When I was a Substitute Teacher Artist
I was a substitute teacher for 16 years with the San Francisco Unified School District. During that time, I gradually incorporated more and more of my art practice into my teaching, and my work in schools definitely changed the way I made art.
I was a substitute teacher artist.
Substitute Teacher Artist
acrylic and crowd-sourced mixed media collage on canvas, 30" x 36", 2007 SOLD
This piece is now on displace in the reception area of the Prometric Testing Center in Westbury, New York.
The story behind “Substitute Teacher Artist”
Sometimes when I arrived in a classroom, I would find that the teacher had not left any meaningful work for students to do; or teachers would schedule me as their sub and would allow me to offer my own lesson. When this opportunity came up, I enjoyed creating some creative chaos with some teenagers.
This painting represents several classes at Galileo Academy for Art and Technology participating in a free-form exquisite corpse style art process. I would pass blank paper and drawing supplies around the room for students to draw on. Every minute or so, we would pass the pages around the room to develop some chaotic art. Students could add whatever words or drawings they wanted onto the paper so long as they followed the three rules that I would write on the board:
Keep it PG so that we can share the art with any audience.
No hating. You can make fun of public figures, but not your classmates.
Work with what’s there. Respond to what’s on the paper that gets passed to you.
You can see that many of the students' writings and drawings have been collaged into the painting.
In the book
Read a bit more about my experience subbing in “Substantial Classrooms,” a new book by Jill Vialet and Amanda Von Moos. Two pages of the book are about me, and the rest takes a design thinking look at the potential for change in the “substitute teaching space."
It was an honor to talk about subbing with Jill and Amanda, and I look forward to supporting the work of their organization Substantial Classrooms.