Teacher feature: Marissa Van Vleet

Post date: Jan 6, 2017 7:28:50 PM

Candace Donnan

Reporter

I had good fortune and pleasure of interviewing one of the “new kids on the block”, art teacher Marissa Van Vleet, who has just two years of experience in the field.

This is her first teaching job and she had to go through a number of steps to get here. Vleet said that applying for and getting a job starts at the beginning and has multiple steps. First, she had to graduate from a four-year college. Then, she had to pass four state tests, complete student teaching and apply for an educator license. Once one completes all of those requirements, teachers can apply for a specific job in a school system.

When asked to describe her job at Moorhead High School, Van Vleet states that her job is to teach students about their art, our art history and how to create new art. “I have always liked art and I really like people,” says Van Vleet. “When I was about four years old, my Grandmother was a substitute teacher for a time and she always had art supplies with which I could experiment and play.”

Van Vleet personally has a number of different types of art projects she likes to make and paint. “I do everything. I really enjoy painting people and landscapes and in addition, I like reading books, drawing and printmaking.” Printmaking is the process of making artwork by printing, normally on paper. Printmaking normally covers only the process of creating prints that have an element of originality, rather than just being a photographic reproduction of a painting.

Van Vleet says that an art degree can be used for a variety of careers. Examples she shared were any design based career, teaching, advertising and many others. Design based careers may include jobs such as graphic design, user experience design (UX), photographer, interior designer, multimedia artist and animator, art director, advertising and promotions manager, art director fashion designer or film and video editor to name a few.

When asked the main purpose for teaching art to her students, Van Vleet responds with, “I love it! I love when students think they’re going to be bad at something and when they actually try it they find out that they are good at it.” Van Vleet shares that there are numerous reasons for teaching art. One reason in particular is that art is a universal language and it helps students understand different cultures, different people and different times. And another reason is that art helps individuals reveal their talents and when people may not succeed in one area, they may be able to succeed in art.