The upcoming end-of-year art exhibit at Manitou Springs High School will be an impressive one, as shown by images that art teachers Erin Gocinski and Eric Bonner shared.
The exhibit will showcase students’ skills, imagination and artistry in media including pencil, acrylics, watercolor, metals, stone, mixed media, photography and clay.
Both Bonner, who has taught at MSHS for nine years, and Gocinski, who has taught there for seven years, said that inspiration is a two-way street for them.
“I get new ideas all the time just walking around my classroom, seeing how students interpret the project and what variations they can come up with. Occasionally I have students help me to create a new project or tweak an existing project,” Bonner said.
Gocinski always emphasizes to students that there isn’t just one way to do something.
“I will teach all techniques in their traditional way, but never hold students back from getting inventive. I think that’s part of the creative process,” she said.
They consult with their students throughout the school year to collect work for this exhibit and the Tri-Peaks League Virtual Art Show, which can be viewed at www.tplartshow22.com.
Gocinski, who has a bachelor of science degree in art education and a bachelor of fine arts in metalsmithing/jewelry design from Edinboro University in Pennsylvania, loves working with her students. She has taught in schools in several states, in settings ranging from urban to rural.
“Our students are so amazing!” she said. “Manitou’s students are by far the kindest students I have ever worked with.”
Bonner, who has a master of arts degree from Adams State University in Alamosa, loves to share his passion for creativity with his students.
“There is that moment when you see them ‘get’ it, and have success. That is so rewarding intrinsically, to see the growth and even the process of students creating,” he said.
Both said that art classes are a safe place where students can express themselves. Creating art can be a “healthy form of play relieving mental fatigue,” Gocinski said, but has an even more important pay-off: supporting cognitive development and activating both hemispheres of the brain.
“Art can provide a healthy outlet and helps make you more neurologically fit,” she said.
Bonner said that art helps students develop problem-solving and critical thinking skills.
The teachers know these things because they’ve experienced creating their own art, although they don’t have as much time for it as they’d like.
Bonner makes examples for class projects, but also keeps busy coaching the MSHS wrestling team. Gocinski is in graduate school for a master’s degree in mindfulness.
When she does have time for creativity, Gocinski said it’s a visceral experience for her.
“I can feel it energetically in my chest and I get hypnotized by the evolution of the project. I love the feeling of escape and the accomplishment of completing a piece,” said Gocinski, who launched the high school’s metalsmithing program.
Even if the students don’t pursue visual art-related college education or careers, it’s likely they’ll remember what they learned from these teachers.
