Ms. Adams, the new art teacher at Mountain Lakes High School, has taught at Emerson High School in Bergen County, as well as in Pittsford, New York for a total of 15 years. In comparison to Mountain Lakes High School, Pittsford was similar, but a bigger district, while Emerson was small like Mountain Lakes. These experiences prepared her to teach here.
What is your favorite type of art to create personally?
I like abstract expressionistic paintings, which are usually very large. More recently, [I’ve enjoyed] film editing and motion, or [computer] graphics… which [are] easier for a busy life.
Who are artists that you admire or are inspired by?
Lee Krasner, Robert Motherwell, Rembrandt, Käthe Kollwitz: I like a wide range of artists.
What do you like best about MLHS?
The students! The students are fabulous, very polite, and always try their best. You guys ask great questions; you want to do more and learn better. It is very rewarding to teach here.
What do you want your students to take away from art class?
I want them to understand that art is a universal language, and I want them to be great patrons of the arts and understand how the arts fit into a civilized society.
If you were not an art teacher, what would you be?
Maybe working in marketing or as a personal trainer… I am really into how art communicates.
When you were younger, was there a specific teacher who really impacted you?
My science teachers. That way of thinking, the scientific method, is very similar to the creative process. I liked making diagrams in science, like of cells, or writing out the formulas perfectly.
What do you think of the arts program at our school? How will you change it?
I would like to expand this program, maybe have access to another room. There are so many courses you could have based on student interest and what is relevant, like digital photography. I used to teach a yearbook class at Emerson, which was based on the students’ own photography.
What is the relevance of art in our society today?
That’s a very interesting question with lots of answers. …You know, in your phones you have your own galleries, and you are curating them. Phones are full of graphics. If you start to learn more about animation studios, you will become much more interested in the art of creating graphics.
You have to realize that graphics are not only used to communicate, they can market to you. On your phones, you are carefully curating a perfect gallery, but that may not be realistic. The skills involved in creating graphics that effectively communicate and market are highly sought after, and there are many animation studios dedicated to this art form.
Art is very relevant; pictures are more relevant than text. If the picture does not instantly communicate to you, then you won’t click “like.” That’s why learning more about animation studios and their work is a great way to understand the importance of graphics in today’s world.
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