Anyone who knows Tamlin is aware that she has a passion for EMPOWERING her art students through the creative process. This has been her life- long mission, starting early-on.
But I’m sure most of you don’t know how/when/where this dedication began.
Tamlin had an experience that solidified her life’s direction while teaching her first year of ART in the Grand Rapids Public School System. Tamlin was an Art Consultant with 5 schools, a different one each day. Two schools were hard-core, black inner-city, one was privileged white, and two schools were middle-class students from blue collar families.
Half way into her first year Tamlin was in an auto accident that kept her in the hospital for several weeks. In that amount of time her art students drew pictures for their beloved art teacher and Tamlin’s mom taped the art-work up on the hospital walls according to the schools they came from.
After a week of drowsy recuperation Tamlin noticed the growing display of art on the wall. She immediately observed a huge difference between each school of students. The affluent, white students painted flowers and hearts with glitter and smiles, while the underprivileged black students drew detailed car crashes, blood and guts. The difference was glaring and jumped off the wall.
This was the first time Tamlin realized how “images/symbols/visuals” represent the fundamental ideologies embedded in an individual’s understanding. And these viewpoints come from our environmental upbringing.
This epic observation was the beginning of Tamlin’s 40 year journey in appreciating the power art has in expressing inner thoughts and ideas. Since that revelation, Tamlin has taught art with an underlying grasp that…
“ART is a powerful tool in discovering more about yourself and others”.
