Beliefs
My philosophy of art education is based on my personal experiences dealing with children, the ideology and wisdom shared with me as an undergraduate by an experienced and passionate art faculty at Central Missouri State University (CMSU), and the research that I conducted during the completion of my master's thesis at CMSU.
I believe that children benefit greatly from experiences in the arts. Music, dance, theater, and visual arts expand the mind and encourage a definitive way of thinking. This type of thinking assists children in solving problems, making decisions, and learning to accept themselves as unique individuals. These activities also inspire confidence in one's self and a willingness to take risks and try new things.
Experiences and training in the visual arts are particularly important for children who are introspective and/or curious about the world in which they live. The visual arts give them a chance to interpret themselves and their world in a way that provides richer understanding and demands deeper analysis.
These are the reasons why I wanted to start an art center. I wanted to provide the community a place for these things to happen for children and adults alike.
Olpin Art Center Philosophy
I want the Olpin Art Center to be a place where art is taken seriously. It is and should be treated as an important part of the human experience. The center will achieve this by showing respect for the creative process of every student, developing and encouraging artistic sensitivity in students, and teaching art skills and techniques for successful implementation of students' ideas. The art center will achieve this in several ways including the following:
Students will have "homework" assignments to complete between lessons usually a drawing or other art project.
Students will spend a portion of each meeting sharing their thoughts and ideas about their artwork with the other members of the class.
Students will be involved in independent, self-directed work in addition to skill developing art assignments.
Students will create portfolios that demonstrate mastery of specific skills and techniques.
Classes will be continue month-to-month without interruption or re-registration to provide for group cohesiveness, support, and to encourage students to make a commitment to develop as artists.
I believe that art can and should be a lot of fun. Serious fun for serious artists is a slogan that I believe in for the school. When you take something serious enough to become good at it, it usually becomes fun. I have a quiet personality most of the time, but have a goofy, fun side and have a good sense of humor. You need that to make it through life's tougher times. Not to mention nine years of teaching elementary students. I will make the art environment and atmosphere as fun and funny as I can for everyone at the school. I pride myself on my ability to come up with creative ideas and you can expect some (hopefully a lot) of that to rub off on your or your children at the Olpin Art Center.
The above requirements and goals are intended mainly for my school-age students and older. For toddlers the emphasis, I feel, needs to be on having fun with art materials and exploring some of the possibilities they provide so that is what we'll do with them. For preschoolers the emphasis will be on organizing their ideas into projects and developing mastery of the use of various art materials. These ages will be new for me in a class setting, but one that I am familiar with at home. I am looking forward to working with these age groups. I'll get to use the mop, I'm sure, too.
All in all I am excited to be a part of a new chapter in my life devoted to the arts and hope to inspire each of my students to develop the artist inside.
Sincerely and Artfully Yours,
Matt Olpin, Founder, Olpin Art Center
For more information see the links below.
Description of class approaches by grade/age.
Description of the classes by type.
(480) 812-8202