My style and my goals as an artist and as a Teaching Artist for The Pennsylvania Council For The Arts are centered around the idea of The Art Experience. Art- is a diverse, active process. A Journey.
Every journey generally has a common theme such as-- the Personal Growth. In the Art experience, this Growth happens by way of senses, as well as the intellect. Thought is as much of an art medium as paint or clay.
In my teaching approach, I help my students with the process of individual growth, based on their own strengths and inspirations. I help them develop ideas, which are based on their individual competencies, by using the preferred art mediums. The individual inspirations and the thoughts are the driving force of the Art Journey.
And in the end of a Journey--there is the Discovery, and which is more--a meaningful discovery. A meaningful experience--such as an artwork, connected with the individual on sensory, emotional and intellectual levels, will have a long life, giving off excitement and energy to those around it, artist and witness alike.
My goal is to grow and discover through a meaningful art Journey. And you are invited aboard!. :-)
Contact me for more Art Residency Information, Scheduling and the Projects
My Teaching Philosophy and Style
My Teaching Style has evolved directly from my creative experiences. I have always been rather curious and inquisitive in my life, always looking for new experiences and which is more important--the Discoveries that experiences can hold within. I grew up on good literature and the joy of a meaningful story. So in short: Thought, Discovery and Meaning are my mediums. The rest--usually the artistic mediums, disciplines and shapes--fall somewhere in between.
Throughout my Journey as an artist I focused on the Experience (as a process) of Art in particular. Art is the experience of Discovery. By means of an artistic experience we may connect to, understand and support another person. We can discover the cause of our own discomfort and suffering and resolve it. A meaningful art experience is a transformative experience. Under the umbrella of the Transformative experiences I'd like to mention a few that I focus on in my Residencies. These are: 1. Healing (working through strong feelings . emotions and creating a cohesive narrative (story), as well as generating positive emotions and feelings as a practise. I can see that my work with the underserved population, families and communities as well as Arts in Health could apply here. 2. Growing as an individual. This includes growing through the negative experiences and feelings and being able to acquire strength and inspiration from these. Also growing in a state of awareness-- this includes awareness about your social surroundings and your own role in those. Growing of course, is very subjective, so the opportunity here (for me as somebody who is always interested in the process) is to observe and learn from others (students) as they engage in this process and be amazed by the ways their perceive, think and discover.
Resume
Evgeny ZheKa Art on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and website. Email: [email protected]. Pennsylvania Artist and Teaching Artist with Pennsylvania Council For the Arts.
Education University of The Arts, Philadelphia. August, 2019-August, 2020. Pennsylvania Council for the Arts, Teaching Artist Degree. 2001-2020, During this period, I have been creating art in different capacities as a commercial and non profit artist, as well as conducting art therapy in my professional jobs as a Family Based Mental Health Professional and Drug and Alcohol Counselor. I continue to be represented by several art galleries in the region. I hold all the Federal and Pennsylvania Clearances to work in Educational and Community Settings.
Employment. Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art. Teaching Artist. 2013-current. Perry County Council for the Arts. Teaching Artist. 2018-current.
Skills and Mediums. My main medium is-- artistic discovery. The idea or the concept calls for a custom medium. I have employed a great variety of means to reach the artistic goals. I work with a variety of sculpting mediums: wood, metal, clay, stone, concrete, string, wire and fiber. Also a variety of fine art mediums--color pencils, acrylics and oils.
September--October 2019. Huntingdon Community. “Community Spirit” Project Artwork. Together with over 250 members of the community, created a large artwork, which symbolizes the beauty, diversity and the potential of the community, as well as serving as a reminder that there are people in our community, who need help and support. Through the project, there was an opportunity to connect individual members of the community to the right resources, also generate easy going conversation and informal connections. The artwork was assembled on a large frame (4 feet wide by 5 feet tall), it was first sculpted in relief and then painted by conventional means. The artwork is currently on Tour of different helping organizations of Huntingdon County (12 signed up so far), and will continue to be exhibited in this manner.
April 2019. Altoona Area High School. Ceramics classes. During this Art Residency we created a variety of individual projects, which focus on a personal narrative. We also created a group project entitled “Grow on”. Each student contributed a small piece to the group project, helping to develop the visual narrative of growing in our times.
March 2020---ongoing. “WoW”. Waterfall of Wellness. Elementary School. Retirement Community. Collaboration between the students and the home for the elderly. Building the art bridge between the two groups of people, which normally don’t interact. The Students learn about the Positive Energy in Art and how it transfers and affects the individual who is interacting with the artwork.
Interactive Artwork/ Installation in which an individual would be able to immerse themselves into the artwork, which has been filled with positive creative energy of the beautiful 10-year-old minds. Step into the Wonder. Immerse yourself in the WOW.