7-06-2022 4:33am

LOCAL TEACHERS GET BACK

SUMMER STORIES: PLEIN AIR PAINTING BY BCPS VISUAL ARTS EDUCATORS

An opportunity to reconnect as artists

FROM THE CLASSROOM TO PLEIN AIR

When the school year ends, both students and teachers are ready for a change. The BCPS Office of Visual Arts embraced this idea and invited visual arts educators from across the county to participate in a Plein Air Painting professional development activity for three days in June.

“Our teachers have been in ‘teacher mode’ for the last several months,” says Ryan Twentey, BCPS visual arts coordinator. “We designed this event to help teachers get into the mindset of being artists again and to help them reconnect with why they love what they do.”

“We designed this event to help teachers get into the mindset of being artists again and to help them reconnect with why they love what they do.” - Ryan Twentey, BCPS visual arts coordinator

Jermaine Gordon, Loch Raven High School

Amy Horrigan, Lansdowne High School

Nina Arlotta, Norwood Elementary School

Melinda Sherwood, Pikesville High School

Kathryn Heuston, Chesapeake High School

Matthew Voelker, Patapsco High School & Center for the Arts

Raine Valentine, Ridgely Middle School

A sampling of the art created by BCPS visual arts educators

In writing to art educators about this annual professional development opportunity, Twentey said: “The end of the year always offers us a chance to reflect on all that has happened in our classrooms, but also connect our own practices in studio art and recognize opportunities for growth, change, or experience in ourselves and what that may bring to our students next year.”

“The pursuits of a personal studio practice can be integral to the effectiveness of an art educator,” added Matt Voelker, art teacher at Patapsco High School & Center for the Arts. “The world outside our classroom wants to see children inspired and creative - a chief task we take on daily with amazing results. But far more difficult is to be inspired ourselves. We need opportunities to restore our own studio practices to continue to be able to bring that to students.”

“We need opportunities to restore our own studio practices to continue to be able to bring [inspiration] to students.” - Matt Voelker, art teacher at Patapsco High School & Center for the Arts

Mary Flynn, Battle Monument School

Matthew Duvall, Parkville High School

Ana Zavaljevski, New Town High School

Kathleen Chenowith, Dulaney High School

Martha Jacobs, Randallstown High School

Samuel Georgieff, Cockeysville Middle School

Shayna Clevenger, Lansdowne High School

A sampling of the art created by BCPS visual arts educators

Visual arts teachers were invited to participate one day asynchronously/online and then to spend two days in person in and around Patapsco High School, making art and sharing ideas and artmaking techniques with each other. Each onsite day began with discussions of their art practices

The response was phenomenal. An average of 47 teachers participated each day.

“There are so many parks and beautiful spaces near Patapsco High,” Twentey says. “Some teachers stayed on campus and worked outside or in the art studio on large canvases or throwing clay on the wheel. Others drove to nearby parks or into urban areas. Some went to Northpoint. At least one went to Kilgore Falls. Bird walks were also offered.”

Brandon Nicklas, Lansdowne High School

Taylor Boren, Logan Elementary School

Alexandra Harmel, Loch Raven Technical Academy

Christine Strong, Perry Hall High School

Kristen Filipovich, Elmwood Elementary School

Christine Honaker, Franklin Middle School

Marissa Chang, White Oak School

Cara Liggett, Carney Elementary School

A sampling of the art created by BCPS visual arts educators

On Friday, August 19, the participating teachers will reconvene to experience a gallery walk of all the work made and to collaborate on planning for the upcoming school year. “We will work to build units based on what we have learned through this process.”