SOPHIA PROUSALIS
Artist & Art Educator

 

I aim to enrich the core education and life skills of my students through the use of fine arts. My students will improve their fine motor skills, expand their abstract thinking, broaden their vocabularies, problem-solve, communicate their thoughts and emotions, and sharpen their observation and analysis skills. My lessons frequently integrate subjects outside of art including math, writing, and history.

 

While my students grow in essential areas of knowledge, they can simultaneously improve technical skill and produce artwork that they are genuinely proud of. I strongly believe in the importance of “process over product”; this is vital for guiding any student, as each range greatly in interest level and initial ability. Rather than discussing if an artwork “looks good”, I utilize 5:1 positive reinforcement to place emphasis on the areas of high effort, improvement, and creative thought. A pre-assessment is conducted before each lesson, so that students may later compare it to what they learned in order to accurately visualize their own progress. A child's inherent inner-artist dies when the appearance of their work is judged without regard for the learning process. This results in a life-long mindset of "I'm not good at art" (I have banned this sentence from my classroom!). With this, I am careful to nurture an attitude of contentious effort, improvement, and detailed self-reflection. By teaching this growth-oriented mindset, students are able to apply their practices not just to their art-making, but to every area of their lives.

 

I am consistent in cultivating an educational experience that is honest, rewarding, thought-provoking, and inspiring. My students feel safe to create, experiment, ask questions, and make mistakes so that they may be better equipped for life as a whole.

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​"Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up." - Pablo Picasso