MS Art Ed; BFA Art Ed; BFA Painting/Drawing
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Laurel is is currently on maternity leave.
Coming from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (a very average US blue-collar city), I was lucky enough to have parents who supported my odd curiosities such as "scientific exploring" (hmmm, what happens when you squirt baby oil into the toilet bowl?) and "artistic endeavours" (taking the creation of original Halloween costumes far too seriously). When I learned Andy Warhol was from Pittsburgh too, I figured being strange was okay, and anxiously awaited my 15 minutes of fame. (I'm still waiting.)
Teachers who, in their own ways, got me inspired enough to venture bravely into expanding my oddness and make something of it were the stimuli needled to become who I am now.
My goal to be an art teacher as well as an artist took me to very cold Syracuse University (an hour south of the Canadian border, in New York), where I worked through my undergraduate degrees in Art Education and Painting, and then stayed on for my Graduate degree work in the same fields with a special focus on art produced during World War II and my own artistic response to research on the topic.
I have taught classes in many different kinds of schools: from private, snobby schools to schools where 99% of the student body was below the poverty level; from preschoolers with crayons up their noses to a 21 year old art prodigy with the reading level of a 7 year old; from guns and threats to ESOL adults making a new start. In my teaching I have been taught myself. Eventually, I discovered TLC, and found it to be a school that fitted into a niche that none of those other schools ever did, and I wanted to be a part of it.
An interest in traditional Maori art brought me here. Further interest in its contemporary embodiment, fascination with domestic compulsions of the sporting scene, relatively tangible beauty and a warm spot in my heart for tv shows featuring Newsboy is what keeps me here.
When I sit back and wax philosophic I often discover that if I've learned only one thing in my lifetime, it would be that everyone has a story to share and you can learn something from everyone - so seek out others, learn their experiences…they can help you discover your own.
The Learning Connexion
Phone +64 4 568 0320 or
0800 ART POWER
(0800 278 769 within NZ)
Fax +64 4 567 9864
www.tlc.ac.nz
info@tlc.ac.nz
PO Box 9811
Wellington 6141
Taita Campus
182 Eastern Hutt Road
Taita, Lower Hutt 5019
New Zealand
'Go!' is just $89.95 and available direct from The Learning Connexion.
Copies can be purchased by cheque or direct credit.
Contact us:
Phone » 0800 278 769 (freephone)
Post » P.O. Box 9811 Wellington
Email »info@tlc.ac.nz
Check out our 2008 prospectus for more information.
Feel free to email us with any questions you may have.
You can also phone us -
0800 ART POWER
(0800 278 769).
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