Jessica Houston
Visual
Specialities: Collage, Drawing, Murals, Nature-focused art, Outdoor Art-making, Painting, Printmaking, Photography, Public Installations, Storytelling
Contact Info
Email address
Website address
Other Weblink
Resides in
English Montreal
Social Media
Experience working with
Student In
- Early childhood
- Cycle 1 Elementary
- Cycle 2 Elementary
- Cycle 3 Elementary
- Secondary 1 & 2
- Secondary 3 & 4
- Secondary 5
- CEGEP
- Senior Citizens
Lifelong Learners
- Adult Learners
I regularly explore the following Broad Areas of Learning/Themes in my work
- Health and Wellbeing
- Personal and Career Planning
- Environmental Awareness and Consumer Rights and Responsibilities
- Media Literacy
- Citizenship and Community Life (Identity & Belonging)
- STEAM
Listed in the Quebec Culture in the Schools Repertoire
- Yes
I have experience working with
- ELAN’s ACE Initiative
- LEARN, Quebec; The New York State School Board; Creative Arts Learning at Columbia University, NY; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY
I can facilitate virtual creative experiences
- Yes
School board areas you are available to work in
- Central Quebec - Quebec City & Environs
- Central Quebec - Rural/Regional Schools
- Cree School Board
- Eastern Shores - Gaspe/Coast
- Eastern Shores - Lower St. Lawrence
- Eastern Shores - Magdalen Islands
- Eastern Townships
- English Montreal
- Kativik School Board
- Lester B Pearson - outside Montreal transportation areas (STM)
- Lester B Pearson - within public transit area
- Littoral - Lower North Shore
- New Frontiers - Chateauguay
- New Frontiers - Chateauguay Valley
- Riverside
- Sir Wilfrid Laurier – Lanaudiere
- Sir Wilfrid Laurier – Laval
- Western Quebec - Northern area
- Western Quebec - Southern area (Hull, Wakefield etc)
Travel
- I am available for travel overnight
- An extended residency is an option
Other ELAN ArtEd Links
Stories and News:- Taking it Outside: Bringing Arts Education into Open Spaces
- Artists in Education – Jessica Houston
- Stories & News: Fostering Resilience Through Art-Making
- Stories & News: Question, Wonder, Imagine: Experiencing the World Through Visual Arts
- Distance Learning: the 21st Century Message in a Bottle
I have traveled from pole to pole creating art projects with high-school and primary students at the intersection of art, ecology and environmental justice. My school-wide art and STEAM projects, drawing, painting, murals, installations, and interdisciplinary collaborations generate diverse spaces for creative expression. I hold a MA in Art and Art Education from Columbia University. I work closely with teachers and schools to develop online and/or in-person art experiences.
Creative Approach and Experiences Offered
I lead visual art experiences that connect students with nature and beauty. With focused exercises, students follow their natural curiosity in focused, age-appropriate experiences. We celebrate diversity of expression. Through involvement with the rich, tactile properties of drawing, painting, collage, clay, mixed media, students enrich their visual language, which they use for their own expressive means. Projects draw inspiration from nature; science; poetry/literature; social justice issues; history and students’ imagination. The creative process offers many discoveries in terms of materials, ideas, critical thinking and working together.1. Environmental Themes/Climate Change/Nature
2. Art + Science
3. Drawing, Painting
4. Social Justice, Museum/Art History Integration
5. Interdisciplinary Projects
6. Oral Histories
Video
Jessica Houston: What does visual arts bring to schools at this time?
Drop-in Drawing—Drawing Rhythmic Lines at The Met