Teaching
Philosophy
Through most of my time in college, I worked at the Davinci Science Center in Allentown. This job consisted of a lot of explosions, but also a lot of experimentation. Much of the curriculum I taught was about experimenting with new materials, seeing what their properties are, and utilizing them to create something new.
This form of thinking has transferred over into my teaching philosophy. As it turns out, engineers, scientists, and artists aren’t actually all that different from each other. My former supervisor once told me, “Artists and engineers may look different at first, but put them at a party and you’ll never tell them apart.” Quite often, engineers need to think like artists, like “how can I design this product to make it more visually interesting?” Artists have to think like engineers, like “how could I keep this sculpture from collapsing?” Both of these thought processes come from the same source, creative thinking and experimentation.
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In my classroom, students will have ample time to experiment with materials before they are asked to create meaningful art with them. This may mean less projects throughout the year, but will increase the quality and thought behind each work. My class encourages creative thinking by offering challenging prompts for artwork that go beyond surface level ideas of artmaking. My ideal classroom will also contain ample time to experiment with art technology; Students are often afraid to use computers in the artmaking process, and would rather stick with what is familiar to them. In our technology-filled age, technology proficiency will allow students to expand the possibilities of what they can make, as well as encourage them to go outside of their comfort zone. Overall, my classroom will be a place filled with exploration, thought provoking prompts, and discovery to develop students into confident flexible artists.
