As we approach another school year, shifting our mindset sets the stage for welcoming students with excitement, energy, and teaching what we love—art education. We reconnect with colleagues to reignite that school spirit. We enter the art room with wonderful ideas and summer art experiences to inspire, guide, and empower students through art.
Frank Juárez (left) and the NHS art department in front of its 200-plus student art display during the 2024 EXPO community event at Sheboygan North High School.
As you read this issue, I invite you to think about what draws you to SchoolArts magazine. Do you find yourself reading articles that relate to your teaching level or perhaps to discover new projects for your curriculum? Do you skim the issue to learn how to become a published author? For me, it was the latter. If you want to become a published author, the first step is to put yourself out there.
Since my first SchoolArts experience in 2015, I’ve noticed how methodical I’ve become in disseminating curriculum, developing new projects, designing assessments, and, most importantly, discovering ways to empower student creativity, celebrate their identities and amplify their voices. Being a published author provides me with the means to advocate for my students, my art program, and art education while reaching new audiences on a larger platform. The impact on my students is evident in their artwork, how they connect their personal and artistic experiences with contemporary issues, their contributions to their place of belonging, and how my teaching practice has helped them navigate the world they live in.
Being published nine years ago gave me the confidence to keep writing, which ultimately paved the way to finding my voice. This journey presented several opportunities with SchoolArts, which led to me becoming the new editor-in-chief.
A Little Bit About Me
In 2001, I began my teaching career at Riverview Alternative Programs (now Central High School) in the Sheboygan Area School District in Wisconsin. In January of 2006, I transferred to Sheboygan North High School, where I currently teach grades nine to twelve. The following year, I became the art department chair. I have also developed several art programs aimed at introducing high-school students to varied art experiences that foster, nurture, and connect their interest in art, including an artist talk series, an artist-in-residency program, a gallery internship, and the Midwest Artist Studios Project.
In This Issue
In this issue, you will find a variety of ideas on how to kick off your school year.
In “A Tale of Two Landscapes” (p. 34), Stacey Walden challenges her elementary students to think about what a landscape is and what it can look like realistically and abstractly from the perspective of two painters.
Nikki Guerrini’s lesson “Inquiry-Based Self-Portraits” (p. 20) introduces her middle-school students to the art of portraiture through a guided exercise to build observational drawing skills. Students then create “mirrored” self-portraits in their own style and in the style of a chosen artist.
At the high-school level, Todd Poteet’s “Painting with Paper” (p. 22) simplifies the techniques involved in painting through color theory and the use of colored tissue paper.
How will you begin the school year? We hope the articles in this issue will jump-start your planning.
Art teachers start the school year with lessons that engage students while teaching them foundational skills and techniques. High-school students explore shape-based thinking and color theory while creating paintless paintings with tissue paper; middle-school students complete the second half of their self-portraits in the style of a chosen artist; elementary students utilize the elements and principles to draw realistic and abstract landscapes; young students learn about personal preferences while designing paper shoes; and more.
