Teaching & Workshops
I am passionate about discussing Opera, Dance, Lighting Design, and the relationships between art, the viewer, and the artist. Over the past three years, I have developed two classes: "Stage Design & Opera" and "Visual Identity: Aesthetics, Style, & Beauty” while currently developing two more classes.
My teaching philosophy breaks down into 5 basic points:
1) Finding and understanding connections because art doesn't happen in a vacuum.
2) Illuminating connections can help students discuss global themes and cultural currents, such as complicated social issues, and understand a shared sense of humanity.
3) Fostering a community in the classroom where students feel empowered to fail & grow.
4) Building a safe community that allows for critique & and feedback.
5) Emphasizing an inquiry-based classroom with projects that encourage self-guided learning and help decentralize the classroom, allowing for a broader base of ideas explored in the classroom.
Stage Design & Opera
This upper-level course examines opera as a form of drama through the lens of design. Through design-based projects, students will discuss how design elements can strengthen the audience’s relationship to the opera's drama and structure while developing strong musical dramaturgy skills. Students will get an overview of the Baroque, Classical, and Romantic periods, including those periods' conventions and unique styles. In the second half of the semester, the discussion will shift to how we can take opera conventions and explore how they fit into the 21st Century (either through new interpretations or site-specific work). Throughout the class, opera will be used to examine the portrayal and subversion of gender and class roles through history and cultural appropriation, and to examine the complex emotions and intentions of flawed characters as a lens for discussing our shared humanity. Sample Syllabus
Visual Identity: Aesthetics, Style, Beauty
Aesthetics, Style, and Beauty are three words with murky and problematic definitions. By studying these words, we can hope to define the art we wish to make in relation to the viewer. Styled after a seminar-type class, students will be guided through these and other problematic/multifaceted terms (Like culture, taste, form, and content) through class discussion. Each class will have students discuss the week's reading, with additional prompts from visual media related to each week’s readings. Students will also complete weekly prompts and three short papers. The class will culminate in students writing an Artist Statement that reflects the type of art they wish to create.
In Development
I am currently researching a series of essays titled "5 Questions for Collaboration in Dance" and a series of discussions in watercolor called "The Shape of Color."
Running an intro and intermediate board programing class in Kodiak, AK