Marianna talked about the support she felt from teachers and her parents as an artist, but also the challenge of learning to draw. She shared a method for teaching drawing that she longed for as a young person, working to improve her technique.
The way she shifted from teaching full-time and feeling the burnout so many of us have felt was so inspiring. I loved hearing how she found a semblance of balance with part-time teaching and part-time art-making as she re-emerged as an artist. Marianna also talked about the move from Miami, FL to Boise, ID and how the culture shock affected her. She shared how she sought out community both locally and online through fellow artists and teachers. I loved hearing about her process and how she uses visual journaling alongside her students as an ongoing practice.
Marianna Jimenez Edwards is a veteran high school art teacher who strives to incorporate a choice-based curriculum and believes in creating a space for students to experience how to see and think like artists. Having felt deficiencies in her own technical skills after leaving her high school art classes, teaching traditional drawing and painting skills that students expect is also important in her teaching practice.
The daughter of Mexican immigrants, Marianna attended suburban public schools and has always loved learning. She studied at the San Francisco Art Institute, receiving a BFA in Painting. Awareness of her indigenous heritage and Chicano culture blossomed during art school. Also, during that time, visiting her grandmother’s village in Oaxaca and various archaeological sites in Central Mexico and Chiapas on separate occasions transformed that awareness into the passion and central ideas for her work.
Blog Post with more info, links, and images: https://www.teachingartistpodcast.com/episode-86-marianna-jimenez-edwards
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