance at all levels from foundations through graduate to prepare a student for a life and career in the arts.

As an artist and educator, I feel that process is of equal weight to outcome. Hands-on experience in the studio or classroom is a frequent consequence of time spent somewhere else.  Long walks, experimental sketches, enlightened conversations, magazine clippings, favorite songs, poems and stacks of library books are tools to make art.

Most of all, I believe that art enriches people’s lives.  As a teacher, I seek to provide my students with necessary skills and tools to make each of their individual worlds an outstanding place.