Margaret Koreman Bio

This is Margaret Koreman's sixth year as the visual arts teacher at Decatur Elementary. Mrs. Koreman has a Master's Degree in Art Education from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, where she served on the teaching faculty. Mrs. Koreman regularly supports regional art education programs by hosting and mentoring student teachers. She regularly presents professional workshops on teaching practices at conferences for the Illinois Art Education Association (IAEA), the National Art Education Association (NAEA), and various local and regional organizations.

Mrs. Koreman helped establish the art education program at Intuit: The Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art and recently completed Intuit's 2022 teacher fellowship. Mrs. Koreman currently serves on the board of Chicago Arts Partnership in Education (CAPE).

Mrs. Koreman’s teaching practice focuses on contemporary art and a multi-media approach. Her enthusiasm for the Chicago art community has led to numerous partnerships that expose students to local arts organizations and resources through field trips and workshops that examine how art impacts our neighborhoods.

Connection

The big idea in the art room this year is Connection between the art community and the natural environment. We explore how nature has and will continue to play a role in the art curriculum, inspiring observational drawings, designing with living plant materials that can enhance calm, inspiring our senses, creating beauty, and teaching us how to care for our earth.

This summer, I was fortunate to visit the Tate Modern in London and explore this unique contemporary art museum firsthand. In addition to their permanent collection, I toured an exhibition featuring the art of Hima af Klint. Nature served as an inspirational force for af Klint throughout her life. In her words, "Every time I succeed in finishing one of my sketches, my understanding of humanity, animals, plants, minerals, of the entire creation becomes clearer. "

The Tate Modern has been a tremendous inspiration for my teaching practices. I have enjoyed using their website Tate Kids to help my students learn about artists from around the world and get a better understanding of why people make art. While I was visiting Tate Modern I was also able to see the interactive art installation Zero to Infinity by Rasheed Araeen. This installation captivated people of all ages and brought them together to use their imagination and creativity, demonstrating how this exceptional museum serves artists of all ages.

Posts

Sixth-grade students are using hot glue to embellish their staff.

Curators Club is getting ready for our next show!

Curators Club is preparing artboards for our next exhibition!

The sixth graders' art unit is integrated with social studies as a focus on identity. Students investigated how Chicago artists Mr. Imagination and David Philpot created staffs to overcome fear and tragedy to develop confidence in new identities that influenced thousands of other individuals. After students drew visual symbols and developed text to illustrate how they find support on personal journeys, they began construction on the staffs you see displayed here. As students find inspiration through their study of personal interaction with the community, they will continue to embellish their staff with text and objects significant to them as individuals. These staffs are growing as symbols of art-making builds the perseverance, patience, and willingness to take the risk that makes life's journey worthwhile.

How can movement be translated into art-making?

Keith Haring and Romero Britto create art that makes us think of happy moments in our lives. Decatur students discussed how these artists develop lines that suggest movement and what they felt about the work. The students were then given large sheets of paper and black paint to illustrate the beauty of mark-making. The students discussed how each artist applies line, color, and pattern to represent their ideas and aesthetics. Finally, the students selected where to use color, patterns, and glitter to complete their own paintings.