ARE6049

The History of Teaching Art

Jodi Kushins

Personal Art History

Kendra Edgell

 

In kindergarten, I didn’t have many friends.  I was a shy kid.  On some special days, my teacher Mrs. Spence would let me stay inside with her while my classmates went outside to play for recess.  She did this because she knew I liked to draw, paint, and create.  During one of these special days, she asked what my favorite animal was and told me that I should try to draw or paint it. I painted a cat.  Without me knowing, she submitted it to a statewide art contest.  I won an award for that painting and had my picture taken with her and my principal and was put in the local newspaper. I was so embarrassed to have the spotlight because of my introversion, but it made my family proud.  The clipping of the photograph from the newspaper hung on my grandfather's refrigerator until he passed away in 2016. Although I didn’t love having my photo taken and people praising me for my work, it was a formative experience. I was lucky to have a teacher that was so supportive of me and my creative side at such a young age.

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In second grade, Mrs. Becky Thompson would let me help her decorate her classroom bulletin boards by drawing, crafting, and arranging images to help achieve her vision for the month.  Becky was my best friend's mother and I would often spend time at her house and she would always have ideas and crafts for us to work on and create. Another very influential elementary school teacher that I had was Mrs. Ingram.  She was my first art teacher who later became a mentor and supervised me during my undergraduate student teaching experience.  Mrs. Ingram was always supportive, compassionate, patient, and enthusiastic with all of her students.  She made elementary school fun-I looked forward to her class and she taught me many skills and ideas that I carried with me as an adult.  I credit Mrs. Ingram with encouraging me to pursue art.

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When I first moved into high school, I found Mrs. Pauley.  My sister always raved about her. While she wasn’t technically my teacher, I would find my way to her classroom on a daily basis.   She allowed me to sneak into her class during my study hall, where I attended lectures, watched other students, and worked on my own projects.  When I officially started art classes, Ms. Marston helped me build a foundation by introducing me to basic high school level skills and art history.  Ms. Marston didn’t take any nonsense from students; she taught us to be responsible, work on time management, and supported us without any coddling. 

Next was Coach Pratt; the most unexpected art teacher I have ever encountered.  He was kind, encouraging practice and collaboration amongst his students.  He taught me so many processes and techniques I hadn’t learned before in the role of my drawing, painting, ceramics, sculpture and studio art teacher.  Coach Pratt allowed me to come up with my own projects, present them to him, and follow what I love. 

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As I entered college level courses at Radford University, I had a number of outstanding teachers.  The first was Dr. Carlee Bradbury, who gave me a love and appreciation for art history that I never had before.  She taught the subject in a way that was interesting and intriguing and less daunting and boring.  Dr. Bay was eccentric and exciting. He was my supervisor and the head of the Art Education department for the majority of my time. He began my supervision of student teaching, but left the University before I graduated. His teaching philosophy was outside of what most teachers saw as the norm, with his thoughts about teaching being “outside of the box” and he was often ridiculed for this.  However, I learned a lot and have taken so much from my experience with him.

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Mrs. Louann Thompson was my final mentor and supervisor at Radford University. As an art teacher of over 30 years, she gave her students a lot of insight and anecdotes on what teaching in a classroom is actually like. She oversaw the end of my student teaching experiences, and continues to be supportive and helps advise me to this day.  She has become a close friend and we often collaborate and work together with lesson planning, community art projects, and helping bring my students to Radford for art shows and field trips.  Louann encourages me to be a better teacher and artist, as well as encouraging me to continue my education by applying for this program. I am forever grateful for her continued support.  

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Above all, I have always had the love and support from my family. My mom, dad, and sister have always supported my creative side and artistic endeavors. My dad went to college for art and later became a designer and an artisan in a dying field of timber frame homes and has taught me so much about architecture and this craft. His love and appreciation for arts and crafts and art history was something that really brought us together, and will be something that I take with me through the duration of my life. My mom has always said she is bad at art, but throughout my life she has created artworks that will be always be my favorites. Although these works are not made with technical artistic skill, my mother’s creations have taught me that artwork is more about the emotions and intentions behind the work.  I’ve always looked up to my sister. There are nine years between us, which has not always been easy, but she always let me paint and draw with her. Even though we didn’t always get along when we were younger, I knew she truly loved me because she let me create with her and next to her, and during these times, we never fought. To this day, my family supports my creative and artistic side.

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All these people who have supported me and my love for creating art and expressing myself through art have helped me become the art teacher that I am today.  I have taken pieces from each of them and the experiences that I’ve had with them have helped me grow as a person and artist.  I try to be an advocate and supporter of my students while teaching them about the visual arts.  I am an amalgamation of the people who have supported me and helped me grow into the artist and teacher I am today.  It is my hope that I can continue to grow as an artist and a teacher to be even a fraction of the people I have mentioned above for my students. Now I am a student in the Master’s of Art Education program at the University of Florida. I am excited to continue my own education, create more artwork, and to become a better art educator for my students.