By Katherine Hatcher | Staff Writer
Art Center Waco opened a new exhibit on Aug. 8 to celebrate multiple art educators around Waco who inspire the community as mentors and artists.
The heart of the Art Edu Exhibit highlights how educators of art are still talented artists themselves and have been vital in passing down artistic and life skills to the younger generation.
Executive director of Art Center Waco, Meghan Bias, said the exhibit also addresses how art educators today are so much more than their job.
“They came into that job because of their love of art and because of their ability to be creative and expressive,” Bias said. “We wanted to celebrate, you know, how they are talented and have a story to tell on their own as well, aside from being a teacher.”
Bias said art teachers prepare their students for society both emotionally and academically. She said she could attest from her own experience, as she wouldn’t be where she is today in her artistic career without the positive experience she’d had with her own art teacher.
Along with the exhibit, the center’s art educators’ influence can also be seen through the opportunities at Art Center Waco, in which the younger generation can participate. Bias said they offer a variety of art classes, including improv, that can aid students in their artistic futures.
“I think when you do any of those types of classes, I think it adds to your being just a more well-rounded student. I think it allows you to ignite that creative ability to problem solve. It allows you to look at things in a different perspective,” Bias said.
In addition to classes, Bias said young volunteers are allowed to work at the art center, allowing them to grow their resumes.
“We had a lot of young volunteers, and it was just so great to see them interact with the kids and with the teachers, and they really just brought a lot of the classes to life,” Bias said.
Bonnie Holmstrom, art teacher at Waco High School and Art Center Waco, said that she finds the work that art educators do to help prepare students for life.
She said she has her students enter one specific art competition every year, the Texas High School Visual Arts Scholastic Event, because it allows them to help build their resumes for college, gain life skills and confidence.
“You have to be a critical thinker through your work,” Holmstrom said. “You have to go through the planning and research, and then you’re doing the creation. There’s a written portion and an interview. You’re really forced to speak up for yourself and for your artwork as well.”
Even though academics are important, Bias said she’s seen in her career how special it is for art educators to create space for young people to grow emotionally, as well. She said that by encouraging kids to create, they work through hard things by connecting with their art.
Bias said that Art Center Waco and the art educators there have a unique opportunity to create that emotional space since they are not bound to test students.
“It really allows them a space to be free in themselves and just again lends to being seen and heard… and sometimes that’s all we really need is just for someone to hear our story, and art is one of the best places to share stories,” Bias said.
Education Project Manager Sharon Villalobos of Art Center Waco, who spent 12 years teaching for Midway ISD, said art educators also help kids thrive by making them feel accepted in art classes.
“When art educators invite students to not only create, but to also engage in conversation with them about their art, then students feel seen and loved,” Villalobos said. “They feel valued, and that their self expression — their art — is worth a conversation.”
In her own experience as an art educator, Holmstrom said she loves seeing the joy and emotions that students receive when they are celebrated for their art.
“We had a student who was so happy to have her feel recognized, and she was like in tears,” Holmstrom said. “I mean it really does mean so much to the kids.”
In order to continue to help students grow, Holmstrom said it was important to celebrate art educators, so that their hard work in the community doesn’t get overlooked.
“If you see a school district struggling in terms of financial, the first thing that tends to go is those art programs. And I think it’s important to recognize that those are so critical to so many kids in their education,” Holmstrom said. “We wouldn’t have that without our art educators. We wouldn’t have that opportunity for creative expression. It would be a very bland, bland world.”
Bias said that many benefit from the power of expression, and that it can better society, not only art educators and their students.
“Even as young adults, we need to take that time to process and take that time to do things that bring… joy to our spirit and to our soul,” Bias said. “I think art is one of those things, and art teachers are like a conduit for it.”
The Art Edu Exhibit will be displayed in the gallery of Art Center Waco until Aug. 31, showcasing works by art educators from McLennan, Bell, Coryell, Falls, Bosque and Hill County.
