Read, Write & Spread It!

Nice Quotes from the documentary: Class Act, about the importance of art education. You can check out the documentary at www.hulu.com type in Class Act, it’ll come up. I highly recommend it.

But for now, let’s just muse about teachers and the arts… Read these quotes but then take a minute to respond with who your favorite or most memorable teacher was, which teacher was most important, why? How did they change your life…

“The beautiful thing about learning is nobody can take it away from you.” –BB King

“It is a miracle that curiosity survives formal education.” –Albert Einstein

“We need to reconnect the sense with the mind and that’s what art education is about; it is about cultivating the capacity to notice what is subtle but significant.” –Dr. Elliot W. Eisner

“Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.” -Dr. Seuss

“No matter what you decide in your life to do, you’re always an artist.” –Jay W. Jensen

“The teaching artist is someone who could do nothing else but this. It is an artist that is aware that art is about social responsibility; that art is about connecting people.” –Jason Duchin

“Art is the only way to run away without leaving home.” –Twyla Tharp

“Where would any of us be today without teachers?” –Jay W. Jensen

What teachers are you grateful for?

I’ve been lucky to have some great teachers throughout my life, but I’ve had a few that have really opened my eyes to the arts and myself.

*I wouldn’t be where I am today without Mr. Mellow, my high school art teacher who’s tough love approach matched my stubbornness. And who’s giving nature and ability to present me with new mediums and materials on a regular basis, fed my endless curiosity. He pushed for me to go to art school.

*Jason Bagatta, the first teacher I had, on my first day of college classes at Chester, I continued to have him for almost every semester I attended and learned immensely about arts and life from him and his classes.

*Jeffrey Carson, at the Aegean Center for Fine Arts, the English guy, the History Guy, the Writer Guy, there wasn’t anything this man didn’t know about and couldn’t make a dirty joke to go along with. This man is a quote factory and has lead quite an interesting life.

*Jay Bordage: he opened my eyes to film and I could have taken his class a hundred times and still learned something new. I'll never forget the day I saw *his* work for the first time and felt truly privileged to be learning under him.

Of course, there are many others, I can applaud Chester College and The Aegean Center for being full of wonderful teachers and incredible artists. So I’m lucky…

Who is your favorite teacher and why?