My primary teaching goal is to assist my students in developing and sustaining focus-- on one's self, one’s history, one’s language and one’s world. This focus fuels the desire to study and create, and constitutes an essential building block in the development of a personal voice. Arts educators have a responsibility to listen for these voices, and to develop a dialogue with them. Thus, the educational process is a mutual one. My students are young artists and, as a fellow artist, I respect their approaches and viewpoints. Such a stance enables me to assist them in the discovery and development of their own artistic directions. I challenge my students to think for themselves, to stretch their imaginations, and to attempt difficult works.

To encourage artistic growth, the classroom must be a site of personal and group trust. Such a community is essential for the promotion of supportive and critical dialogue; students must be able to present their ideas and comments in a receptive but intellectually rigorous atmosphere. Ridicule is no substitute for substantive critique. Once a democratic and inclusive dialogue is ongoing, the students recognize the need for developing an articulate and appropriate language that is both forward-looking and grounded in history. When students have a sense of their historical context, a grasp of their artistic lineage, and a verbal and visual language to communicate their ideas and feelings, they begin to engage in true critical analysis and creative expression, transforming their experience and views of the world into visual form. During the artmaking process and in critiques, my intention is to create an atmosphere where students feel they can express both uncensored reactions and carefully developed interpretations and analysis.

The development of a creative voice goes hand in hand with the development of technical skills. Technical proficiency provides the self-confidence necessary for emerging artists to express themselves within a medium. Technical and conceptual development progress in tandem. Just as finding and expressing a creative voice is a dynamic and continuing process, developing proficiency within a medium is a lifelong endeavor. I introduce a wide variety of techniques and approaches in my classroom, beyond those used in my art practice, to provide students with the largest available toolbox with which to shape their own work.

It is critical that students discover the passion that shapes their work. It is this commitment that will sustain them throughout their careers. Project-driven courses that incorporate regular reviews, both one-on-one and group critiques, help artist/students continually define and redefine their creative practice. Even within the duration of a semester, it is possible for young artists to see a trajectory of development, and to understand their presence within the work. In classes such as “Art in Context,” where students develop projects outside the academic setting, this process becomes even more evident and elaborate. I provide conceptual, contextual, historical, and practical guidance to expand a student’s artistic vocabulary to a living environment. I encourage students to express their personal aesthetic voices in the settings they have chosen, and I encourage them to set off in unfamiliar directions.

There is great satisfaction in witnessing the students’ growing independence. Watching them learn about themselves, develop skills, make historical and cultural connections and emerge as young artists with unique visions ultimately invigorates my own search. My support does not end when they graduate. Before and after their graduation, I make it clear that my door is always open. I enjoy the responsibility that mentoring entails: the reward is being part of a continuum of creativity.