Art Crush Wednesday: Joyce Ellen Weinstein
Wednesday, June 17, 2009 at 5:22PM Though I graduated from high school 10 years ago, I’ve never forgotten the art teacher who played one of the most important roles in my artistic development: Joyce Ellen Weinstein.
Joyce exposed me to different art styles, techniques, materials, and history. She appropriately purged the cheap cartooning I was emulating out of my system by enforcing drawing from life and reference in her classroom. She helped me develop my portfolio and even gave me my first summer internship as her assistant for a set design project. Joyce also gently guided me in selecting my post-secondary education: when I expressed doubt about going to RISD (it was a huge step for me to be so far from my family), she shook me by my shoulders and told me I was going.
Having retired from teaching at Annandale High School a few years ago, Joyce is rightfully enjoying international gallery showings of her work and travelling around the world on a Fulbright scholarship. Her adventures have even brought her to the Anderson Center here in Minnesota, where she is currently an artist-in-residence. My husband and I had the pleasure to attend her lecture about the wooden synagogues of Lithuania last night. It was fascinating to see how her investigations of this forgotten Jewish history have influenced her collages:
I can’t wait to see where Joyce will go next, and what artwork she will be creating because of it! Check out more of her amazing artwork at her website.
Artists in Art Crush Wednesday
Reader Comments (4)
thanks, christina! i hope you can find some privo's in a size 5 - you have tiny feet, girl! I'm always teased about my feet being small and I wear a size 6 1/2!
hey, i finished my book on monday! whooo-hooo, now i want to do another one!
What a wonderful dedication to your art teacher. She must be happy to have such a successful art student. It makes me curious about my highschool art teacher, Mr. Urness.
You are a very lucky person. I can't think of a single teacher of mine that was an inspiration or had much of a positive effect on me at all. I always felt my teachers were standing in my way. :-(
Aw... That's awesome you still keep in touch with her. Your work has greatly developed since your days at AHS. Where would we all be without the mentors who pushed us out of our comfort zone?