My philosophy coincides with what I believe to be important about life. Everyone has a purpose and our job as citizens is to actively assist our neighbor with whatever we have to help them. As an artist and an educator I would like to utilize my skills in visual and conceptual communication to increase the knowledge of my students, but more importantly to enhance their quality of life. Why do we teach art in schools? As stated by Lois Hetland and Ellen Winner in a Boston Globe article (and in their book StudioThinking) "arts teach a very specific set of thinking skills not emphasized elsewhere in school". Through the process of solving a unique problem; creating an art work, students can develop persistence, observation, envisioning, innovating and self evaluation. Habits which become personally meaningful and can be vital to success in life.
In the climate of increasing standardization in schools, "if our primary demand of students is they recall established facts, children we educate today will find themselves ill equipped to deal with problems..." (Hetland and Winner) that don't have standard solutions. The visual image I created to the right, illustrates my "six word memoir" professing the belief that work which has personal significance inspires the development, satisfaction and self esteem of the creator. When we spend time coming to know ourselves through the process of purposeful work, we begin to know who we are as individuals and what is important to us. This inspires healthy identity, self esteem and assists in the perspective of looking at the world to find our place within it. Bringing about positive change in individuals connects us in our humanity, and will ultimately bring us together in the desire to promote universal positive change .