Adapting Personal Practices To Teach With Passion Through a Pandemic

HAPPY NEW YEAR! With a new year upon us i’ve been reflecting on the past few years as an educator. Especially regarding my work with the young people I teach at Detroit Achievement Academy. The 2020/2021 School year was one of the most challenging for me & my students… As they were figuring out how to adapt to learning hybrid (At home & in school) amidst a global pandemic I was figuring out how to best teach K-4 art at home… ON A CART… without a classroom… while also juggling teaching hybrid (Kids at home virtually & in-person students at the same time)  Here are 4 things I discovered to help my students stay engaged… and fueled my passion for teaching even in incredibly challenging circumstances.

1. CREATE A TEACHER YOUTUBE!

It was transformational to have been able to create videos to share with my students this year. It made instructions so much easier for me & more equitable for the kids… especially that they were able to access the links and pause, rewind or rewatch anything that they missed!

2. SOURCE LOCAL & DONATED SUPPLIES FOR KIDS!

Since many of my students were learning at home with varying circumstances & access to materials I connected with local organizations like Arts & Scraps & Brilliant Detroit to source recycled & donated materials for my students. Also delivering materials to make sure ALL students have access to what they need.

3. SHARE ABOUT LOCAL & GLOBAL CONTEMPORARY ARTISTS

Share stories about diverse artists around the globe with your students and find diverse voices in your own community to share with students. We are so lucky here in Detroit to have an abundance of talented artists to learn from and an especially talented group of Black contemporary artists who are willing to share their knowledge directly with students. Taking the time to introduce students to their careers, struggles, and successes is what will make lasting impacts on their own aspirations as young artists. Find global connections to help students understand our role as artists & activists in this world.

4. COMMUNICATE WITH STUDENTS & FAMILIES OFTEN

It is always important to stay connected with my young artists & their families in my career but during the pandemic it became especially important to do more frequent check-ins to make sure they were alright. Checking in with them frequently through sending quick texts, delivering materials or just sending pictures of their artwork to our school community to celebrate their successes was a great way to keep parents involved in their students' learning. I also began inviting families to join their students in creative community wide art challenges to connect and heal through the art making process and to join us during our virtual lessons. This engagement and access to materials and information was uplifting for our entire school community.

Learn How to Paint With Me!

Learn how to paint with me through some beginner and intermediate classes offered through College for Creative Studies - Pre College & Continuing Studies Department!

Link to register for classes here

PAINTING: DAY AND NIGHT SCENES

Explore the light of day and night in this painting course. Students will observe historical references of paintings that focus on illustrating the different times of day. Through this course you will learn how to identify and match color schemes to reference twilight, moonlight, and sunlight. Students will learn how to apply painting techniques such as cast shadows, high contrast, glazing, manipulation of soft edges and atmospheric perspective. An emphasis on color theory, mixing colors, composition, drawing, and other important aspects of an introductory painting course will be taught and practiced each week. Visual aids will be provided to practice painting for the first 2 classes but then students are encouraged to source their own visual aids for a final painting of their choice that will span the remaining 4 classes.

Erin Brott-Holtzman is a Michigan based visual artist & educator. Inspired by nature and driven  by curiosity to investigate the nuances that exist in daily life, she strives to visually express and  capture these occurrences through paint.

ADRW 179 A

Saturday, 10 a.m. - 1 p.m.

February 11 - April 1 (no class February 18 or March 11)

6 sessions

SOLO SHOW!!! INHALE - EXHALE @ Ferndale Public Library

I am so excited to share my latest work! I am showing some vibrant landscapes at the Ferndale Public Library for the month of May. Read a little about me and the work below in a Freshcoast Perspective article here or head over to this link to watch the virtual opening & hear with Jeff Milo about about the work.

Quote from Ferndale Area District Library - Art Page …..

“We'll be hosting another virtual art exhibition, bringing you the dazzling works of Ferndale's own Erin Brott-Holtzman. We'll premiere a video walk-through of her exhibit on Saturday, May 1, via our YouTube channel, as well as our Facebook page. Exclusive images and videos will also be featured on our Instagram page.

Brott-Holtzman is a Ferndale-based artist and educator; some of her visual art has been prominently on display for anyone traveling northbound on Livernois--you might have noticed a "long white beard" mural stretching across the former location of Long White Beard custom furniture builders.

She's titled this show "Inhale - Exhale," because so many of the pieces are landscapes based on breathwork. These pieces are meant to encourage restoration, and a focusing on conscious breathing exercises. These are some of the mindfulness & breathing activities Brott-Holtzman has been focusing on with her students. Inhale-Exhale can help us all attain a sense of calm, and focus, and perhaps restore our motivation for creativity and creative expression.” - Jeff Milo

Solo Show! Treading Lightly Paintings by Erin Brott-Holtzman at Galerie Camille

Ya’ll this week I have an opening at Galerie Camille in Detroit! Below is the description of the show directly from their website. To hear more head over to their website and find out how to engage with the work virtually from the comfort of your home or in person by making an appointment.

TREADING LIGHTLY

PAINTINGS BY ERIN BROTT-HOLTZMAN

LIVE ONLINE JUN 12 - JUL 11 | VIRTUAL OPENING JUNE 12, 3PM

GALERIE CAMILLE IS PLEASED TO ANNOUNCE THE OPENING OF TREADING LIGHTLY, A NEW VIRTUAL SOLO EXHIBITION OF THE RECENT WORK OF DETROIT BASED PAINTER AND EDUCATOR, ERIN BROTT-HOLTZMAN. IN THE MIDST OF THE HEAVINESS OF A SEEMINGLY POLARIZED NATION, WHERE WE OFTEN FIND OURSELVES OVERWHELMED BY THE NEWS AND OFTEN LIFE IN GENERAL, BROTT’S WORK ATTEMPTS TO PROVIDE SOLACE IN NATURE BY EXPLORING THE HUMAN CONNECTION TO THE OUTSIDE WORLD THROUGH A COLLECTION OF LARGE INTRICATELY DETAILED, MEDITATIVE LANDSCAPES ON PAPER. AS AN ACTIVE OUTDOORS LOVER, SHE OFTEN PAINTS EN PLEIN AIR TO BE FULLY PRESENT AND ENGAGED WITH HER SURROUNDINGS. HER CANDY-LIKE COLORS HAVE A FAMILIAR FEEL LIKE THAT OF A TECHNI-COLOR NATURE SHOW FROM THE TIME OF FLOWER POWER AND PEACEFUL PROTESTS. BROTT FREQUENTLY WORKS WITH RE-PURPOSED MATERIALS AND SURFACES, OFTEN SOURCING THEM FROM LOCAL ORGANIZATIONS SUCH AS ARTS AND SCRAPS IN DETROIT. THESE INEFFABLE NATURE PAINTINGS WILL BE ON VIRTUAL VIEW FROM JUNE 12 THROUGH JULY 11, 2020. TREADING LIGHTLY WILL GO LIVE ON OUR WEBSITE AND OUR SOCIAL MEDIA ON JUNE 12, 2020, 5 P.M. THE ARTIST TALK WILL BE HELD JUNE 26, 3:00 P.M. ON FACEBOOK LIVE AND IG TV AT @GALERIE_CAMILLE. FOLLOW ERIN BROTT-HOLTMAN AT @EBROTT AND ALSO WWW.ERINBROTT.COM. PLEASE NOTE WE WILL BE FOLLOWING THE CURRENT COVID  SAFETY POLICIES AND ADJUSTING ACCORDINGLY THROUGHOUT THE DURATION OF OUR EXHIBITIONS.

“BY INVESTIGATING THE SMALLEST DETAILS THAT STRIKE ME IN A VAST ENVIRONMENT I AM ABLE TO NARROW DOWN WHAT COLORS, TEXTURES, AND MOVEMENTS SEEM TO EXPRESS THE MOST ACCURATE STORY ABOUT EACH PLACE AND TIME I DEPICT. THIS PROCESS GIVES ME GREAT COMFORT AND KEEPS ME ON MY TOES, TREADING LIGHTLY AS I APPRECIATE WHAT EXISTS AROUND ME.”

SEVERAL PIECES FROM THE TREADING LIGHTLY EXHIBIT WERE CREATED DURING THE EARLY PROGRESSION OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC. A PORTION OF THE PROCEEDS FROM THE EXHIBITION WILL GO TO ARTS & SCRAPS AND ARTS LEADERS OF COLOR EMERGENCY FUND. IN ADDITION TO HER ONGOING WORK AS AN ARTIST, ERIN HAS BACHELORS OF SCIENCE IN EDUCATION FROM UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN FLINT. SHE HAS TAUGHT IN DETROIT FOR NEARLY TEN YEARS.   

THE GALERIE CAMILLE GALLERY IS LOCATED AT 4130 CASS AVENUE, SUITE C, DETROIT, MI 48201. GALLERY HOURS ARE WEDNESDAY THROUGH SATURDAY FROM NOON TO 5:00 P.M. BY APPOINTMENT ONLY AND ONLY 5 PEOPLE ALLOWED AT A TIME. PLEASE EMAIL OR CALL US TO SCHEDULE AN APPOINTMENT AFTER THE OPENING DATE.- TEL. (313) 974-6737. PLEASE NOTE WE WILL BE FOLLOWING THE CURRENT POLICIES AND ADJUSTING ACCORDINGLY THROUGHOUT THE DURATION OF THE EXHIBITIONS. 

May Axle Artist Series Gallery Opening: Erin Brott

So grateful to show my work at Axle Brewing Company's Livernois Tap! Somehow over the past few months I was able to make enough work to grace an entire wall at Axle and Couldn't be more excited about the outcome! 

My paintings will be up May 1st- May 31st 

About the artist & work:

My name is Erin Brott, I am an artist currently living in Ferndale and an elementary art educator in Detroit. In my work and in life I am constantly searching for beauty in the mundane. Often overwhelmed by the daily grind I find inspiration in conversations, colors and unexpected moments. Painting forces me to slow down and really work to process and express the sensory overload I face each day. I am constantly inspired by my students and love watching how their compassion and curiosity drives them. In my artwork I try to interpret these feelings using the colors, textures, and imagery that stand out in my mind. 

In this body of work you will find…
cloud patterns from a drive home from work, 
detailed observations of plants found peeking through the dark,
colors from messy paint pallets my students have left behind, 
and hopeful growth in otherwise overlooked pieces of land.

First days of art!

Each year I spend a good majority of my last few weeks of summer brainstorming what activities and projects I will use to kick off the year. I am always trying to find inspiring and collaborative prompts to get students thinking about art in a different way. I want students to challenge their ideas about what art is and learn how to interpret art like they learn to interpret books and movies. This year I was inspired to start off the new school year by introducing my middle school students to the game In/Out/Maybe. I fell in love with this activity when one of my old art teacher colleagues, the fabulous Elizabeth Kamper showed me at one of our beginning of the year art club's with 2nd-5th graders when we taught in Detroit. This is a great ice breaker activity that gets students interacting in groups and allows them to begin to talk about art in a way that is fun and engaging. 

There is a little bit of prep work that goes into making this activity a success but totally worth it. 

Materials:

-You will need to gather a collection of images including art, non-art, and nonsense. ( some examples in slideshow below) I chose about 60 images total.

-Print however many sets of images that makes sense for your class size, laminate them, and cut them all into the same size, creating little art cards. I clip them together using a binder clip.

-Create another set of cards to add to each set of art images as a heading; IN, OUT, MAYBE

Guidelines:

-This is a group activity so whether you separate them by their assigned tables or let them choose their groups, you will want them to be in at least groups of 4 or more.

-I begin the activity by writing WHAT IS ART?! on the board and I ask students to share out loud their definition of art before we begin. As they discuss/debate/ and offer their ideas, I write their answers on the board around our big question.

-After the discussion about what they believe art is, I explain the rules of the game and tell them to apply their groups definition of art to each image and separate them into the categories IN, OUT, or MAYBE. if they choose IN it means that they are pretty sure that the image is art, if they choose OUT then they believe the image is not art, and each group may only choose 1 image to be left over in the MAYBE category which means they are not sure, it could be both.

-Once each group has all of their images sorted into the 3 categories then they are allowed to tour around the room to see what other groups have decided. Once everyone has gotten a chance to see what each table has decided then each group will present one image from each category and defend why they chose them. This is done towards the end of class and once a group presents you will want to allow a few minutes for the class to ask questions, or comment on each groups choices.