Hello! I am so glad that you are here! I am asking for the support of parents to help reframe the visual arts education mindset for our students, school, and community. All students who walk into the art room come in with different skill sets and ability levels. My goal as a teacher is to facilitate an environment in which students are able to gain an appreciation, and respect (if not a love) for the visual arts, and teach students to begin to think, problem solve, and create like artists. Doing so is much more effective when parents are able to recognize and communicate to students the values of visual arts. Here are some ways that you can help!

Emphasize the relationship between the impact of visual arts on culture and visa-versa. We live in a "Visual Culture" where students as 21st century learners must learn to "read" images as well as text. Visual arts and culture have always had a great impact on each other. Much of what we know about history, ART has told us!  

Encourage students to approach their visual arts courses with a similar academic mindset as they are expected to approach any core subject, knowing that the visual arts offer their own unique benefits & challenges. Visual arts courses may allow for unique freedoms and have their own differences, however they are areas of academia explored by many well rounded academics and great minds such as Leonardo Davinci. 

Teach growth mindset and the power of YET. As teachers and parents we can often see that our students and children are capable of so much more than they realize. The power of YET presumes that much of what we don't know or can't do is simply something we don't know or can't do YET. We often help students overcome by demonstrating, modeling, teaching, and empowering them.  Part of doing so having high (not unrealistic) expectations of students, that students can rise to meet. This often means stepping back as they first struggle, and then with persistence persevere through difficult challenges and situations to realize their capabilities. Students are already artists in some form or another because they all have experiences meaning they have things to say, show, or share visually in arts classes. I hope to collaborate with you in facilitating an environment to encourage students to discover and grow the artist inside!

Earn... Remind students that assessments are tools that provide information on students skill sets, knowledge, concept application and more. Accomplishments are so much sweeter when they are earned! Projects are assessed based on rubric criteria & project standards. 

Regardless of your child's current content knowledge and ability level concerning the visual arts course he or she is currently enrolled in, it is my goal that all students have the opportunity to experience visual arts, while exploring his/her own unique visual voice. In doing so students will become familiar with course content and proficient at producing his or her own visual arts pieces using techniques and skills learned. Visual Arts courses have many wonderful moments in which they are "fun", "exciting", "engaging", "liberating", etc. but that doesn't mean they are always easy. On the contrary can at times they can be "frustrating", "difficult", "tedious", "time consuming" etc. However, when being persistent and persevering through both the ups and downs students will genuinely find their experiences "rewarding", "satisfying", "worthwhile", "gratifying" and will have produced art works that they are proud of. When hoping for high achievement levels parental support is greatly beneficial.