Kirsten Looney was inspired to become an art teacher by her elementary school art teacher who instilled a love of art. She is passionate about art and dedicated to creating an ideal environment for her students. She engages students to find success and sees them connect with new materials and projects. Her classroom teaches traditional, conceptual, and contemporary art using big ideas to promote personal discovery and discussion of contemporary issues. Students learn skills like observation, responsibility, and making connections between artworks while working with different materials and technical skills in an interactive and organized classroom culture.

1. Kirsten Looney
My passion and dedication to art promotes the creation of an ideal environment
for my students. At a young age, I was inspired by my elementary school art teacher
who instilled a love of art in my young mind. She embodied all the “teacherliness”
qualities of an educator that sparked a desire in me to follow in her footsteps. She was
imaginative, outgoing, genuine, and confident. My eyes were opened to a subject that I
would become passionate about. I am confident in front of a class and continuously
engage students to push themselves to find success. I welcome students with my
positive attitude and humorous personality. I look toward art education scholar, Peggy
Dunn-Snow, on enhancing the artmaking experience in the art classroom. I feel
rewarded when I observe the moments students have an aha moment after they find a
material or project that they truly connect with. When I see a familiar passion in students
faces for new projects or ideas, I am even more confident in my choice.
Students should expect to learn about traditional, conceptual, and contemporary
art in my classroom. Through developed curricula, Big Ideas are used in my classroom
to create a personal discovery, influenced by identity and community. Yvonne
Gaudelius, an art education scholar, influences the idea of discussing contemporary
issues within an art classroom. Students learn to think imaginatively, self-express,
interpret and talk about new art, as well as learn the process of critique. Students work
with an array of materials to explore the history of the subject, as well as many
approaches to different technical skills.
My students gain a variety of skills, including but not limited to, interactive
conversation, observation, responsibility, and the ability to make connections when
discussing about artists’ work. As an art educator, it is my objective to create a
classroom that implements a positive, kind, engaging, and accepting environment. Dr.
Nancy Lampert, an art education scholar, implements the idea of kindness within the art
classroom. A space that is also interactive and organized where students work
collaboratively, as well as independently. I encourage students to incorporate their
personality within their artwork through projects involving deeper thought and risk
taking. Interactive learning is another instructional strategy that I use often in this
technology based era. Academic integration is a teaching style that I have gained
through my college learning, and I make sure to apply this within my classroom culture.
Teaching Philosophy