Palo Alto Art Center Instructor Sharon Reich Got an Early Start to Art

Art Center instructor Sharon Reich always knew the path she wanted to follow from a very early age, as evidenced by the fact that she started taking art courses at the local high school—while still enrolled in elementary school.

“I was fortunate enough to have parents who encouraged me to take art classes taught by a high school teacher,” says Sharon who began instructing both children and adults at the Palo Alto Art Center about four years ago. “I was teaching printmaking, painting, drawing, and sculpture. It was great because I finally felt at home in the high school’s art department when I finally attended the high school.”

She added, “I didn’t know what I wanted to do as a career, but found creating art was a rewarding use of my time—I was inspired.”

While growing up in Whitefish Bay, Wis., Sharon also taught art classes in the local schools and through the town’s recreational program, and, while in college, discovered that there was a profession called “Art Education.”

“I was quite fortunate to have art and science blend together so beautifully when I served as an art educator for the Creative Ecology program,” says Sharon, who began as a science teacher at the Palo Alto Junior Museum & Zoo for a year before also teaching art at the Art Center. “Trips to the Milwaukee Public Museum with my dad when I was growing up enlightened me in that direction.” Sharon now teaches four different classes at the Art Center, including two courses that facilitate the creation of art by both children and adults.

“When you teach both children and adults at the same time, you have to think on two different levels,” she says. “I’m reminded of an animated movie in which the writer has two audiences—children and adults—and has to engage both. The generational experience in these classes is extraordinary. I have had parents and grandparents accompany a child, and when a dad participates it’s really special to the child. The adult and child work together on a project and the cooperation is a wonderful experience.”

She says she most enjoys creating lesson plans for the classes because she likes seeing how her students interpret the instruction, watching what they create, and seeing their delight when they witness their art exhibited in an art gallery. Many of the problem-solving guidelines she generates for an art project may translate into other life skills, she says, adding, “I hope to motivate, to inspire a sense of wonder and to instill curiosity.”

“I also greatly enjoy the three-dimensional art being made by the younger kids because their motor skills aren’t quite as developed and they can more easily manipulate things like clay,” she adds.

Sometimes the language barrier in a given class can pose an obstacle to providing art instruction, says Sharon. But she is able to get around it by being able to communicate visually.

“In a class of 12 students, I have heard seven different languages being spoken,” she says. “But because what we’re doing is so visual, I can easily show them what to do through a series of gestures rather than words. I enjoy the cultural diversity and find inspiration too.”

Sharon says she enjoys all aspects of working at the Art Center and adds, “I love to be exposed to new things and be surprised by new juxtapositions of things I wouldn’t have thought of. The people taking classes here are very passionate about making art and I like to unleash that enthusiasm.”

About Sharon Reich
Sharon graduated from the University of Wisconsin with a BFA/Art Education Certification and holds a current California Teaching Credential to teach art at the preschool through adult levels. She describes herself as a designer of art experiences for more than 25 years, incorporating a sense of exploration and encouragement.

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