Wednesday, February 03, 2010
Robert Millard-Mendez develops young artists
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Betty Vawter Senior Editor, News & Information Services 812/480-1873 "His dedication and passion for teaching are obvious to anyone who enters the woodshop," a member of the art faculty said. Sponsored by the USI Foundation, the award recognizes excellence in teaching by full-time faculty who have been associated with the University for six years or less. The recognition includes a $1,000 one-time stipend and a $1,000 professional development grant. Millard-Mendez teaches a course called Design in Materials (an introduction to developing three-dimensional concepts in visual art), woodworking, and an introductory course to the visual arts. In support of his nomination for the teaching award, one student wrote: "I had very little experience with creating 3-D art and even less with using large tools like those located in the woodshop. His ability to explain the purpose and techniques regarding the equipment made the class so enjoyable that I absolutely had to come back for Woodworking II and III." Millard-Mendez involves students in providing constructive feedback to fellow students. He employs several methods, including an innovative response technique designed to encourage students to participate more fully. "The object under discussion is in the middle of the room," he said. "Everybody takes 10 seconds to write a word, phrase, or sentence that is their gut reaction to the piece. Then I collect them all in a bucket and pull them out at random. "The person whose tag is pulled out of the bucket expands upon his reaction to the piece. Students come out of their shells. No one can hide." Millard-Mendez believes critiques are important to help student artists understand the perception others have of their art. "If the artist meant the piece to be 'sad,' and the others say it's 'funny,' the artist gets to ask why. If you want to work in a public forum, you should be curious about what other people get out of your work," he said. A colleague on the art faculty wrote, "I have noticed the art majors getting better at articulating their visual observations, and I strongly suspect his emphasis on coherent oral and written critiques is benefiting the students in that regard." Millard-Mendez joined USI in 2006. The first person in his family to attend college, he received a full scholarship at the University of Massachusetts in his hometown of Lowell. He earned a bachelor's degree in fine arts and sculpture in 1994. He credits outstanding teachers there with influencing his desire to be a teacher as well as an experience helping a fellow student, a 72-year-old woman. "She was afraid to weld," he said. She asked for his help and by the end of a week was welding all kinds of projects. In 1999, Millard-Mendez earned a master's degree in fine arts - sculpture at the University of Massachusetts in Dartmouth, where he was a teaching assistant. He also has prior teaching experience at Stonehill College in North Easton, Massachusetts Northeastern University in Boston and University of Massachusetts in Lowell. At the beginning of each semester Millard-Mendez has students fill out a questionnaire about their learning styles - whether they learn best by reading, seeing, or listening. He adapts his teaching strategies to use demonstrations, handouts, posts on the Blackboard online course management system, or oral presentations. "I try to tell, do, and ask questions," he said. "I think that demonstrations and one-on-one instruction are important. I try to hit on all the different learning styles in the things I do in class." Millard-Mendez expressed appreciation to USI volunteers Chuck Heath and Heather DeLonga for their assistance in his courses. In addition to helping students improve their creative work, Millard-Mendez emphasizes other issues that affect the artist. He explains how to search for and enter exhibitions and helps students learn about proper processes for crating and shipping their work. "I had to learn about these kinds of things on my own," he said. "As a teacher, I thought I could catapult my students forward and help them be more successful with this kind of information." During fall 2009, two of his students - Christopher Wilke and Aaron Rodenberg - had work accepted for a juried exhibition called Small Spaces, Big Creations at the Sixth Street Gallery in Vancouver, Washington. A piece by Millard-Mendez also was accepted for the show. In 2008, he was faculty co-sponsor for a creative project by art major Daryl Booth, who now works as an artist at the John David Mooney Foundation in Chicago. Millard-Mendez developed and taught the first online course for the Department of Art last fall. Eighteen students completed the course in art appreciation. He will teach it again during the second summer session. He also is active in the community. Most recently, he and students in advanced art classes created ceramic and wooden bowls for Four C of Southern Indiana, a community child-care program. The organization will use the 10 bowls in a fundraising activity. Last summer Millard-Mendez helped young people in the inner-city Patchwork Central program construct a bicycle rack out of recycled bicycle parts. Millard-Mendez is an accomplished artist whose work was shown in more than 30 exhibitions in 17 states during 2009. Images of his work are available on his web site at robmillardmendez.com. He works primarily in wood and describes his sculptures as "large toys." Many have interactive elements. The teaching award was announced at the faculty and administrative staff meeting on January 4. |
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