Experience
Read about my experience working in art education and view examples of student work.
Kentucky Governor’s School for the Arts
The Kentucky Governor’s School for the Arts (GSA) is an annual summer program that brings together Kentucky’s brightest young artists in eight different artistic disciplines for three weeks of intensive arts programming. GSA is the largest tuition-free summer arts intensive in the country and has served students from all 120 Kentucky counties. In 2022, the program expanded from one session per summer to two, doubling the number of students each year who get the opportunity to attend. I attended the program as a student in 2019 and worked on staff as an assistant for the Visual Art discipline for both sessions in 2022 and 2023, and will return for both sessions in 2024. In this role I assist the Visual Art faculty in guiding a group of forty students each session through curriculum in ceramics and sculpture, drawing and painting, and printmaking. What follows is a selection of work from the program’s 2022 and 2023 Visual Art students.
Artist Statement Workshop
I facilitated a workshop for GSA students to write artist statements that would be presented alongside their final day exhibition. Students were given a guide that included a checklist of things to include in an artist statement and prompts to generate thinking; I also presented my own artist statement as an example. Once students had finished writing a draft, they added creative embellishments that reflected their individual personalities and prepared their statements for display. The images below are a sampling of the work students created during the workshop.
Ceramics and Sculpture
With instructors Hannah Smith, Sean Starowitz, and Susie Trejo-Williams
Wearable Sculptures
Students created wearable sculptures using recycled cardboard and limited adhesives. The restricted use of materials promoted problem-solving and encouraged students to think creatively about the design and functionality of their work. Students activated the sculptures through video and live performances.
Video by GSA Drawing and Painting Instructor Nathaniel Hendrickson
Face Jugs
Drawing inspiration from the global tradition of ceramic face jugs, students were tasked with creating themselves in vessel form. Students were given a brief overview of ceramic techniques, with emphasis on pinch/coil building and slab construction. The sculptures were finished with casein paint, which allowed students to build layers of color similar to a watercolor finish.
Drawing and Painting
With instructors Aubrey Nibert and Nathaniel Hendrickson
Live Figure Drawing
Students participated in timed figure drawing sessions with live models from GSA staff (including me!).
Independent Projects
Each session students completed a final drawing or painting to close out their time in the program. Students in the first 2023 session were given a word from John Koenig’s Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows, a book “of made-up words for emotions that we all feel but don’t have the words to express,” and tasked with capturing those feelings in a painting. Students in the second session responded to the prompt “something that is unavoidable.” The open nature of these prompts generated a wide range of responses, from lighthearted anecdotes to meaningful personal imagery. Beyond these prompts, some students opted to create an additional artwork on the subject of their choosing.
Printmaking
With instructors Susan Harrison and Hannah Smith
GSA students experimented with a wide range of printmaking techniques including linocut, chinê colle, etching, monotyping, screen printing, collograph, and pronto plate lithography processes.
