Community Arts Partner

Teaching Approach

Teaching Philosophy + Approach

It's important for the teaching artist and the teacher to have a shared set of expectations regarding any residency. Good communication is invaluable for this to occur. For me, living on the Peninsula, planning with teachers generally takes the form of a series of email or phone conversations. Topics can include: workshop structure and flow, class size and schedule, teacher/artist roles, special needs, etc. Sometimes, more in-depth, face to face planning is required, (such as when I did a school wide residency with Loyal Heights Elementary, creating troll masks and giant puppets based on Norse mythology for a Ballard parade.) I consider myself a catalyst. My role is to provide students with the tools, materials, and guidance they need for discovery learning. I believe that learning is something that children do, not something that is done to them. I want children to know they can be artists and to learn how they can use and develop art based knowledge and 21st century thinking skills. I also want the artistic journey to be accessible to everyone in the classroom, regardless of their skill level, and to take pride and ownership in what they create.

Curriculum Integration Possibilities

Nearly all of my visual art workshops and residencies can be integrated with other subject areas, such as social or cultural studies or language arts. Examples of these include: masks and giant puppets based on Norse mythology for a cultural heritage parade, headdresses of endangered species for a "Procession of All Species" event at a tribal center, Scylla heads for a production of "The Odyssey", salmon lanterns for the closing ceremony of a local Salmon Festival, self portraits and poetry, bird portraits and poetry. I also have specific workshops that integrate art with science and/or math. Examples of these include Bubble Geometry, Kirigami and Physics for Artists. My Rocketry workshop has students working in cooperative groups where each student has a specific task. After a crash course in rocket science, they use math, art and applied physics to design, build and launch rockets. After the first launch, data is analyzed, and rockets are rebuilt for a second launch. I've also done dioramas, which can be linked to history, geography, geology, or language arts.

Special Skills and Areas of Expertise

I particuarly enjoy creating props and puppets for theatrical productions. Recent builds include the Audrey Two puppets for "Little Shop of Horrors", flying seagulls and an angry rhino for "James and the Giant Peach", and a 10ft tall Cyclops with a moving eye and mouth for "The Odyssey". I have always been fascinated by the physics of light and sound. Several years ago I created a device I call the Sonic Spirograph that bounces a laser beam off of a mirror attached to a speaker. By combining notes on a Casio keyboard, you are able to see as well as hear the difference between harmony, union and dissonance. I've worked with a variety of at-risk and under-served populations. I wrote a grant to do a series of self portrait workshops with street involved youth at the Sanctuary Art Center. I taught middle school science for a year at Zion Prep Academy in the Central District. I've done art workshops with First Nations peoples at Daybreak Star and Suquamish Elementary. I've been the artist-in-residence for several of Power of Hope's youth empowerment camps. I've also been to Taiwan twice as a celebration artist to work on the annual Dream Community parade.

Testimonials from Schools

Eliza Lane  Bainbridge Arts & Humanities  206-842-7901 elizal@bainbridgeartshumanities.org tonyar@bainbridgeartshumanities.org Erica Delma - YMCA  360-471-6778 fabulousnanny@yahoo.com Daniel Molotsky - OCEAN program at Port Townsend School District dmolotsky@ptschools.org Kit Penell - Pi program at Chimcum School District kit-pennell@csd49.org