"When I hear my students say 'this is the best thing I've ever made,' or, 'I'm so proud of this piece,' or, 'I never thought I could do this,' that's my favorite part of the job."
Kingsley Area Schools often makes headlines for its championship-winning athletics and award-winning band program, but did you know the district also has a robust art program?
Kingsley High School offers several fine arts classes, including Art I, II, III, and IV, as well as three sculpture classes.
Sue Graham has been teaching art in Kingsley Area Schools for 27 years!
"I want all of my students to be exposed to various types of artists' work and gain an appreciation for art," said Mrs. Graham. "I also want to give students the skills and methods to gain confidence. I always see so much growth in my students as they progress through the year, and that's what I love about my job."
Her favorite projects this year are scratch art pieces, candy still-lifes, and winter landscapes.
As they say, a picture's worth 1,000 words, and her students' work speaks to the high-caliber art instruction they receive each week.
"I try to build confidence in the kids, and by doing that, I think they can realize that they actually can create art and that they actually can be good at it," said Mrs. Graham.
Her students also learn about topics like color theory and art history.
"One of the things that I love is when students go to an art museum or go anywhere in the world, and they come back to me and say 'I saw such-and-such artist in a museum' and they recognize them because of being in the class."
In sculpture class, students experiment with several materials.
"We use anything from wire to paper mache to junk. We study artists that use all those kinds of things, and then in the second semester of Sculpture I, I introduce clay, then level two is more of a studio class where we just work a lot on those any of those processes."
Experience the Art for Yourself!
The community is invited to Kingsley's 10th Annual "Art Attack" at the Kingsley Library. The event will feature work from all KHS art students and there will be a juried competition. The exhibition will take place from 6:30-8:00PM on May 4 with an awards presentation at 7:00PM.
This event is sponsored by the Kingsley Friends of the Library.
Above: Selections from Mrs. Graham's art class and the Crooked Tree Exhibit.
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To learn more about KHS art, contact Sue Graham at sgraham@kingsleyschools.org