Visual Arts Teacher Robyn Zellar said her passion for teaching has bloomed since her youth.
“When I was a little kid, when I would come home from school, in kindergarten, first grade, I would set up my bedroom like a classroom,” she said. “I would teach my sister everything I learned that day.”
Throughout her childhood, Zellar said she developed a fondness for art.
“I took art in high school,” she said. “My mother is an artist and let us draw on the walls in our bedroom. I grew up going to clay camp in the summers.”
While she was in college, Zellar said she had multiple jobs. One of them was working at a daycare center which ultimately was her inspiration to be a teacher. Following this passion, she became a middle school teacher for four years.
My mother is an artist and let us draw on the walls in our bedroom.
As a teacher, she would design writing projects relating to art, such as comic books, and would have her students illustrate the stories they wrote.
She also said that during her planning period, she would go to the art room and help the art teacher.
“One day, the art teacher said to me, ‘I hate to tell you this, but you’re an art teacher,’” she said.
She then decided to go back to school full-time to study art education at Plymouth State University. Coincidentally, her mother decided to go to art school at the same time and they graduated as art teachers together.
Zellar said her favorite part of art is “anything that’s three-dimensional.” She said she likes clay art, “found objects” and secondhand clothing.
Just as when teaching my students, I am happy that I get the opportunity to create meaningful, collaborative learning experiences for my fellow art teachers around the world.
Now, Zellar shines her passion for art at the school, teaching fashion design, wearable art and sculpture topics as art electives.
On the side, she founded an organization called Global Art Teachers Exchange, in 2018, for other art educators around the world. GATE is a weekend workshop hosted once a year at a host school for art teachers to come together and share their practice, inspire each other, learn and experience art together.
Zellar said she founded GATE because he believes in “the power of the collective mind.”
“Just as when teaching my students, I am happy that I get the opportunity to create meaningful, collaborative learning experiences for my fellow art teachers around the world,” she said.
Ultimately, her favorite part of the teaching art industry is “being with other art teachers,” learning from them and “making art together.”
“It’s so much fun to be with people who share so much in common but have different perspectives, insights and experiences,” she said. “I also just love experiencing new cities through the lens of art education. It’s energizing and inspiring for my practice.”