Teacher Profile: Karen Fortier
Insight on Berkshire's Art Teacher
by Brittany Milite, BP News Editor
January 21, 2008
Karen Fortier, a resident of Geneva, has been an art teacher at Berkshire for 17 of her 22 years of teaching. Before she came to Berkshire, she taught at St. John’s High School in Ashtabula.
Fortier enjoys teaching all of her classes, which include 8th Grade Art, Art I, Art II, Art III, and Art IV. “My favorite part of teaching these classes is the opportunity for everyone to play in paint and enjoy the results,” Fortier said, “the worst part, however, is ending class and cleaning up for the day.”
Each of her classes is designed to prepare the students for the next level course. “This year, the students in Art I are figure-drawing as well as creating Paper Mache dinosaurs. These projects are a stepping stone to creating future projects in a higher level of class,” Fortier said.
Other projects this year include surrealism paintings in 8th Grade Art, silk screen designs in Art II, illustrated books in Art III, and a human ceramic bust project, as well as a people collage in Art IV. “We are finishing our ceramic busts. It was a fun project, and they look quite nice,” said Amanda Devol, Art IV student. “My favorite project was the people collage. It incorporated people we idolize into our creative medium,” said Art IV student Derek Larenas.
Fortier not only teaches art, but also enjoys creating her own art in her spare time. Her biggest influence in her creations is the well-known artist, Georgia O’Keefe. “I’m very enthusiastic about making my own artwork. Unfortunately, I don’t get to do it as much as I would like to,” Fortier said.
