Personal Statement
I worked as a Graphics professional for many years, I am multifaceted and excel in many creative and teaching avenues.
I spent a large amount of my early years after high school working with children in summer camp settings. I enjoyed the opportunity to do arts and crafts with children. Once I received my degree though, I pursued a career as a Graphic Designer and worked hard in advancing myself at Wayne State University since 1986. This endeavor left me little time to work with children except for my community service.
Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp has had my attention for several years by teaching in the Fibers studio. I have had the opportunity to teach middle school and high school students various multi-media skills. Although art education in a K- 12 setting was a my goal at one time, I find it exhilarating to teaching at the college level with technology driven software for design of printed and multi-media platforms. I enjoy sharing my experiences with other that hunger for information on how software works.
In 2000, I established software workshops at Wayne State University School of Medicine for faculty and staff to train them on how to prepare presentations and posters for their educational needs. Since then, I have been teaching them on quarterly basis. I find myself quite exhilarated and euphoric after classes. This feeling tells me that I am meant to teach. I continue to work with the Co-curricular program at the School of Medicine where I am an instructor and provide learning and self expression experience for medical students. I held Photoshop workshops where the students create montages of their clinical experiences. I also facilitate a Pecha-Kucha event bi-annually for students, faculty and staff. This allows for camaraderie and stress relief so all understand each other are going through the same life challenges. A very humorous event to attend. Visit www.pechakucha.org for more details on this style of presenting. I currently hold quarterly workshops for the "Feel Well/Do Well" Wellness programs through the School of Medicine. The workshops are called "Painting for Well Being". This allows the students a few hours to get their heads out of the books, use their right sides of the brain, and encompass a little art therapy by painting with acrylic paint on canvas. In 2014 I expanded this "Art Therapy" for medical students by offering multi-media workshops. The materials used for these workshops are papers, fibers, ribbons and ropes.
I have expanded my "Art Therapy" programs to my community. I open my house to mothers and daughters and host "Painitng Workshps" for mentoring young girls to have a place to freely express their creativity in painting. I have also developed a papermaking class to expand upon this art expression. Not just scrapbooking, I have the participates create raw sheets of paper from fibers by pulling the sheets from large vats of water and decorating them with found objects and layers of various colors.
Through these experiences with the teaching in the community I have come to realize that my heart really belongs to education. I plan to open my horizons and teach various workshops through the Downriver Council for the Arts. Key your eyes open for new classes.
I do believe Jean Piaget’s theory of constructivism in that individuals construct new knowledge from their experiences. I have, in my lessons, been incorporating new experiences to help students learn. This, I believe uses a framework of knowledge they already have and build on it.
In reference to a message I once heard by the folk artist Betye Saar, I have found my “jelly bean”. “The creative and artistic part of my soul.” Teaching others to be creative is that essential drive that I have that makes me tick and I want to share with others. I love sharing my experiences with people, and enjoy teaching them how to do new and exciting things.
I spent a large amount of my early years after high school working with children in summer camp settings. I enjoyed the opportunity to do arts and crafts with children. Once I received my degree though, I pursued a career as a Graphic Designer and worked hard in advancing myself at Wayne State University since 1986. This endeavor left me little time to work with children except for my community service.
Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp has had my attention for several years by teaching in the Fibers studio. I have had the opportunity to teach middle school and high school students various multi-media skills. Although art education in a K- 12 setting was a my goal at one time, I find it exhilarating to teaching at the college level with technology driven software for design of printed and multi-media platforms. I enjoy sharing my experiences with other that hunger for information on how software works.
In 2000, I established software workshops at Wayne State University School of Medicine for faculty and staff to train them on how to prepare presentations and posters for their educational needs. Since then, I have been teaching them on quarterly basis. I find myself quite exhilarated and euphoric after classes. This feeling tells me that I am meant to teach. I continue to work with the Co-curricular program at the School of Medicine where I am an instructor and provide learning and self expression experience for medical students. I held Photoshop workshops where the students create montages of their clinical experiences. I also facilitate a Pecha-Kucha event bi-annually for students, faculty and staff. This allows for camaraderie and stress relief so all understand each other are going through the same life challenges. A very humorous event to attend. Visit www.pechakucha.org for more details on this style of presenting. I currently hold quarterly workshops for the "Feel Well/Do Well" Wellness programs through the School of Medicine. The workshops are called "Painting for Well Being". This allows the students a few hours to get their heads out of the books, use their right sides of the brain, and encompass a little art therapy by painting with acrylic paint on canvas. In 2014 I expanded this "Art Therapy" for medical students by offering multi-media workshops. The materials used for these workshops are papers, fibers, ribbons and ropes.
I have expanded my "Art Therapy" programs to my community. I open my house to mothers and daughters and host "Painitng Workshps" for mentoring young girls to have a place to freely express their creativity in painting. I have also developed a papermaking class to expand upon this art expression. Not just scrapbooking, I have the participates create raw sheets of paper from fibers by pulling the sheets from large vats of water and decorating them with found objects and layers of various colors.
Through these experiences with the teaching in the community I have come to realize that my heart really belongs to education. I plan to open my horizons and teach various workshops through the Downriver Council for the Arts. Key your eyes open for new classes.
I do believe Jean Piaget’s theory of constructivism in that individuals construct new knowledge from their experiences. I have, in my lessons, been incorporating new experiences to help students learn. This, I believe uses a framework of knowledge they already have and build on it.
In reference to a message I once heard by the folk artist Betye Saar, I have found my “jelly bean”. “The creative and artistic part of my soul.” Teaching others to be creative is that essential drive that I have that makes me tick and I want to share with others. I love sharing my experiences with people, and enjoy teaching them how to do new and exciting things.