Art teacher Anna Mendez began teaching at Oak Park High School almost 20 years ago and described the experience as, “amazing.” For her, art has been a creative outlet that she has always wanted to share with her students. It’s abstract and innovative: it provides every student the opportunity for growth.
She began teaching at Malibu High School in 1993 before moving to OPHS in 2005. At OPHS, she teaches three different art-related courses. Her passion for art actually started in a high school art class.
“When I was in high school, I really loved my high school art teacher, and art was something that really sparked my interests… I remember being in art class really brought me a lot of joy and I really found that I liked to paint and draw, and I was good at it,” Mendez said.
After high school, Mendez wanted to continue to explore art and all of its different mediums, which influenced her interest in teaching.
“I thought I would major in art because it was my passion, and because of that I truly believe that whatever your passion is you can create a life career that you enjoy,” Mendez said. “And I thought about interior design and I decided against it because I do like kids so I got a credential to teach high school art.”
When asked what her favorite aspect of teaching was, she explained it was the students.
“I love talking to all the students, that is my favorite part. Talk about their ideas, what theyre doing, what they plan on doing, just talking to the kids. I feel like it’s more of an art therapy classroom if anything.”
Personally, art was able to articulate how Mendez felt and put it into meaningful and impactful art.
“I have one piece that took me three years to do and it was a large painting and it was like chapter by chapter of my life and things I was going through. It’s symbolic of things that I was going through and it’s big, acrylic, and has resin on it. There’s another piece I did of Mother Teresa and it’s a pencil piece that I made for my mom.”
To Mendez, art is a personalized experience, allowing you to explore a facet of yourself you didn’t think much about before.
“If that [art] is really your passion and what you are interested in, practice, practice, practice. Open your life to museums, art history and other artists on Instagram. Surround yourself with people that are creative like you so they rub off on you,” Mendez said. “Also know that to fail and do something over and over again really is the key. There is nothing that you should be worrying about failing or perfection and if you are happy with what you do, that’s really all that matters.”
