Janet Essley

 

Primary Discipline: Visual Arts

Areas of Specialty: Murals, Painting, Installations

 

Based in: White Salmon
Phone: 509-493-1029
Email: essmoy@gorge.net
Website: w3.gorge.net/essmoy

 

Biography: For nineteen years, Janet Essley has taught art to students of all ages, in settings as diverse as a Cambodian Refugee Camp and the Honolulu Academy of Art. She has completed numerous murals, for both public and private clients in the Pacific Coast states and has worked with children to create murals in several states and in Mexico. Essley exhibits her paintings, drawings, and installations throughout the Pacific Northwest and several of her works reside in the Washington State Public Art Collection.

When asked about her approach as a Teaching Artist, Ms. Essley wrote this: "My work with collaborative murals began when I spent a year working with neighborhood youth, painting murals over graffitied walls and fences. This led to projects in the schools creating murals with students that incorporate their own drawings. My goal as a teaching artist is to help students realize that they have their own aesthetic sensibility that they use every day. I teach students the technical skills and processes of drawing and painting that will allow them to present their ideas effectively, as art created within their individual aesthetic. I enjoy the sense of accomplishment students feel when they have made something that is valued by adults. In addition, collaborative murals allow students to see themselves as responsible individuals within a group, and to contribute an amazing artistic asset to their community. Creating community through art is what I value most in my collaborative mural projects."

 

Suitable for Grades: K-12
Preferred Grades: K-12

Curriculum Integration Possibilities: Literacy, Reading, Writing, Science, History, Social Studies

 

Additional Interests/Experience:

• Leading Professional Development workshops for K-12 Teachers

 

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