LOCAL ART TEACHERS REFLECT ON THEIR PROFESSION By Glynis Mary McManamon Four North County St. Louis art teachers participated in the second annual Those Who Teach Can Too exhibition at Good Shepherd Arts Center in Ferguson during November and December of 2018. They shared their thoughts about their work as teaching artists with Glynis Mary McManamon, Executive Director of Good Shepherd Arts Center in Ferguson Veronica Ross-Mickan, Hazelwood West High School GMM: What is one thing you wish you had known before you jumped in with both feet into teaching?
Victoria Ross-Mickan: My love for art goes back many years when I began my studies in Fine Arts and German at UMSL in the early 1980s. I was required by the German Studies program to study in Munich, Germany. There, I passed the German for Foreigners Exam at the Universität Ludwig-Maximillian in Munich, Germany and stayed on, hoping to continue my studies there. Sad to say, I did not get into the Munich Art Academy and had to settle for my second desire, travel. I went on to study Business and Travel and worked many years in the travel industry, which was also great! I was able to travel and visit some of the world’s most intriguing cultural sites and fascinating museums.
VRM: I love art and I thought that most students would feel the same. Well, I found out that art is not everyone’s favorite subject. Many students take it for the Fine Arts credit that is needed to graduate. Still, I try to make it interesting for everyone. Also, I realize that I must slow down and explain many art techniques that I take for granted. Some basic things that were taught in school when I was a kid are no longer taught. I guess it is presumed that art skills are no longer needed. But then again, many of our students are really tech savvy and I learn from them as well.
In October 2009, I returned with my son to the St. Louis area and resumed studies, this time in the German and Art Education programs. I worked as a substitute teacher and as a student employee at Gallery 210 on the UMSL campus. In 2015, I graduated with a BA in both subjects. Guess you can say that my art career was put on hold for a while, but it was always my desire to become an artist and I love teaching.
VRM: Unusual? Well, I just taught a lesson in figure drawing and had my students work in groups to sketch a figure in a bathing suit or swim trunks before they worked on the project on their own. After explaining Da Vinci’s concept of the Vitruvian Man, each student was made responsible for drawing a specific part of the body. The composites came out a bit abstract, but very interesting in the end. Not just one, but many of my students have really “awed” me with their very exact portrait and figure drawings this semester. I expected them to be good, but they were really great!
Looking further back, my art and German teachers at McCluer High School were a great inspiration. I teach Drawing I and Art & Design I as well as German at Hazelwood West High School. It is amazing to see what terrific artwork students produce in these beginner classes. Imagine what great artwork they will create if they continue their studies in art at the university level! Wow!
GMM: What is the most unusual outcome of a lesson you taught?
my own artwork. If I see that a student shows great interest and potential, I would love to offer them the chance to exhibit at an early age. Can you imagine how it would feel as a 15 or 18-year-old to have your own art exhibition in a gallery space?
Victoria Ross-Mickan, (image courtesy of Good Shepherd Arts Center)
GMM: What are your future plans? VRM: Next, to continuing to teach. I would love to open a small art gallery myself. I am a small art collector and would love to exhibit my collection of artworks by other artists as well as
Victoria Ross-Mickan, Woman in Yellow Gele, (image courtesy of Good Shepherd Arts Center)
David Goodman, Vogt Elementary School Glynis Mary McManamon: Which came first, the chicken or the egg, i.e., the artist or the art teacher? David Goodman: I have been interested in art from an early age. I came to teaching after working with young people at summer camps
and ropes/challenge courses and enjoy being a mentor. GMM: What is one thing you wish you had known before you jumped with both feet into teaching?
ARTIST INTERVIEWS
DG: Managing student behaviors is one thing that is not adequately taught in college. Most of it must be learned by experience. GMM: What is the most unusual outcome from a lesson you taught?
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ARTIST INTERVIEWS
Glynis Mary McManamon: Which came first, the chicken or the egg, i.e., the artist or the art teacher?
