- A lot of art students, and people in general, assume all of art is totally subjective and "you're either good and art or you're not." A big goal in my classroom in breaking down these assumptions and allowing art students of all levels to be able to approach new materials and projects. I set standards so the students go into each project knowing the expectations while having trust to try new challenges without fear.
- Teaching the Elements & Principles of Art is something I am very passionate about. Every project has a focus on at least one major element and one major principle of art. This helps to break down big projects into specific techniques and vocabulary terms, so it doesn't seem so overwhelming for beginner artists. One of the best benefits of this is that after each of these major projects, students increase their artistic confidence in asking questions throughout the process and they are able to speak about and explain their (and others) art in an academic way during final critques.
- They are able to not just keep this knowledge within the art classroom walls, but recognize and appreciate these terms & skills in the world around them as well as in their other courses.