EDITOR'S LETTER: NOVEMBER 2025

For the past three summers, I have been collaborating with the John Michael Kohler Arts Center (JMKAC) to organize an emerging artists program for its Midsummer Festival of the Arts. What began as a collaboration has evolved into a partnership that provides professional support and opportunities for underrepresented artists in Wisconsin. The program continues to expand based on the artists’ ideas, with education and advocacy as pillars.

Inside JMKAC, there is a space called the Matrix, which was transformed into an experience that sparked curiosity, conversations, and connections through sculpture, performance, mixed media, paintings, and drawings. Artists shared their cultural and creative backgrounds, influences, personal stories, ideas, and artistic journeys with the community. It warms my heart to see a group of artists from across the state become a closeknit family in a short amount of time because of this program. As educators, we never know when or how transformative experiences will shape our students’ artistic needs, inquiries, and creative pursuits.

In This Issue
Transformation can happen at any time—when youʼre listening to an artist talk, attending an art opening, reading a book, watching a documentary, or talking to a colleague. Allowing ourselves the opportunity to engage in new experiences lends to new understandings, appreciation, and empowerment that can have a long-lasting impact.

In the early childhood lesson “Dreams Take Flight,” Devon Calvert and retired art educators Vicki Cottam and Connie Bier use the idea of metamorphosis from Eric Carleʼs The Very Hungry Caterpillar as a way for students to think about the concept of change and what it could look like in a work of art. Through their work, they ignited a collaboration by creating a large-scale mural inspired by their interpretation and vision.

In Janine Campbell’s middle-school lesson “Recycled Wearables” she introduces her students to a variety of ways art is made so they understand that not all art is created using paint, clay, or pencil on paper. Students experiment with alternative or reusable materials to create wearable art.

At the high-school level, in Monique Dobbelaereʼs “The Alchemy of Arcimboldo,” students learn about the work of Italian Renaissance painter Giuseppe Arcimboldo and analyze his work by understanding his sense of composition, surrealism, and thematic ideas. By contrasting his work with that of contemporary Russian artist Vladimir Kush, students transform their ideas into original works of contemporary art.

Continuously shaping our art curriculum through exploration is one of the best ways to meet the needs of our students. Trying out new ideas that push us out of our comfort zone can open the doors to possibilities and opportunities. Do you have an idea you have wanted to try but have had second thoughts? I encourage you to dive in and see what you can learn from that experience.