Educators Are Artists Opens at Quiet Waters
Bay Delicacy by Wendy Johnson 
Family by Ana Pendleton 
Friends by Ana Pendleton 
Oyster Trio by Wendy Johnson
By Jillian Amodio
Teachers can ignite a passion in their students that has long lain dormant. Teachers can inspire and awaken the endless potential and possibilities of the children in their care. Robert Frost once said, “I am not a teacher, but an awakener.” And perhaps this sentiment is most truthful in the arts. Art teachers may not be teaching foundational skills of math, language, or science, but they are awakening thoughts, feelings, and ideas bubbling beneath the surface of their student’s minds.
Quiet Waters Park is celebrating the talent and impact of area art teachers with an exhibit at The Galleries of Quiet Waters Park called Educators Are Artists, featuring original works by Anne Arundel County public and private school art teachers.
Ottilie Habercam is a retired art teacher in Anne Arundel County and a former department chair at Broadneck High School. She now serves on the art committee for Quiet Waters, well known for its many arts-focused events and exhibits.
“We really wanted to bring awareness to the fact that there is more to being a teacher than teaching. These people [art teachers] are creative and imaginative. That’s the part that inspires me most, how they involve and inspire the kids in their classrooms,” she says.
Habercam says the county art programs are evidence that the arts are still thriving. One of the greatest achievements of her career was watching students from her art classes become art teachers themselves. “Teachers encourage children to not dismiss art as something passive, but rather to view it as a tool for inspiration.”
Another featured artist is Wendy Johnson, an art teacher at Glen Burnie Park Elementary. All eight of her pieces focus on the theme of the Chesapeake Bay. “I grew up on the Magothy and have always been inspired by its beauty,” says Johnson. “Personally, this (art) has been about overcoming the wrath of the past two years. Some people comfort themselves through games, movement, or cooking… For us, [art teachers] it is necessary to create.”
Johnson says that during this time of uncertainty, it is imperative that kids have an outlet for self-expression. “They need to be up and moving, and experimenting with materials that can be used to express themselves,” she says.
Using art for expression is important for both teachers and young people, says Ana Pendleton, art teacher and department chair for Annapolis High School. Pendleton used this exhibit as an opportunity for expressing her emotions throughout this collective period of deep challenge, something she hopes her students can do, too. “For my students, the art classroom is a refuge and a safe place. It is a place to express themselves and to have an outlet,” she says. “Freedom of expression and being able to have a safe place are very important to their development as individuals. As educators, we need to get back to the developmental stages of the child, it’s about the process, not the product this year.”
The exhibit is open daily through Feb. 13 in the Visitor Center. Park fees are waived for the artists’ reception Sunday, Jan. 23, 1:30-3:30 pm.