Teaching art that speaks from the heart

Earlier this year, Melissa James, art teacher at Solar Preparatory School for Girls, received exciting news—one of her students’ artwork had been selected to be displayed in Austin.

Seventh-grader Elsa B.’s “My Best Friend” was selected by Texas’ First Lady Cecilia Abbott to be among 14 art pieces from across the state to be on display in the Governor’s Business Office until 2026.

This is not the first time the artwork of James’ students has been recognized at the state level. Just last year, while teaching at Moisés E. Molina High School, James encouraged her student, Jessica M., to submit her felted piece to the state Visual Arts Scholastic Event (VASE). Jessica spent all summer perfecting her felted artwork, which depicted a girl lying on her belly with beloved childhood objects strewn about her. Out of approximately 34,000 submissions, only 100 were awarded a Gold Seal, the highest honor at the event. Martinez was among the awardees.

“It’s really neat to see these things happening, especially knowing that I’ve made a difference as a teacher,” James said.

James, a 33-year teaching veteran, has spent the last six years at Dallas ISD—first at Molina High School and now at Solar Preparatory. She grew up in Houston and learned early on to express herself through art. Her passion began, of all places, in hospitals and doctors’ offices, where her twin brother, often sick, spent a great deal of time.

“I had to be quiet, so I would take out white paper and draw,” she said.

James experienced firsthand the healing power of art. As a child, she didn’t speak much, leading her family to assume she was a mute, she said.

“I didn’t talk my first year of school and I was put in a speech class. I had a twin brother, and we weren’t around any other kids,” she said.

Only art broke through the communication barrier and gave James a voice.

“I was able to express emotions through my art,” she said.

James hopes to foster her students’ latent artistic abilities and give them a voice that is just as powerful as hers was through art at their age. She feels this is especially important after the COVID pandemic that left so many young children with difficulties expressing themselves verbally.

“Growing up, I didn’t realize the potential I had in me,” she said.

In class, James likes to vary her lessons and introduce concepts—and projects—her students will find enjoyable.

“I’ve been choosing things that they’ve never done before so that they’re not bored,” she said. “I want them to say, ‘Wow, this is so cool.'”

James encourages her students to turn to their lives for inspiration for their art assignments instead of looking for images on the internet. The assignment to photograph something beloved—family, pets, friends—print it, and sketch it, led to Elsa’s piece. Following the sketch, James set the class to practicing texture, an art technique that creates the illusion of physicality.

All students worked hard, but Elsa took particular care to apply James’ suggestions, ultimately giving the drawing of her pet doodle a lifelike quality.

James often works one-on-one with students but makes sure that her classroom has an atmosphere of inclusion so that all feel their needs are being met and they can build on them, she said. Her love for the welfare of children and her passion for art continues to motivate her to this day.

“Where your mind takes you is in your heart,” she said. “That’s what needs to come out in a painting—it’s you.”