By Cynthia Cheng

 

You might have heard of Mark Engel. A Santa Clara resident, Engel teaches drawing and painting at Mission College as a full-time faculty member. What many people don’t know is that Engel also teaches art to pre-school students at two locations in San Jose as part of his artist residency with the Preschool Arts Enrichment Program sponsored by the Arts Council Silicon Valley.

From February through April, Engel visits SCCOE Parkway and St. Elizabeth’s Day Home once a week to teach painting and drawing to eager pre-school learners. Although  the paperwork and planning is time-consuming, he finds the most satisfaction in working with the children.

Engel draws out the similarities and differences between working with adults and young children.

 

“It’s natural for us as humans of all ages to be excited about creativity,” Engel says. “When you’re young, you’re really open about creativity. With preschoolers, they’re just naturally excited. They haven’t molded themselves yet, haven’t put up the walls yet.  With a college student, you see a spark of that when they learn something new. When you’re older, it’s a little harder to experience that.” 

 

Engel is in his fourth year teaching pre-schoolers. While focusing on lines, shapes, and colors, Engel teaches about standards in art and helps his students build on their ideas. The pre-schoolers have also become familiar with art terminology and can define what a sculpture or a monoprint is.

 

Engel describes an example of a lesson which involves having the students create a rain painting. First, Engel and the pre-school students talk about the typical sounds created by rain or storm. Then they try to recreate the sounds using their bodies. For example, Engel and the children would sway their bodies and make whistling sounds like the wind or slap their hands on their legs to mimic the sound of leaves falling down from the trees. Then Engel would pull out some actual leaves, and help the group focus on the lines on the leaves while emphasizing how nature also has the very lines used in painting and drawing.

 

“We’d take those leaves to create the impression that make the painting,” Engel says. “It’s a multi-step painting, everyone has to follow those steps, but every student’s painting is going to be different. This is not a cookie cutter type of art project. Students are really allowed to explore different things. Lessons are sequential. They build up on things, and you have to follow steps.”

 

“One thing I learned is how intelligent a lot of those kids are, even at that age,” Engel continues. “They’re so capable of doing more than what you’d expect.”

 

In addition to teaching, Engel is also preparing for a faculty art show at the Triton Museum later this month where his and his colleagues’ work will be showcased.

 

Visit www.markengelgallery.com to view samples of Engel’s work.