Strength in Numbers
For Kimberly Olson, volunteering builds a sense of community while contributing to professional learning among art educators.
There is a nature lab in the classroom Kimberly Olson 92 IL MAT 93 set up for her young art students, fashioned from her teaching desk and modeled on the Edna W. Lawrence Nature Lab at RISD. Literally and figuratively, the nature lab is “still with me today,” Olson says, as is the resourcefulness and tenacity she learned from Foundation Year challenges, like building a stool out of corrugated cardboard that would support the weight of her professor. In her work now, Olson encourages her students, aged three to eight, to develop those qualities she learned at RISD.
“For my kindergarteners, who were just finishing up an architecture lesson…I gave them a 3D paper challenge where they had to create a 3D building out of a piece of paper, some tape and scissors, like MacGyver,” Olson said. “They're never too little for me to try and instill that perseverance and grit that we learned freshman year at RISD.”
Olson earned undergraduate and graduate degrees at RISD and went on to earn a certificate of advanced graduate study in administration and curriculum instruction. She serves as co-chair of RADE (RISD Art and Design Educators) Affinity Group, which connects RISD alumni who are working as art and design educators with resources, networking and professional development opportunities.
Olson decided to volunteer because she had been doing extensive research on innovative ways of integrating teaching art with English/language arts, math and social emotional learning. In recent years, she found herself presenting at professional conferences and participating in trainings in Houston, Washington, D.C. and elsewhere.
“That started to open my eyes to, well, I have something to offer, I have something to share,” Olson said.
She contacted Paul Sproll, professor of Teaching + Learning in Art + Design (TLAD), “just to see what was going on in the department,” she said, and toured RISD with him, learning about changes and updates to the curriculum and spaces in TLAD. Shortly after that, a call went out about affinity groups, including RADE, and she offered to help lead the group.
RADE has hosted virtual events and webinars that help art educators navigate opportunities—like creatively engaging with museum collections in teaching—and longstanding, thorny challenges, like addressing romantic or heroic depictions of violence against women in classical and modern works of art. RADE events held during the pandemic also engaged deeply with best practices for teaching in virtual or hybrid classrooms. The group provides a way for art educators, whom Olson said can often feel isolated, with a network that generates ideas and a sense of camaraderie as they explore the best ways to serve their students.
“Art is such an amazing discipline that so beautifully intertwines naturally with social emotional learning and culturally responsive teaching and learning,” Olson said. “I really would love to have a louder voice to share to the broader audience beyond art educators, because you know, there's strength in numbers. I’d love to put a call out there to see what other people are doing and how they're doing it, and celebrate each other a little bit too.”
Looking ahead, Olson said she would like to build up RADE’s membership, share more resources, projects and tools and stage in-person events at RISD. She hopes others will discover, as she did, that sharing knowledge and experiences can be personally gratifying at the same time that it advances thinking about art and art education.
Reflecting on the moment she signed up to volunteer, Olson said, “I remember checking the box thinking, ‘okay, yes, you can do this if you’re asked to lead or co-lead.’ It’s been a really fun way to connect with RISD, feel like I’m part of it again and give back a bit, to share information and resources and kind of connect people.”
