Graduate Programs The innate curiosity of an artist is well-suited to educa- Artist + Educator = Your Story tion because you have to keep on learning as the world You and I probably share a sense of curiosity and drive to keeps on changing. Whether you see yourself teaching in create something. If you are an artist and interested in the public schools, community organizations, museums, or field of art education, we might have more in common—we other alternative learning spaces, I look forward to facilitat- want to make a tangible contribution to society. ing your own discoveries as you construct your personal One of the first times I taught art was at a public ele- story as an artist-educator. As a student in SVA’s Art Edu- mentary school in downtown New York City. I was invited to cation program, you will be a participant in an artists’ develop a safe creative space for children who preferred not community with access to educational and art facilities in to go outside during recess. Many of these children were the heart of NYC’s Chelsea neighborhood, and you will also bullied on the playground, or introverts who were sensitive be part of a family of art educators. Our proud graduates to noise. From that opportunity I learned about the include art teachers, school leaders, community arts orga- social-emotional benefits of art-making for children; I was nizers, published children’s book authors and museum hooked and never looked back. As a teaching artist, I shared educators who live all over the world. Our collective story art with children affected by domestic violence, adults with goes back 30 years and counting, and our graduates con- cognitive and developmental (dis)abilities, and K-12 school- tinue to share their stories with us. As you read on, I hope children from all parts of New York City in a museum setting. you will see why we remain so close to our past students. Every aspect of my graduate studies in art education American educational reformer John Dewey is commonly was critical for my growth toward becoming an informed art paraphrased as saying that we do not learn from experi- educator. The more I learned, the more I uncovered ence, but, rather, we learn from reflecting on experience. the depth and breadth of the art education field. There Through reflection on your experiences as a graduate stu- were theories to unpack, educational policies to contem- dent, you will form your own philosophy about why art plate, important research and discoveries within and education matters. You will cultivate your strengths and outside of the domain to understand, art materials and talents, but also discover your untapped voice as an art- methods to explore, curricula to design for a diverse audi- ist-teacher. No matter where you are in your art career, how ence, and pedagogical skills to practice and hone. While old you are, where you come from or what knowledge and studying art education, I figured out how to empower stu- skills you come with, there is always more to learn. I cannot dents who are marginalized in society and not readily wait to learn about who you are and your story as an represented in the curriculum. By applying theory to prac- artist-educator. tice, I saw the different ways in which my students were able to problem-solve on their own, to collaborate with —Catherine Rosamond, EdD others, to realize their imagination, to reflect on who they (she/her/hers), chair are, to persevere through challenging tasks, and to feel included and represented no matter who they are. About the Programs The graduate degree in Art Education, including the edTPA, a video-based teaching designed for students who have completed assessment. The 34-credit MA (Master of an undergraduate major in art or a related Arts) program largely overlaps with the MAT subject, can be completed either as a full- but is especially designed for socially engaged time, one-year intensive or as a two-year, artists who want to learn about teaching in part-time program—ideal for those who want museums and other community-based to continue working while they complete the organizations. The classes and curriculum coursework to become an art teacher. include offerings from other SVA graduate The programs take a learner-centered departments, including MPS Art Therapy and approach to art education that emphasizes MFA Fine Arts. backward design, collaboration and commu- Our faculty is composed of professional nity, and addresses the needs of diverse artist/teachers who are experts at training populations, including those with special artists to apply their creative skills to needs. We provide the foundations and teaching art to children in pre-kindergarten DEPARTMENT HISTORY continue to this day. These K-9 art classes, psychology of education as they are applied through grade 12. The Art Education department has origins started in 1987 by Whitfield Lovell and Nancy to diverse elementary school and secondary Whether you decide to pursue either the going back to 1989, when our Liberty Part- Wells, began as a Saturday program and have school populations. Seminar courses investi- MAT or MA degree in Art Education, you’ll be nerships Program with funding from the New grown to classes on Fridays, Saturdays and gate age-appropriate materials, processes immersed in contemporary art practices and York State Education Department provided Sundays, along with two-week summer pro- and educational concepts, which our students conversations. The programs culminate with supportive arts programming for middle and gramming. Taught by SVA art educators and then apply directly in schools and other the completion of a teaching portfolio, a high school students. Activities included art education graduate students, the classes educational settings. Individualized student master’s thesis and a final gallery exhibition. painting murals, live model drawing classes, have fostered creativity in many young artists teaching and internship placements are made All Art Education degree candidates group exhibitions and museum field trips. who have gone on to graduate from SVA and at carefully selected public schools and arts must successfully complete the full program, Students designed and sold umbrellas, func- other art institutions. organizations throughout the city. including all required courses, with a cumula- tional ceramics and even small furniture, with The 36-credit MAT (Master of Arts in tive grade point average of at least 3.0. In the profits going directly to the student. Many La Shel Olivere (MAT 2020) works with a student at PS 84 José Teaching) is geared towards the require- final semester, each student is required to murals were painted during the 20 years of De Diego in Brooklyn. ments for New York State certification complete a thesis project, which must be the program, including “The nature of this (Visual Arts PK-12), which will allow you to reviewed and approved by the thesis director flower is to bloom,” which was created in 1993 teach in New York City public schools. You and the department chair in order for the on the Upper East Side and restored in 2015. will be able to immediately put theories that student to be eligible for degree conferral. To meet the diverse needs of the larger you read about in class into practice through community within which SVA resides, the Art hands-on teaching experiences in NYC public Education Department has also offered art schools. This program also prepares you for programs for children (Art for Kids), which all the certification exams and assessments, 4 MA/MAT ART EDUCATION CASE STUDIES Aaron Taylor / Jessica Clark / Ivonne Tejada Three Paths: Becoming Art Educators Dating back to the Renaissance, when the CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: Aaron Taylor (MAT 2013), Jessica Clark (MAT 2009) and Ivonne Tejada (MAT 2019) great masters opened the doors of their studios to apprentices, artists have served as mentors to budding students. Three graduates of the Art Education Department found that their return to the classroom not only stabilized their incomes—it also brought deeper meaning to their lives. Aaron Taylor (2013) put an exciting but hectic freelance career on pause to share his pas- sion for photography with teens, Ivonne Tejada (2019) walked away from a job designing windows for Saks Fifth Avenue to help recent immigrant students find their voices and Jessica Clark (2009) left an office cubicle to develop social-emotional learning initiatives centered around art-making. 6 MA/MAT ART EDUCATION 7 Jessica Clark was employed as a graphic Jessica started a mental-health commit- designer in New York, but sitting in a cramped tee to foster social-emotional learning, office day after day was taking its toll. something she weaves into her art classes. “I had taught art at summer camps and “Each month we have a value. This month instructed kids,” she says. “While I was it’s empathy.” To explore empathy more deeply, working in a cubicle, I realized I wanted a job Jessica is introducing her students to the more like camp.” work of architect and artist Maya Lin, noting After graduating from SVA, she joined the that “empathy is the first step in design.” faculty of PS 527, a new elementary school on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, where visual Bookmaking project by Jessica Clark arts is a core subject. Staff are encouraged to design their own curricula and to propose ideas that benefit the school community. Aaron Taylor started at SVA as an undergrad Aaron came to the Art Education Depart- in photography. Within a few years, he was ment excited to redirect his career. Thirteen freelancing for Marie Claire magazine, Sam- days after graduating, he landed a job at the sung, Levis and Nike.