Art Education
I approach arts education as a mirror and a window.
It reflects a child’s true nature while offering that child a view to the sweep of human history through the lens of the arts, and, most importantly, what might come next and how they can be part of it.
All my life, I knew my destiny was to create my own art and empower children of all ages to do so, in inclusive settings that help them feel safe to push the boundaries of convention and take creative risks. I incorporate social emotional learning skills and culturally responsive lessons and projects that speak to children’s life experiences. My studio welcomes LGBTQIA+ people of all ages and is filled with music, color, textures, joyful energy, and bursting with artwork by my students and others.
The pursuit and study of art engages, challenges, and focuses the mind, helping children develop collaboration and problem-solving skills. Equally important, it creates artistically literate citizens who value and understand the contributions of all cultures, nations, and ethnicities to the sweep of history as it was experienced by people who were neither conquerors nor kings. In fact, by discovering the roles that art plays in the lives of people of a given time and place and how historical events, geography, climate, and culture influence art, students begin to understand the social, cultural, and environmental dimensions of human society.
I have extensive art training and years of experience as a pre-K-12 art educator in NYC and the Hudson Valley as well as my New York State Visual Arts PreK-12 certification.
My curricula meet NYS learning standards and incorporate national core standards as well as NYS arts learning standards. I hold certificates in trauma-informed creative art and sand play therapy from Antioch University. My commitment to restorative justice is supported by training at the Dutchess Mediation Center in Poughkeepsie, NY.
Download Ali Roland’s Art Education Philosophy Statement
“Art has the role in education of helping children become like themselves instead of more like everyone else."
– Sydney Gurewitz Clemens, early childhood educator
Student Art Portfolio
In my studio, children:
- Develop and practice a range of core skills
- Are exposed to art history and a diversity of cultures from a fine arts perspective
- Use authentic materials, from brushes to carving tools to woodworking tools, and are invited to bring in their own materials that reflect their backgrounds
- Find their artistic voices
- Experiment with sculpting, print-making, painting, drawing, weaving and sewing, woodwork, metalwork, mixed-media, and ceramics
- Explore art and artifacts from various historical periods and world cultures
- Have fun in a safe, accepting environment filled at times with music, camaraderie, and laughter and at other times with serene quiet while they enter their artistic flow
Watching children use art to open windows to their own souls and that of the world they inhabit—that is why I teach.
Ali Roland is a NYS visual art PreK-12 certified educator and uses the National Core Arts Standards and the NYS Arts Learning Standards in her curriculum content and practice. She also holds a certificate in Trauma-Informed Creative Art and Sand Play Therapy from the Creative Arts Therapy Studio and Antioch University. Ali also has training in Restorative Justice Practice through the Dutchess Mediation Center in Poughkeepsie, NY. Her studio is LGBTQIA+ safe.
Art Ed News
