Teacher Profile, Joan Wright: On Becoming an Art Teacher
By Kenzee Hampton
Art is a way you can release your anger and frustrations, and Joan Wright, a West Campus art teacher, learned that from a very young age. While growing up, she went to small schools. So she had the same peers and teachers for a good portion of her life.
Wright explains, “I used art to keep me sane and I vent a lot of my frustrations [by doing art]. I wasn't very popular when I was little, and when I got to high school it was still the same... I had an amazing art teacher and she inspired me to continue [with art].”
Wright had never planned to be a teacher, but she did go to college for art at TU. Her degree was in sculptures, photography and graphic design.
“I was one of the first graphic design people to come out of TU. I really like sculptures. I was also the first out of two people to ever do bronze casting at TU,” Wright continues.
Art piece by Joan Wright
After college, Wright decided to work for Disney, but soon realized working there was not for her.
She said, “ The deadlines and a lot of the stuff they require from you just was not conducive to my life.”
With Wright unsure of what to do, a friend convinced her to look into substitute teaching, but she had no previous experience with kids since she was an only child.
“My first substitute teaching was a kindergarten class of forty. I was terrified but I really loved it and since then, I have been teaching either art or special ed,” Wright said.
Art piece by Joan Wright
Wright has loved art almost her whole life, so she has some years of experience and with that comes great wisdom. She loves creating art; her favorite type is mosaics.
Wright says, “I try to not get too attached to them because so much can happen to them. If something happens to some people’s pieces, I know how they can just fall apart, so I try to put the same love and effort into every piece I do. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't and I just try to learn from my failures.”
She not only loves the art, but she also loves the history behind it. Wright's favorite art piece is “The Woman in Gold” by Klimt. This painting has been through a lot. Wright loves it because of its connection to World War II and the complete annihilation of art.
To learn more about “The Woman in Gold” by Klimt, go watch https://youtu.be/d1QPHzH-xlohttps://youtu.be/d1QPHzH-xlo.
Art piece by Joan Wright
Wright has been a teacher for twenty-six years and she loves teaching the kids about that painting, but her favorite project with the kids is making masks. They use a website called https://wintercroft.com/ to create these unique masks. She then instructs them to always have a theme when it comes to making something. The mask is made out of paper, “but it is not origami,” Wright states.
“ If I could do all 3-dimensional projects in my room, I would; but obviously, I teach all types of things,” she remarks.
“We are probably one of the smallest (6A) art departments. The goal is that in the next couple of years we will build up the department so that I can do 3-dimensional work and Bratcher (East Campus art teacher) can do digital. Each one of us has a strong suit…”
Our Owasso Rams work to be the best, and right now our art program is working to be the top program in the surrounding 6A schools.
Wright finishes by explaining that, “The more we can get ourselves out there, … , teachers and artists, the better and bigger it will be.”