Teaching artist statement

Drawing and Painting, like Art, are more easily recognized, than defined. This openness is one of the things I love most. Art and the creative process are direct, accessible, versatile, flexible, always open to new possibilities and combinations. Most recently, my drawing, painting, and mixed media work have returned to the subject of monuments and memorials. Using the materiality of earth: pigments, carbon, cotton fibers…, I re-present and re-contextualize remnants of found, historical, and ephemeral images, memories, and views from everyday life to investigate the nature of change in relation to that which endures on other levels.

The materials and themes are reinforced by a layering process that includes gestural brushstroke, washes, pin-pricking, tearing, erasing, glueing, un-glueing, exposing, masking, etc. These processes and layers speak to social conditioning, as well as to the potential for seemingly fixed structures to be disrupted, altered, repaired, or reimagined. It suggests something else at play that may not be initially evident or immediately recognizable, but that is nevertheless present and substantial in its effect. 

My dedicated studio practice is an asset in the classroom where I bring a diverse range of skills to the art experiences I lead. With consideration of the curriculum, learning objectives, or collaborating partners’ goals, I find engaging low-risk entry points to new subjects or techniques. More complex elements are scaffolded over time in different ways with the aim of accommodating a wide range of learning styles. I work so that students feel respected, welcomed to engage, willing to take risks, and to challenge themselves.

In teaching, I have become fluent in wearing different hats as the need arises to encourage participation and collaboration: I may embody such alternating roles as director, guide, advisor, coach, facilitator, field trip organizer, philosopher, storyteller, design thinker, even cheshire cat, being sure to get out of the way whenever possible.  I work as much with the character and dynamics of a group, as with each student, individually. Drawing from my experience in the field, I balance information and inspiration, structure and process, and model a growth mindset as a life-long learner. Ultimately, I create opportunities for immersive learning experiences through Art.  I have seen how this process can open hearts, change minds, create flow, build capacity, increase confidence, inspire wonder… with transformational results.

I believe mutual growth in community and the co-creation of an equitable present/future for all through Art is necessary/urgent/possible.  Art (as creativity, wonder, delight, imagination, vitality, truth to power, authorship, self-knowledge, expression, transcendence) is essential.

Mary Lamboley is a teaching artist who currently lives and works in St. Louis.