Mr. Patrick Lundy

Art Education Philosophy

I believe all education should include a formidable curriculum in the arts. Individual creativity can be successfully achieved through area concentration and thoughtful course work. Students can learn to create and express with passion and purpose, regardless of their skill level or what art genre they are engaged in.

As a visual arts teacher, my philosophy is based on one goal above all else — to nurture student artists while being careful not to mold them. Within every student is a creative voice that must be allowed to mature freely, while developing the skills and confidence necessary to properly express themselves. Throughout my teaching of curriculums, units and lessons, the objectives will be centered in self-expression and creativity while featuring technical practices secondarily. Students who are engaged in their work because of a personal attachment to the content will naturally want to improve their skills, to do their ideas justice.

With that in mind, my next logical responsibility to my students should be to help them better understand their own unique point-of-view and examine their beliefs both personally and artistically. Thus, an on-going exercise in the coursework should be reflection and declaration. Personal growth through self-examination is like any other skill — it must be practiced to improve and students will consistently create works of art that make personal statements and express their view of the world. Through progressive lesson planning, I believe this can be accomplished. Students will be challenged with questions and topics that address life and art on a global, national, local and personal level, designed to fully flesh out their entire creative spectrum.  Another directive to increase the students’ artistic fluency will be through research and critical discussions. Using this methodology, students will acquire a complete understanding of the art world and its influence on their own work. It’s impossible to appreciate your own work without understanding the historical context and the way it’s influenced your growth as an artist. To this end, lessons will feature substantial criticism and reflection portions and ingrain in the students a constant consciousness about where their work has been, where it is, and where it’s going.

As an educator, I will strive to encourage young artists to be their own agents of artistic growth, exhibition, inquiry, dialogue, criticism, and personal promotion. Students who are interested in pursuing the arts as a career should be confident young artists with a considerable body of work. They should have confidence and trust in themselves as fine artists, designers, photographers or crafts-persons.