Jennifer McIntyre

I was born into a family of artists. On my father's side of the family there have been generations of artists: illustrators, sculptors, painters and stained glass designers. My grandfather's studio was fascinating to me -- the paper, paints, the smell of turps and linseed oil, the paintings and illustrations in progress. Fortunately, my parents fostered my interest in art. As a teenager I attended the Vancouver School of Art Saturday classes and the Banff School of Fine Art. At the University of Victoria I trained as a teacher with a specialty in Visual Arts. I started teaching high school when I was 22.Of course, once in the classroom I found that there were huge gaps in my knowledge. I added courses in Graphic Design, Photography, Ceramics, Drawing, Printmaking and Painting. Eventually I completed an M.Ed. at the University of Oregon in Curriculum and Instruction, with a specialty in Community Education.I taught in my own classroom and also worked with many teachers in their classrooms and presented and organized workshops. I retired from my career in public school teaching after more than 30 years. For the last few years I have been teaching at the University of Victoria in Art Education and have been supervising pre-service student teachers. I have now taught Visual Arts at every grade from Kindergarten to 5th year university!In 1991 I was named 'Pacific Northwest Art Educator of the Year' by the National Art Education Association (U. S.).