Grand Valley Magazine - (Page 32)
A RTS
The art of
meaningful
engagement
by Mary Isca Pirkola
Jill Eggers believes in the
transformative power of art. She has
seen it occur both during her own
creative practice and while teaching
art to others.
An associate professor of art
and design, Eggers has taught
primarily painting classes since
coming to Grand Valley in 2000.
Early in her career, Eggers worked
as a substitute teacher while she
took night classes at the Art Institute
of Chicago in preparation for a
graduate program at Yale University.
Having grown up in a calm,
suburban environment, Eggers
said she was unprepared for the
reality of the inner-city school where
she worked.
"I was the third teacher assigned
to that classroom since school had
started, and it was only October,"
said Eggers. "I was given a couple
of packs of paper, a box of pencils
and a budget of $150 for the
entire school year of seven art
classes a day."
Eggers faced her challenges with a
fierce determination to stay and try
to make a difference. She drew from
her meager salary to buy additional
supplies and solicited donations
from suburban school teachers and
art supply stores. Most importantly,
she connected with the students.
"I was losing students to street
violence all the time. I tried to create
a safe space, and basically taught
them how to draw," said Eggers.
"Out of that, some amazing things
happened. It was calming for them.
They thrived in a focused training
experience with support and
encouragement. And they found
success at something - for the first
time in their lives for many of them."
32
Spring '14
To volunteer:
Jill Eggers encourages anyone interested in
volunteering or learning more about the art
program at St. John's Home for Children to
contact her at eggersj@gvsu.edu.
To see more of Eggers' own artwork,
visit jilleggers.com.
Their success gave Eggers a sense
of meaningful engagement, but also
created a huge quandary in her life. "I
didn't know then how to reconcile the
difference between my art making,
which at the time seemed such an elitist
luxury and privileged intellectual inquiry,
with their real-life pain and suffering,"
said Eggers.
Recently, Eggers looked for ways
to recapture that early experience of
helping youth in need.
Over the past year, Eggers has
developed and taught a volunteer art
class at the D.A. Blodgett St. John's
Home for Children in Grand Rapids. The
class meets at KidsFirst, an emergency
shelter for children 7-17 who were
removed from their homes because of
abuse or neglect.
"I met with the home's performing arts
director, Kathleen (Hanley) Bode, '12,
and was motivated by her dedication
to these children and her belief in the
transformative power of the arts," said
Eggers. Bode has developed a range of
Jill Eggers, shown in her
arts programs at
studio, developed an
the shelter.
Eggers recruited art program at St. John's
Home for Children.
volunteers,
photo by
including Grand
Bernadine Carey-Tucker
Valley students,
to help with the
Saturday art sessions.
"We encourage them to experiment
with the materials and not worry about
if it turns out good in an artistic sense.
It's not for somebody else, it's for them,"
Eggers said. "I really enjoy this work
because it is so different from what I do
at Grand Valley, where I must evaluate
and be critical and offer judgments on
the work and progress of my students."
Volunteering at KidsFirst affords
Eggers a chance for something more.
"It also provides me with an opportunity
for the type of connection I had with my
kids in Chicago," she said, "this time in a
very healing environment, so I've come
full circle."
http://www.jilleggers.com
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Grand Valley Magazine
Table of Contents
Campus News
Athletics
Donor Impact
Art of the Possible
One Book Carries Discussions Beyond Classroom
One Million Hours
Power Trio Turns Ideas Into Companies
Research
Q&A Renee Freeman
Off the Path
Sustainability
Focal Point
Arts
Alumni News
Grand Valley Magazine
https://www.nxtbook.com/gvsu/GVmagazine/GVMagazineSpring2017
https://www.nxtbook.com/gvsu/GVmagazine/GVMagazineWinter2017
https://www.nxtbook.com/gvsu/GVmagazine/GVMagazineFall2016
https://www.nxtbook.com/gvsu/GVmagazine/GVMagazineSummer2016
https://www.nxtbook.com/gvsu/GVmagazine/GVMagazineSpring2016
https://www.nxtbook.com/gvsu/GVmagazine/Spring2016GVMagazine
https://www.nxtbook.com/gvsu/GVmagazine/Winter2016GVMagazine
https://www.nxtbook.com/gvsu/GVmagazine/2015FallGVMagazine
https://www.nxtbook.com/gvsu/GVmagazine/Summer2015GVMagazine
https://www.nxtbook.com/gvsu/GVmagazine/GVMSpring2015
https://www.nxtbook.com/gvsu/GVmagazine/GVMwinter2015
https://www.nxtbook.com/gvsu/Grandvalley/GVMFall2014
https://www.nxtbook.com/gvsu/Grandvalley/grandvalleymagazine
https://www.nxtbook.com/gvsu/GVmagazine/spring2014
https://www.nxtbook.com/gvsu/GVmagazine/winter2014
https://www.nxtbook.com/gvsu/GVmagazine/fall_2013
https://www.nxtbookmedia.com