I have 6+ years experience teaching studio art to older adults in non-traditional settings. Three times I have been a Su-Casa Fellow working for the NYC Dept. of Cultural Affairs/Queens Art Council   One Fellowship I taught basic painting another I taught mixed media collage and papermaking The third I taught basic clay hand building. I am a Workshop Presenter for the Queens Library System.  For the Library I have taught patchwork block making/quilt,ng; collage and techniques with air clay.  Sponsored by LifeTime Arts I taught mixed media collage for the NYPL.  I have also taught studio art in Adult-Ed Centers and for private art groups.  Teaching these courses puts me in constant contact with all types of adult groups not only the aging.  I love the intellectual challenges of teaching, I love meeting people, and I am totally committed to helping adults find their own unique creative expression.

My teaching artist philosophy is two-fold: I want to transmit technical skills because these are the armature on which we hang our creative ideas; and I want to meet each of my students where they are creatively and help them to take that next step forward creatively. I had a very thorough art education, both at Parsons, and through independent study of printmaking and clay sculpture. I had a good grounding in art history at Yale. I have been an artist all my adult life. I recognize all the problems and blocks artists encounter in their creative life because I've suffered through them. This personal knowledge helps me to help my students as they take their first timid steps towards creativity. After my students learn the basics of technique and are taking their first tentative steps as artists, I believe in answering their questions as they arise, but otherwise leaving them alone to work. It is by working on your own that you really develop self critical ability, internalize skills and grow creatively. I don't critique my students as I was critiqued in art school because these students are seeking creative self-fulfillment, not a professional career, but otherwise I do not distinguish between older adult students and young aspiring professional artists. We are all learners and we all must be treated with respect.