Dear Students,

My name is Sarah Bennett Winter. My pronouns are “she, her, and hers.” My students usually call me just “Winter.” Art is my passion! I love looking at art, reading about art, talking about art, thinking about art, making art of all kinds, and helping others refine their art. I am a painter myself.

My art classes are centered around student choice, practice, openness to experimentation, and peer-feedback. They are structured around the Michigan state learning standards for visual art.

I have found that some students feel self-conscious about art-making. They think they are “just not artistic.” Please don’t worry about that. Art skills - like math skills, reading skills, basketball skills, gaming skills, or any other type of skills - can be learned and improved upon through practice. Your success in art class will be assessed based on your personal artistic growth. I will never compare your work to the work of others, and I hope that you too will focus on growing from where you personally are. If you DO think of yourself as artistic, don’t worry, this class is for you, too! I have helped many students develop their art skills to very high levels - eventually gaining admission to prestigious art schools, winning awards, and earning scholarships. Either way, you should know that you will get out of any art class as much as you put into it.

Be open-minded and brave. Even masters don’t always make masterpieces. Give your best effort to all of your work. You may find yourself surprised at how much you learn about your classmates through their art. Art gives us a special opportunity to experience one anothers’ humanity. It gives us a chance to really sense and feel that each person has struggles, feeling, hearts, unique perceptions; just like us I look forward to getting to know each of you better!

Sincerely, Winter

My favorite book is "What Is Art For?" by Ellen Dissanayake, because it helped me realize how important art is - that humans would not be humans without it.

My favorite subject when I was in elementary school was social studies because I have always loved learning about people and culture.