Art teachers’ exhibition
Art teachers are used to helping students with their artwork, but a new exhibition at Taylor-jensen Fine Arts gallery gives them a chance to show off their skills.
The Art Room exhibition will feature the work of 15 teachers from seven schools in Palmerston North and Feilding, in a range of mediums, such as photography, painting and digital art.
Jane Moss, acting president of the Manawatu¯ Art Teachers’ Association, said the exhibition gave teachers a chance to revive their flair.
‘‘It gives us an opportunity to be creative, because a lot of the time as teachers, we have very little time to ourselves,’’ she said.
As an art teacher at St Peter’s College, Moss spends 55-plus hours in the art room every week.
Some of that was spent working on her piece for the exhibition, ‘‘Morula’’.
With student folios due by the beginning of next term, students’ work becomes a teacher’s priority over their own work, she said.
Moss remembered when she was a student herself at the school she now teaches at and said she was still learning from her students.
‘‘The teacher becomes the student and the student becomes the teacher.’’
Moss also said it was important for students to see their teachers’ work, to be inspired by it and to ask questions.
Although their focus has always been on teaching, some teachers have had the chance to have success in the art field.
A photography piece, Popsicle Summer ,by Charlene Purcell, a teacher at Freyberg High School, won an award at this year’s New Zealand Iris Professional Photography Awards.
This piece will feature in the teachers’ exhibition this year. It runs from tomorrow until October 6.