It is more common than not for teachers to teach a class for a full year. However, that’s not always the case. This semester, drawing, ceramics, and sculpture students are starting their second half of the year with a new teacher, Jane Joslin.

“You could just create a coat rack that’s very basic looking, that literally just holds your coat,” Joslin said. “Or you could embellish it a little bit, make it a little more creative.”

Joslin has more than five years of experience in teaching art, served as a middle school and previously opened an art gallery before joining the faculty. According to Joslin, she is now ready to transform the drawing class experience.

“I really want to explore getting the kids past just visually looking at something and recreating it,” Joslin said. “[I want them] to render it into a different form and give it a little more imagery.”

For the ceramics classes, Joslin plans to transition from an aesthetics-first approach to creating more functional pieces, such as practicing Sgraffito technique on coasters. 

“One of my big things when it comes to design is that the form follows function. I want my ceramics kids to really wrap their minds around that concept and then create within it,” Joslin said. “I like the accessibility that ceramics give people to have finer art in their house.”

The previous ceramics teacher, Jeffery Bent, allowed students much freedom with their creations, starting the year with thematic mugs and Sgraffito vase projects.

“I think [‘form follows function’] will definitely clip some people’s wings with their creative decision,” junior Margaret Fontana said. “Moving forward with the new teacher, I hope it’ll be similar, at least with the creativity and the creation.”