Interview with Rachel Breen

When did you become a teacher?
When I was in graduate school I had my first opportunity to teach
art.

What inspired you to become an art teacher?
I was inspired to be an artist first -- teaching was a
logical way to make a living as an artist -- it keeps me in contact with other artists and keeps me
thinking about the relationship between form and content -- always.

What to you plan teaching your students?
This question is a little unclear -- and not easy to
answer briefly -- there are so many things I want to teach my students -- in a global sense I want to
teach them to access art -- to understand it enough to appreciate it even if they don't like it --
to be able to extract meaning and thereby enjoy what it provides to the richness of life. In a more
local sense -- I want to teach them enough about how to work with medium that they can express
themselves with confidence and skill.

Was art your favorite subject in high school? If not, what was?
Art but also English.

Did you always plan on being an art teacher?
No, infact I have not always been an art teacher. I was
a community organizer for the first 20 years of my work life. I am a nontraditional student and
went back to graduate school in my '40's.

What is your favorite thing to paint/draw?
I like abstraction the best.

If you could be great at one thing in art what would it be?
Conveying ideas in complex yet
accessible ways.

Did you ever have dreams of becoming a famous artist?
Maybe, but I'm pretty realistic.

Ever wish you were something else?
A Travel Journalist. I love to travel.

What has art taught you?
That sometimes visual thinking can be a better way to understand,
analyze and communicate about ideas.

Who is your favorite artist and why?
William Kentridge - he is a South African artist who uses
charcoal, which is my favorite medium. He draws representationally but also erases his
drawing and then redraws on top of drawings that have been erased. The meaning of his work comes,
not only from the imagery he draws but also from "how" he draws. The process itself embeds
meaning into his work -- I am fascinated by this and try to do the same in my own work.