My teaching philosophy is based on the belief that art is a defining characteristic of all cultures.  It is where ideas, revelations, techniques, and aesthetic converge to become part of who we are collectively.   We must constantly explore, experiment, and reflect upon what art contributes and reveals about humanity, so that we understand its place in our shared culture and in our individual lives.  Thus, my role as a professor of art is twofold.  The first role is to impress upon students the importance of studying and practicing art as a way to understand culture.  The second is to help students find their individual artistic roles within that culture.

The making and critiquing of art is the most effective way for any student to determine his or her own relationship to art. For the art major, making and critiquing art is vital to the pursuit of a career in art.  It is important for all students to learn to accept criticism, to deliver helpful feedback, and to take responsibility for the ideas and objects they create. These skills are necessary for all aspects of life and work. To this end, my classroom critiques are structured so that students learn to evaluate and criticize the work, rather than the artist. Student artists, in turn, learn that negative criticism of their work is not a personal attack, but represents an authentic desire to help the artist improve the work.  My students leave my classroom with the understanding that negative constructive criticism is more helpful than vague reinforcement.

Because individual students arrive in class with different knowledge and skill levels and learn new skills and knowledge at different rates, it’s important to assess learning by measuring each student’s relative progress in the course. To adequately assess progress means that I must take into account each student’s starting and ending points.  This requires that I be aware of who my students are as people and as artists.  Although progress is important, I also require each student to meet minimum standards of technical and theoretical expertise.  Using this dual approach, I am able to respond to individual student needs.  The student who enters the class with little or no knowledge or experience can do well in the class by meeting minimum expectations and, more importantly, by demonstrating progress.  At the same time, the more experienced student is not allowed to rest on that experience, but is challenged to expand and improve on existing knowledge and skills in order to do well in the course.

To conclude, teaching is one of the most direct ways for any of us to institute and practice the change we wish to see in the world.  It is the role of every artist and art teacher alike to make clear to others the things that art does, and has potential to do for humanity. We are obligated to make clear the contributions art makes that no other field of study can make to further our understanding of ourselves.  As a teacher and an artist, I am responsible for contributing to a larger understanding and progression of the visual arts through my work and through my students.