I am very sad to say that I have resigned as the Art teacher at Oyster. My husband has been posted to Brazil with Reuters news agency and we are leaving DC at the end of the month.
It's hard to leave when I had so many new ideas and projects I wanted to spring on the students! As a teacher and an artist, it has been such fun to be surrounded by students who were always hungry for new artistic experiments. It always made me laugh when students would line up outside the Art room door and stick their noses up against the glass to try to figure out what project awaited them. I could hear "Yes", "Awesome", "I told you so". So cute!
I loved working with a dynamic and hardworking school staff. I wish to thank the Oyster administration, in particular, for giving me the opportunity to teach at the school for two years and allowing me all the space I needed to be ambitious and creative in the Art room.
All the artwork produced by the students at Oyster from 2010-2012 -- about 13,000 pieces -- can be seen on the Artsonia on-line gallery. Look up "past exhibits" to view them and you can still order artistic gifts with the work of your child on them.
All the best to the Oyster community for the coming academic year.
Fiona Murphy is an Irish artist who has lived in Italy and Cuba. She is the art teacher at Oyster Bilingual School in Washington D.C. Visit her website.