I taught art classes at Syracuse Junior High School from 1994-2024. Of all the pages on this site my favorite is Student Artwork.

Here I am pictured in my classroom with some of my favorite three-dimensional objects — objects that I assigned students to draw in their second or third year.

This is a photo of me that was typical around the mid-point of my career. Microphone on and a demonstration drawing on the chalkboard behind me.

Program Objective:

To develop an elite ninth-grade artist who is quiet, hard-working, patient, and dedicated to excellence in art. This artist will have taken Art 1, Art 2, and Commercial Art, and through doing so, will have developed the following skills and abilities:

1. To draw from two-dimensional reference using simplified shapes.

2. To draw from two-dimensional reference using the grid-system.

3. To draw from still-life objects using simplified shapes.

4. To draw using the rules of One, Two, and Three-Point Perspective.

5. To use value to create depth in an artwork.

6. To use a variety of media including pencil, ink, markers, colored pencils, watercolors, and acrylics.

7. To have the ability to take loose parameters of an assignment and work within them to produce an artwork that is both unique and creative.

8. To have the ability to compete for awards at the District Art Show.

9. To have the ability to compete for their high school’s Visual Arts Sterling Scholar award in three years.

10. To have the foundations of a skill-set to be used as a professional artist in the Media and Communication Arts field.