PA Art Center Instructor Kathleen Gordon has a Unique Approach to Art

Watching art instructor Kathleen Gordon handle a classroom full of kids is like watching a conductor lead an orchestra: She provides direction, gets everyone to play well together, and motivates the creation of amazing artwork.

“I’ve found that in my teaching, it’s best to come on strong in the beginning and then ease up,” says Gordon, who has been providing art instruction to both children and adults for the past 18 years. “You then get to see their personalities come out in their art. I don’t want a classroom where everyone is doing the same thing—I don’t want to turn it into a factory.”

Gordon says that she has been creating art for her entire life, and became interested in working in ceramics during high school. She received a bachelor’s degree in special education and followed that up with degrees in English and Philosophy from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She also took ceramics classes at the Art Center.

“At first, I thought that a ceramics class that lasted three hours was long,” she says. “But then, I would end up staying here for five to six hours.”

Gordon is now teaching two classes in which preschool children create art with their parents, a wheel throwing class for adults, and ceramics classes for elementary school students.

“I really like working with kids because they’re so open to trying new things,” she says. “They come to class with a great attitude and they’re very relaxed in their approach to art.”

She says she also likes to collaborate with other classes: her pottery class made tiles for the Japanese brush painting class, which resulted in 20 beautifully painted clay tiles. “I believe in the cross-pollination of all the arts,” she adds.

The social interaction involved with the art classes is also quite important, she says. This past session, she had a teenage student who wasn’t too keen on taking an art class and complained that she didn’t know anyone. But during a wheel throwing class, she discovered like-minded students, and began to enjoy the artmaking experience.

The parent/preschooler art classes also present a unique opportunity, she says. “It’s interesting to see parents connect with other parents and to watch the kids make friends while they’re creating art,” she says. “Sometimes it’s not just the class itself, but all of the other things that happen while creating art.”

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