Bio
I'm Elizabeth Church, an artist and art educator. As an art educator, I want to teach students to see profoundly the world around them, to learn to see beauty in the most common things by understanding the beauties of character, intellect, and spirit, and to see beyond the obvious and external. As an artist, I strive to convey these same ideals in my own work, to tell a story of the beauty and honesty of my subjects.
I began college at the University of Georgia in 1999 after graduating 5th in my high school class. After a year at UGA I decided I was better suited for a smaller, more intimate environment and transferred to North Georgia College & State University. Here I began to explore my interest in art and photography in particular, and eventually declared my major as art. I completed my Bachelor of Science degree in Art Marketing with a concentration in photography in 2003, graduating magna cum laude and receiving the 2003 Hal B. Rhoades Artist of the Year award from the faculty of NGCSU.
After college I applied and was accepted to the masters program at Georgia State University. Here I completed a post baccalaureate degree in Art Education, in order to obtain T4 certification, and a Masters of Education in Art Education degree. I worked as a Graduate Research Assistant for Dr. Paula Eubanks, who later became my thesis advisor. My graduate studies focused on incorporating photography in sculpture and community art situations. My interest in learning to teach all students in a variety of situations led me to return to the University of Georgia and take a course in Museum Education taught by Dr. Carol Henry. Using my experiences in graducate school and under the direction of my professors, I focused my thesis research on writing a complete pinhole photography curriculum that could be taught in alternative settings for grades 4 – 12. I graduated with a 4.0 from GSU in 2007.
After college and throughout graduate school I worked in a variety of jobs in order to fund my further education. I worked in commercial real estate as a property management assistant, at a midtown restaurant as an event planner and manager, and as a freelance photographer. Before beginning my current position as a member of the Visual Arts faculty at Alpharetta High School, I worked as the Arts & Crafts Director for the Marcus Jewish Community Center's Camp Alterman. This led to a position as an instructor at the Spurill Art Center's Summer Camp for the summer after my first year teaching at AHS. At the conclusion of the summer session I was offered a position as Co-Director of the Summer Camp program for 2009 with fellow Fulton County art teacher Lana Ensman. In addition to teaching at Alpharetta High School and Co-Directing the Spruill Arts Center Summer Camp program, I am continuing my research in art education, working on a textbook proposal with Dr. Paula Eubanks, and creating art.