Hello everyone!
This week has been an exciting one, as I have finally begun working with DeLaSalle High School! As a DeLaSalle alumni, I am very excited and grateful to have this opportunity to return to my roots and to continue to foster arts education in the Lasallian community. I returned to De on Tuesday, 1/24 and will continue my residency Tuesday and Wednesday mornings throughout the spring semester. While there, I will be observing and assisting the first three fine arts classes of the day, which include Intro to Visual Arts, Advanced Placement Studio, and Honors visual art. On my first day, I gave a short presentation about myself, my work, and what I do at MCAD to give students visual examples of what I do and why I am working with them in their classrooms. Since then, I have started to get to know the students and get a feel for their work. I am most excited to work with the AP Studio Art students and help guide them as they build on their concentrations for their final portfolios. After just one week I feel that I am becoming immersed in these classes and invested in the student's work. I can't wait to see all that is to come!
Earlier this week, I was also busy kicking off another portion of the Teaching Artist Practicum course: The Shadowing. I had the chance to meet with teaching artist Jan Elftmann at the Science Museum of Minnesota this Monday afternoon. After connecting with her in the lobby, she took me on a behind-the-scenes tour of all of the resources the Science museum has to offer. In a short amount of time, I was able to explore their classrooms, studios and storage rooms of materials, and to meet other teachers and artists who work alongside Jan, many of them being MCAD alumni. Throughout this meeting we discussed different opportunities for me to get involved, both in the Museum community and the arts. While we have tabled the idea of me actually assisting in Museum activities until the opportunity arises, I plan to attend some of her gallery openings and local events in this upcoming month. I am excited to get involved and see her work in person, and will update you all when more concrete plans to actually work in the Science Museum are made!
Until next week,
~Roman