Today at Breck: Visual Art Faculty

Today at Breck

Winter 2014

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Kat Corrigan

Carol Grams

Michal Sagar

DUAL CAREERS AND SINGULAR FOCUS: BRECK’S VISUAL ARTS FACULTY BALANCE TEACHING AND THEIR OWN WORK

important part of her life for as long as she can remember.

“People talk about growing up as gym rats,” she smiles. “I was an art room rat.”

All of them have accomplished a great deal as professional artists in a variety of media. Their work is shown in galleries all over the U.S., is part of juried shows, has been featured in books and films, and livens up walls (or streets, in the case of

By Jill Field

Corrigan’s “art cars”) across the Twin Cities. And yet they’re

Photos by Sara Rubinstein

practicing their own craft.

all just as deeply committed to teaching as they are to

Franke, who has an education degree and wanted to be an art Visual Arts Department Head Michal Sagar laughs as she

teacher since she was five years old, says she gets a great deal

recalls the time one of her advisees asked her, “Do you do art

of inspiration from her students. “You share everything you

anymore?” When she responded affirmatively, the student

know and then move up with them,” she remarks. “It’s just

followed up with, “How do you do that?” It’s not always easy,

wonderful to watch them come into my room and get

but, she says, “I work hard at having the energy. And by the

comfortable with trying things.”

time I walk up the stairs [to her home studio] I have my other brain working.”

For Grams, who works with young children, “creativity and play in the art room is a way to reach kids wherever they are.

Her colleague Jil Franke agrees. As much as she loves teach-

And it’s good for me, too. I can be so serious. But fun and silly

ing, Franke says that doing her own work is crucial to

are really very enjoyable!”

maintaining her balance. “Nights, weekends, summers – I need to get to my studio and create.”

Sagar says that when she began teaching high school students after a stint teaching college, she found that the

Carol Grams is a member of a drawing coop that hires models

experience was extremely valuable to her in her own work.

and works together on weekends, and she’s never without

“When I was working through how to teach beginning

her sketchbook. “I like to draw wherever I go,” she explains.

composition, it really made me take a closer look at what I

“Whether it’s a bike ride, a restaurant or any other spot in the

was doing and brought me back to some very basic ele-

Twin Cities, I’m inspired by what I see in life.”

ments,” she explains. “Teaching keeps me honest and fresh.”

For Tobie Dicker, the balance can be difficult. She says, “I

Corrigan observes that she really needs to have students in

remember when my children were younger and I literally

her life as well. “Every June I’m so excited to have so much

had to steal time to do my own art. I’d get to my studio and

time to work on my own projects,” she says. “But by the end

find I had no energy left…until I learned to give things up. I

of the summer I’m absolutely craving my time in the

mean, dusting is really not so important!”

classroom and can’t wait to get back to it.”

Kat Corrigan makes sure she allows regular time for her art,

ENCOURAGING THE ARTIST IN EVERY STUDENT

and lately she’s committed to completing a small 6” x 6” painting daily in addition to the larger projects she works on.

“The Dalai Lama says the happiest people have a schedule,” she observes, “and I know that’s true for me.”

And to Jean Wright, whose artwork has always gone hand-inhand with her deep spirituality, creating art has been an

Breck has had a long tradition of nurturing the talents of gifted artists, and the school’s remarkable record of winning entries in art competitions such as Pentel, Scholastic, Tri-Metro and Congressional districts speaks for itself. All the

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Today at Breck

Winter 2014

teachers confirmed that they are able to spot the extremely talented students right away.

But it made us wonder: how does the faculty encourage artists of average, or even below average, ability?

Grams has a unique perspective through her work with Breck’s youngest students. As she says, “I try to have enough variety that there’s something everyone can do well, starting with finger painting for the tactile kids. Or we might form a partnership where I help them translate their design concepts onto the paper.”

The teachers unanimously agree that it is helpful to remind

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students on a regular basis something that they themselves

Tobie Dicker

love about art. There is no right and wrong.

“All my kids do an amazing job,” observes Dicker, who teaches Lower and Middle School students. “As long as they’re given a safe environment to experiment, they will be creative and produce great work. We talk about that from the very beginning of each year – that art class is a place to celebrate our individuality. Everybody’s stuff is out there on the table, and we’re going to respect it all.”

Franke, who works with ceramic artists in Upper School, says one of her favorite things about being a teacher is hearing a student say, “I had no idea I could do this!” “I’ll never get tired of hearing that,” she explains. “It makes me so proud that they’ve learned not to be afraid of taking risks, learning from their mistakes and moving on.”

FINDING A PROFESSIONAL COMMUNITY AT BRECK Another common theme through the faculty is an appreciation for the home they’ve found at Breck.

Having a department of women has been influential for many of them, who have found support for their own work in women’s professional networks such as WARM (Women’s Art Resources of Minnesota). “It’s great to get to work with so many talented women,” says Corrigan.

Observes Wright, “This is a pretty sweet place to be for art. I have five children who went to five different schools. They’ve all done art, but none of them got the kind of experience that Breck students do. Breck teachers come to work every day with such joy and excitement. What a gift!”

And Breck’s commitment to professional development has been a great gift to them. Dicker, Franke, Grams and Sagar have all had sabbaticals that allowed them to be inspired by their travels and have the time and the opportunity to spend concentrated time on their own work.

Jil Franke

“I’ve had really pivotal opportunities through Breck,” says Franke. “I get so many ideas when I travel, and my Breck

PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER

sabbatical and summer grants have made a lot of my travel

Have a conversation with any member of Breck’s art faculty

possible.” Dicker expresses the same idea this way: “Teaching

and you will come away amazed by their passion and

requires a deep commitment to craft, but we do our own

dedication to teaching and to their own creative process. And

most creative work when we’re not teaching. Sabbaticals give

they’ve formed a very special community at Breck.

us the time, the energy and the luxury to immerse ourselves

“I think you can view artists as a bunch of misfit geeks who

in our own art. That’s why they’re so amazing.”

really want each other to succeed,” laughs Corrigan, adding,

And Sagar says, “Breck honors artists and backs it up with

more seriously, “We have such a great opportunity to show

professional development opportunities that keep people

kids how you can have creativity and art in your life no

growing in their own work. It’s truly a place where art and

matter what you choose to do.”

artists are respected, supported and celebrated.”

Sagar sums it up this way: “Art lets us dream. But when you

Another benefit of time away is that teachers come back

combine imagination and skills, a whole magical world

with inspiration for new things to share with their students.

opens up.”

For Dicker, it was having the chance to think deeply about the way fine art, indigenous crafts and history come together in Spanish-speaking countries, particularly in the pre-Columbian era – something she now teaches to her Middle Schoolers.

EVERYONE’S A CRITIC: THE ART OF CONSTRUCTIVE CRITIQUE It seems almost counterintuitive to apply objective standards of critique to purely creative work, but Breck’s art faculty is well versed in doing just that.

Jil Franke uses a critique system that has her rate ceramics on seven criteria including content, artistic qualities, craftsmanship and considerations such as risk, impact, title and originality. “Maybe critique seems like a mystery,” she says, “but it really isn’t.”

Explains Michal Sagar, “It’s not just ’I like it or I don’t like it.’ A piece of art can be evaluated on how it functions as design, composition, craft and expression. And we have to provide a safe environment for each artist to stand back and start to comprehend why some things have power and other things don’t.”

All the teachers work hard to be sure that students learn how to accept critique without taking it personally. “Kids can be so self-critical,” observes Carol Grams. “I often tell them, ‘You’re not a camera.’ I wish someone had said that to me.”

One way of leading by example is to share critiques of their own work. “When I get extended time in my studio I come back with such respect for my students,” says Sagar. “I stumble and get insecure and have to remind myself to be brave like they are. And when I get back to school I try hard to let them see that I question my own work and keep at it until I’m satisfied with the final product.”

Another technique is to look for areas where students really get it right, even if they’re not the best at drawing, painting or clay.

“Maybe the tree isn’t quite right,” explains Jean Wright. “But maybe the space around the tree is done very well. Or perhaps the face isn’t drawn representationally, but the color is interpreted beautifully. You have to keep reminding students not to let fear paralyze them and keep them from trying,” Adds Carol Grams, “With young children you need to be very specific. So you can look at a piece they think they’ve finished and ask them, ’What do you think could go in this empty space?’ or ’What can you think of to do a little more or a little less?’ It’s something we can talk about together.”

And Wright, who arranges gallery displays throughout the school, puts it this way: “Not every piece of student work belongs in a gallery. But the point is to make each artist feel good, feel respected, and to come away wanting to do even more than they thought they could.”

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Today at Breck

Winter 2014

ARTISTS AT WORK

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Faculty artists outside the classroom, clockwise from top left: Carol Grams, Jean Wright, Michal Sagar, Jil Franke, Tobie Dicker and Kat Corrigan

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photo by Simone Sagar

Wood-fired bowl