When I think of my first experiences with art as a child, I have very fond memories of visiting my grandparents on the weekends. I had a special workspace, and I would spend hours filling page after page with colors and lines. My grandparents were supportive and provided me not just with a pristine box of 64 Crayola colors, but with oil pastels and watercolors. Although my experience with art at home was positive, school experience was not the same. I entered Kindergarten at a younger age than most of my peers. My teacher mentioned concerns for my fine motor skills and handwriting. Pictures I drew appeared messy and weren’t picked to hang up in the classroom. Criticism of my motor skills and handwriting remained in the back of my mind all the way through my first drawing class in college.
After visiting my grandparents on the weekends, I would carefully select my best work to show my parents. My dad, being an architect, has always been supportive. Although, his affinity for precision and my desire to make expressive marks were creatively different, we had an unspoken understanding. My dad’s support remained a significant part of my path along the way. In middle school, my family moved to a rural town. Coming from a diverse area, it was quite a social change. Fortunately, I had art class with Ms. Karen Parks. Being in art class during this time of my life was transformative. Not only did I learn valuable technical skills that built my confidence, but I was able to grow a passion that provided an outlet at an time in life where one was much needed. Growing up in a small town left a lot of room for my aspirations to grow. I dreamed of places to visit and people to meet outside of my small world. Art class facilitated a way for me to expand outside of my small town. Music was another important factor in this growth. The more passionate I became about exploring art, the more hours I would spend with my headphones creating visualizations of sounds and words.
In high school, my art teacher Chris Gore further intertwined art and music. Music played every day in class, of all genres and decades. My first art class with Mr. Gore was a pottery class. I was held accountable to standards and expectations at a higher level. If I deviated too far from the objective, his feedback was always the same. “You gave me a hotdog when I asked for a hamburger.” I didn’t understand this statement at first, but it grew to make sense. It’s something I catch myself saying to students now. I also took my first painting class with Mr. Gore. He was an avid watercolorist and believed firmly in teaching exclusively watercolor in the introductory course. It was incredibly challenging, learning how to control such a delicate media, and I was self-critical of my control. However, he was always encouraging and slowly taught me how to work from reference photos and then transition away to create original works of art.
I went on to pursue art at the University of North Georgia (UNG). I wasn’t sure exactly what I would do, but I knew I needed to pursue art in some way. As part of the program, we took art materials out to rural schools or to groups of people that did not have art programs. I saw first-hand the power and transformation art can have on a child and community at large and made the decision to pursue art education. Through the program, I made lifelong friends who are supportive to this day. Through the drawing program, I became reacquainted with the pastels of my childhood. Particularly with the demands of student teaching, the direct mark making of pastels became even more appealing than it once was. Towards the end of the program, I did an internship under my former middle school teacher Karen Parks. She remains a mentor and support in my career, and I will forever be thankful for her transparency and support.
This was particularly helpful as I entered my first teaching position. I became an elementary art teacher in Dekalb County, Georgia. The schedule and routine of teaching elementary was helpful to build experience and confidence. The majority of my students were refugees, with over sixty languages spoken in the building. Many students came from dire poverty or from war torn countries. The power of art to reach these students grew in ways I never could have imagined. Through art, I was able to communicate, build relationships, and grow in ways that changed me as a person and as a teacher. I later came to understand the way students used art to express themselves as non-verbal representation. This phrase indicates a high level of learning, that is often overlooked or misunderstood due to language barriers. As I began to grow in experience and understanding of my students, I began to see the true applicable power of art education for diverse students. I took this with me and embarked on my current middle school position in Gwinnett County Public Schools (GCPS), where I teach a diverse group of English as a Second Language students.
These combined experiences have led me to where I am today, growing in my position in Gwinnett County. I am passionate about the power to enable students to communicate using non-verbal representation, while working to support their social emotional needs as well. My history of art classes served my social emotional needs and allowed me to create visualizations through music or personal sources of inspiration. I still work with pastels and watercolors to this day, valuing the ability to make direct marks and explore more expressively with fluidity. I encourage my students to explore a variety of media in which might facilitate their own visualizations, or non-verbal representation. I now find myself pursuing a Master of Art Education with the University of Florida, awaiting to see where the experience guides me.