Teacher inspires creativity at summer art intensive
Summer is off to a creative start in Dallas ISD thanks to camp instructors like art teacher Jesse Jones. During last week’s Summer Art Intensive, held at Sunset High School, Jones taught drawing and introduced students to printmaking, a new art form for many of them.
Students learned the centuries-old technique of printmaking, which involves carving designs into wood and transferring the images onto fabric or paper.
“Printmaking is an older art form and one of the oldest technologies, so I don’t think many students are familiar with it,” Jones said. “I was able to get the drawing students to try printmaking, and I was humbly surprised that by the end of the week, the students did not want to stop.”
Jones, who has taught art at W.H. Adamson High School for the past four years, brought his expertise to the camp to help create an in-depth, hands-on experience.
Throughout the week, students explored digital art, drawing, painting, printmaking, jewelry and sculpture from four teachers in addition to Jones. The program concluded with a Student Art Show on Saturday, May 31, featuring original work from each participant.
“The goal was for students to have one art piece to present in the art show at the end of the week. By the time Saturday came around, students had two or three pieces each,” Jones said. “They didn’t want the camp to end. They wanted to keep drawing until 3 p.m., the very last hour.”
On the first day of the intensive, Jones hung up portraits of three different people. The faces varied in expression and emotion, giving students the opportunity to expand their technique as they interpreted and recreated what they saw.
Students used tools such as charcoal, oil pastels, chalk pastels, colored pencils and water markers to create their work.
“I had students that were very meticulous about their drawings, which is amazing. For me, it’s all about spontaneity in the moment and capturing playfulness,” Jones said, reflecting on the balance of teaching students with different personalities and drawing styles.
For Jones, the most meaningful part of the week was interacting with a wide variety of students and teachers from across the district.
“I was in the art studio space with four other art teachers from around the district. They each specialize in different things, and you learn from them whether it’s classroom management, project ideas, or ways to interact with the students,” Jones said. “It was great to walk through each other’s rooms to see what the students were doing.”
Jones earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts from The University of Texas at Austin, where he specialized in printmaking and learned about other traditional art forms.
He shares his commitment to art education with his wife Monica Barrera, an elementary art teacher in Dallas ISD and a former district student. Together they are creating a Dallas ISD legacy as art educators, dedicated to inspiring the next generation of artists.
From discovering the joy of printmaking in college to now sharing that passion with his students, Jones encourages them to push boundaries with their art and develop their own creative processes.
“For me printmaking is cathartic. It’s something I can get lost in because the art form requires repetitive motion,” Jones said. “I was able to share that feeling with my students and demonstrate the process. They had the opportunity to try something they normally wouldn’t do in their regular studio art classes.”
