My car filled to the brim with supplies for the Village Outreach Program.
2 months ago I received an email through my website which was titled “Teaching Art – Polar Bears!” My heart started racing as I opened the email. I was frantically reading through an email which paraphrased was “ConocoPhillips… 300 community members… painting bowhead whales…. see Polar Bears”
The words in my mind over and over were, yes. Yes! YES!
Travel in my art is very important. Especially in the place I live. After teaching art in West Africa, rural Minnesota, and now rural Alaska, I feel fortunate and blessed for the opportunities that I am given.
Teaching in Shageluk, Alaska in 2014 through the Alaska State Council on the Arts, Artist in Schools grant.
It is a joy and privilege to travel to rural places in Alaska and teach art. Art is a healing and creative form of expression that is teachable to anyone, with any skill level. I am also a Licensed Professional Counselor and offer workshops on how art can help treat stress and be an enjoyable activity to do alone or with family or friends. I learn so much each time I travel somewhere in Alaska and there is so much rich culture and life in rural Alaska, the people I meet are amazingly hospitable and have real gifts in creating art, some individuals who have taken my classes have become budding artists and I receive letters and emails about their continued art practice, I love seeing what they have created.
Happy art hands and smiles while teaching in Shageluk, Alaska in 2014 through the Alaska State Council on the Arts, Artist in Schools grant.
This week I will be traveling to one of the most northern point in Alaska via 2 airplanes to teach K-12 students, and 300 community members of Nuiqsut, Alaska how to paint through the Village Outreach Program through ConocoPhillips. There will be basketball tournaments, there will be whale eating perhaps, there will perhaps be Polar Bear sightings. Most importantly, a wonderful organization sees the need for art and creativity in our world and I feel fortunate to be part of this endeavor. Stay tuned for news on this amazing experience in the coming weeks. Bon Voyage!