Teaching Statement:

Teaching is a personal passion for me. I have taught art classes to students of many ages, backgrounds and experience levels since 2015. My pedagogy is student-centered and informed by a critical multicultural lens that affirms stylistic and cultural pluralism. My approach centers students’ passions and keeps their well-being top of mind. I strive to create a structured and supportive learning environment for students to pursue their own interests and exchange meaningful peer feedback.

I continue to engage in learning opportunities to better inform my approach to teaching. Recently, these have included:

• Class: Critical Multicultural Approaches to Art Education, Graduate course with Dr. Christina Hanawalt, University of Georgia, Summer 2022.

• Workshop: Applying a Trauma-Informed Lens to Teaching, University of Georgia, February 2022.

• Workshop: The Black School: Creative Activism & Radical Pedagogy Workshop, University of Georgia, February 2022

• Class: Theoretical Studies in Art Education, a PhD-level course in theories of pedagogy, studying writings of Foucault, Freire, bell hooks and others. Topics studied included critical pedagogy and feminist new materialisms. I wrote a research paper on applying concepts from Freire and bell hooks to studio art pedagogy in the context of figure drawing instruction. Fall 2021, University of Georgia, with Dr. Christina Hanawalt.

• Class: Critical Evaluation Methods - a graduate-level course in theory and practice of facilitating critical feedback on creative works-in-progress using Liz Lerman’s Critical Response Process. Spring 2021, with Mark Callahan.

Theresa Clower studied portrait drawing with me for two years and I advised her during the initial development of the INTO LIGHT Project. Her son Devin had passed from an opioid overdose, and Theresa felt compelled to draw his portrait as a way of processing her grief. She became interested in sharing this process with others grieving loved ones lost to the opioid epidemic, with the goal of erasing the stigma of addiction and putting a human face to the epidemic. I worked with Theresa to develop her portrait drawing abilities and confidence as an artist. She gradually formed the idea for a national nonprofit organization that would exhibit portraits in all fifty states, donating the portrait drawings to families and eventually culminating in a national exhibition in a similar vein to the AIDS quilt. She has leveraged her prior experience with nonprofit work to successfully build the project, which has thus far exhibited and organized events in seven states. It has been featured on NPR and other local and national news outlets. I continue to work with Theresa as an artistic advisor for the project.

“Finding the right teacher in the art world can be a daunting experience. Luckily I came into contact with Jason. He is patient, present, and gives wonderful, direct feedback. He allowed me to experiment and meander just enough to not only learn but grow.  He’s a fabulous artist, a great guy, and a wonderful teacher.”

— Joe Swierupski, artist, luthier

"I'm looking at my drawing and I can't believe I just did that."

— Mei Mei W., student (studied with me age 17)

“I’ve been working with Jason for approximately four years now.  In that time, I have learned about many artists from art history and their techniques. In learning through Jason’s approach to teaching, I have been able to develop an extremely helpful knowledge around  anatomy and my drawing technique. These are all the qualities of a good art class, but the enjoyable and good-spirited environment in the studio makes it an incredible one.”

— Gabriel B., art student (studied with me from from ages 12 - 16)

"I learned more in my lesson with Jason than I have in years of art class at school! He was a great teacher, leaving time to have fun while teaching me a ton. He answered my questions and gave me instruction on what I really wanted to learn. Can't wait to come back!"

— Ranger K., art student (age 14)