The Winter Festival Youth Art Exhibition, also known as Winter Fest, has a long history of exhibiting amazing student artwork in City Hall for the community to see. This history has also engaged talented and dedicated arts teachers, who, without their work, there would be no Winter Fest.
Marjorie Grussing, an art teacher for over 35 years, is one of them. Grussing sat down with the Council on Culture & Arts to share more about her educational background, her experience participating in Winter Fest, and why she believes arts education is so important.
Artistic roots run deep
Grussing has entered her 36th year teaching in Leon County and has been participating in Winter Fest for almost as long as it’s been an exhibition in City Hall. She taught at Astoria Park Elementary School for 22 years and at Sabal Palm Elementary School before that.
Having moved to Tallahassee from New York State in eighth grade, Grussing comes from a family of educators and art practitioners. Her father, Ralph Davis, is an artist specializing in a variety of mediums, including painting, woodturning, and furniture design. His work greatly influenced Grussing’s own artistic journey, eventually landing her in the visual arts.
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Still, prior to getting her degree in Arts Education at Florida State University, Grussing thought she’d enter the field of music education. “I’ve loved art and music since I was little, and I went to FSU thinking I wanted to be a music teacher,” Grussing said.
“When we moved, I got more into the choral program, and that carried me through high school.” Grussing credits her path as an educator partially to her father’s support, who encouraged her to do something she loved. After looking separately at both the art and music education departments, she realized the Art Education Department at FSU felt like the perfect fit. The rest is history.
In her personal practice and classroom, Grussing loves all things sculpture. Whether wood, clay, or mixed materials, she enjoys making sculptures and teaching her students about sculpture, saying they’re “so motivated” when working with clay.
With her kindergarteners, Grussing does a clay medallion project which the students turn into necklaces. “You would think they’re wearing gold chains; they are so proud,” Grussing said.
She often submits work with elements of sculpture to Winter Fest, diversifying the types of work featured in City Hall. When discussing arts education and the ability of her students to display their work, Grussing said, “Winter Fest is the best example of a student art exhibit because it is so well done. It’s another way to spotlight the importance of having arts education in the schools.”
Learning exchanges
This year’s Winter Fest marked the return of juried awards for elementary school students. Grussing’s student Caleb Green won an Outstanding Achievement in Elementary Award for his work “Maasai Tribal Portrait.”
Grussing teaches a unit on the Maasai Tribe, a semi-nomadic ethnic group of people who live in Kenya and Tanzania, and has the students create portraits and necklaces. She said it helps introduce her students to other people, cultures, and languages while also stressing all the different types of art found around the globe.
Grussing is also the Elementary Art Group Coordinator and organizes monthly meetings of elementary art teachers in Leon County, where teachers support one another and exchange lesson plans and classroom strategies. Grussing shares project ideas like her Maasai Tribe unit, and other teachers share theirs in return.
When talking about the monthly meetings, she emphasized how overwhelming classroom teaching can be for new art teachers. For this reason, Grussing tries to make resources accessible, letting new teachers know they can always ask for help. “I really wanted to make sure that I created an atmosphere where I can say, ‘I’ve been doing this for 36 years, but I can still learn something from you.’ We’re all on the same level.”
The power of art education
As a public-school art educator teaching at a Title I school, Grussing knows how important access is for her students. When asked about the importance of arts education, Grussing stated that it’s absolutely crucial.
“We’re so dependent on technology, and students don’t get enough time to be creative. It’s so important to have that art component to tap into their creativity. It taps into our human nature.” Grussing’s exceptional nature as an arts educator is evident through her classroom strategies, professional mantras, and submissions to exhibitions like Winter Fest.
See Grussing’s students’ works and others at the Winter Festival Youth Art Exhibition at City Hall, open through Feb. 10.
If you go
What: The Winter Festival Youth Art Exhibition
When: Now through Monday, Feb. 10 | Monday-Friday 8 a.m.-5 p.m.
Where: City Hall Gallery, Second-floor mezzanine of City Hall
Contact: [email protected]
Sahara Lyon-Mundy is the Arts Education Manager of the Council on Culture & Arts. Celebrating its 40th anniversary, COCA is the capital area’s umbrella agency for arts and culture (tallahasseearts.org).