Q&A with Teaching Artist Pamm Hanson

How long have you been teaching at PwA?

I taught my first class in 2008. I came in the second year of this community defining itself and offering classes. It was quite challenging teaching and so rewarding. I was hooked.

?What are you teaching this quarter?

I?am teaching “Portraits in Conversation.” We are working in the wonderful Pratt Fine Arts Drawing and Painting studio. It is a small class this time with an outstanding group of participating artists. Each participant picked a portrait from a slide show spanning art history, copied that piece, and then painted a self-portrait in the style of that artist. The work is amazing!

?What does it mean to you to be a Teaching Artist?

Oh my. Mostly this work humbles me. The Participant Artists are so courageous, talented, and full of surprises! I am always learning from our work together. I see my job as an artist as sharing with other artists, sharing knowledge, skills, and support. Making art is not easy–not for the faint of heart. So we need to be able to lean into our artistic community in support of our own work. I believe in a rigorous classroom. I want learning and resolve to take place as well as exploration. My favorite time is in class when everyone is working, no one is talking, but the studio is full of a most wonderful hum of endeavor!

?How do you create inclusive spaces for Participating Artists?

It seems to me creating inclusive spaces involves education and risk. So what is most needed are community agreements to support a space without shame or judgment so each of us can share, learn, and risk change. The more the studio community embraces curiosity–for learning, for ourselves, for each other–the more opportunity for expanding inclusion. This is exactly what is important for furthering creativity and artistic skill. We must stay curious, we must take risks, and we must strive to be open to possibilities without judgment. Isn’t that what we need for an inclusive community as well?

Why is it important to foster inclusive learning spaces for the LGBTQ+ community, particularly in the arts?

Shame, secrecy, and duplicity, undermine the artist at work. We need to know ourselves the best we can, without judgment, to put ourselves in our work. It can be painful on the outside of the dominant heteronormative culture. But our voices from the outside have the power to change culture. So we cannot be quiet! But it can also be dangerous on the "outside," so we need each other for strength and possible protection.

LGBTQ+ people have lived on the outside, knowing the pain and power. Art from the outside can instigate change– sometimes where change seems impossible. The LGBTQ+ community was employing the arts to fight against homophobic laws before those laws changed! I know, I was there! We need that activism again. And much of it will come from the arts! Any fight for personal freedom and inclusion is a fight for us all. Artists often put on a better party, anyway. Ha!

Learn more about Pamm Hanson and her artwork?here.?