Collage, Drawing, Painting, Printmaking, Sculpture

English

After School Program, Arts/Cultural Organizations, K-12 Schools, Library, Senior Center

Ronald Chironna, a native of Staten Island, New York, developed a love for the visual arts very early in his life, progressing from copying comic book illustrations as a youngster to creating acrylic paintings, silk screen prints, and pen and ink drawings in art classes in high school. Ron is a Pratt Institute summa cum laude graduate with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. At Pratt he majored in Communications Design and Illustration, learning the commercial art trade from some of the top professionals in the field. He’s worked as a freelance illustrator for clients from all areas of popular media for many years. After intensive arts education training with various teaching artist organizations, he’s been working as a teaching artist since 2007. He has residency experience with students of all ages and abilities, and focuses on employing enjoyable visual arts projects and exercises with his students in a safe and creative environment. His goal is to help each student tell their own unique story, create art in their own distinct way, and draw knowledge from a school’s curriculum in their own singular fashion. He continues to learn a great deal from the students with whom he has the privilege to work.

While most of my time as a teaching artist has been spent working with students in elementary schools, I have also enjoyed and benefited from working with seniors through my time at Staten Island's Art Lab and at the West Brighton Senior Center through a SPARC Grant. I realize that art programs for seniors have great value, both to the individuals involved and to society as a whole. The arts community benefits from the contributions and resources that older adults can provide. These kind of programs not only instruct our seniors, but allow them to become the creators, mentors, and advisors they've always had the potential to be, sharing the wisdom that they have gained through a lifetime of experience. As role models, they show us how to age creatively by sharing their unique perspectives on life. They may then be open to opportunities to share what they've gained from such a program with others their own age and younger, spreading the joy of keeping art as an important part of their lives.