By Maggie Beamguard
Insider Editor
In the famous words of American painter Bob Ross, “We don’t make mistakes, just happy little accidents.” It is a sentiment West End Elementary School’s recently named Teacher of the Year, Catherine Holmes, embraces as WEE’s art teacher.
That philosophy is reflected in a daily class motto Holmes’ students have learned from her: “I make messes. I make mistakes. Deep down inside, I’ve got what it takes. I’m an artist.” The classroom motto is adapted from Cassie Stephens, a popular art teacher in Tennessee.
Embracing the Weird
Along with lessons about shape, line, texture, color and composition, Holmes hopes her art students learn the lesson, “You are both a masterpiece and work in progress simultaneously.”
There is beauty in imperfection. “I’m always telling them it’s okay to make messes,” she said. Messes can be cleaned and mistakes are okay.
So is being silly. A poster in her vibrant classroom proclaims “Embrace the weird.” In class she models silliness with voices, songs and dances. Holmes also occasionally plays dress-up for her students.
One Friday in March, Holmes surprised them by coming to class dressed in the iconic look of Bob Ross, who embraced slips of the brush with such ease. She has also dressed up as Mexican artist Frida Kahlo.
This element of play prepares the canvas of her students for creative freedom. Art education, for Holmes, is a language that supports learning in all areas of study.
“I’m a big believer that art has as much literacy as words. It’s great for deepening understanding of all of our subjects,” she said.
Art, Learning, Expression
Holmes might use the angles of a cartoon Wonder Woman’s arms with hands placed on her hips to explore concepts of the vertices of an angle. “We talk about how her arms are at a right angle, and if she had her arms slumped down by her sides the image would not be as powerful.”
By talking about geometry, Holmes can teach visual art and vice versa. Math, social studies, geography and language arts find active engagement through art concepts.
Holmes guides the students to write artist statements about the projects they create. Writing prompts not only encourage them to reflect on their work, but they deepen their language arts skills. It is a practice which develops students as communicators.
Students gain critical thinking skills when studying the works of other artists. Holmes invites them to wonder with her about what they would want to ask the artists about what they see.
The practice of wondering together teaches students to respect the different perspectives of other people.
“I try to remove the idea from them that there is a right or a wrong answer,” she said. What each student brings to the conversation is important on its own.
With a radiant smile and lighthearted manner, Holmes engages the creative minds of her students. She puts them to work pondering Pablo Picasso’s Family of Saltimbanques.
“That one has a lot of characters in it, so that is a fun one for me to play around with to teach ELA,” she said. They tell her which character in the painting they can most relate to and why.
Watching her students develop their artistic talents brings a special kind of joy, especially when students struggle with other subjects and find themselves excelling in art.
Students in Holmes’ art classes learn in an integrated way. But her classes are also a chance for them to express themselves. “We all need that,” Holmes notes. As a high school student, Holmes found her art classes to be a welcome and therapeutic form of expression.
Messes and Mistakes.
One of her favorite memories was when a child, covered in real muddy clay inching up to her elbows, looked up and said, “Thank you Mrs Holmes. My mommy would never let me do this.”
Students learn it’s okay to mix up the paint colors and to touch things and to explore. Learning and art is tactile.
It’s important for growing her student’s minds as well as their resilience. On her desk is a framed note from a former student, given to her one Valentine’s Day. The note describes a rough time in the student’s life and also reads, “Thank you for helping me express myself and find my inner artist! . . . when I walk into art, that is when I’m truly happy!”
Life, like art, is sometimes messy.
Holmes is grateful to be part of the teaching team at WEE and has even gotten her specials team to dress up with her at Halloween as characters from Scooby-Doo.
She cherishes the children at WEE who she says have a good moral compass.
This is her fifth year teaching art fulltime, but she brings 10 years of experience in education to the classroom. She has an undergraduate degree in psychology from UNC-Chapel Hill and a master in teaching from UNC Pembroke. Her mentor at Pembroke, Dr. Naomi Lifschitz-Grant, nominated her as the school’s student teacher of the year and has opened many doors for her in the world of education.
Holmes has co-published an observational study with another graduate student, Allison Ellis, in an academic journal. She is becoming a teacher herself and currently teaches two praxis workshops for art education students taking the teacher exam to be licensed in NC.
Travel has been a source of inspiration for Holmes, who had the opportunity to represent Pembroke on excursions to study Marc Chagall in Germany and France with philanthropist and Chagall expert Vivian Jacobson. It was a formative experience for Holmes.
As a student of life and a life-long learner, Holmes was steeped in creativity and wonder from her childhood. Her parents, brother and sister are creative and curious people. Holmes’ parents welcomed foreign exchange students into their home in Monroe and exposed the family to art, food and music from different countries and cultures.
She has benefited from learning from many caring and inspiring teachers through the years, especially her cool high school art teacher Ms. Price, who played music in the classroom and an 8th grade science teacher, Mr. Weaver. Weaver told her there were other smart kids in her class, but he gave her science awards because she was curious and was not afraid to raise her hand to ask questions.
I’m an Artist
A self-described nerd, Holmes thinks it is important to stay curious. Well, compassionate and curious. And creative.
“Whatever it is that lets you be yourself — your garden, or cooking, or art — let yourself create and have fun.”
It is good wisdom from Holmes, who faced a breast cancer diagnosis in 2017. “It was definitely the worst day ever,” she said.
“But it also inspired me to not wait to do stuff. Like, just go for it, you know? If you’ve always dreamed of doing something, go do it. It was tough, but in many ways it made me more of who I am today.” She is not afraid to be her silly self or to let loose on life with creative freedom.
There was the hike up Mount Fuji, and a camel ride in Morocco, and family beach trips filled with goofiness and laughter.
There have been countless art museum visits. And books, and canvases, and collage art and recipes. Her key lime pie, meatloaf and guacamole are culinary treasures.
And so messes get transformed into beauty and Holmes creates a life that is a masterpiece. And as an artist and teacher, she shows her students the way.
Contact Maggie Beamguard at maggie@thepilot.com.
