Shelley, who has headed up Dio’s Visual Arts Department for the past 42 years, is farewelling the school “because it’s time”, she says. “And it’s always better to call time when things are going well.”
The revered creator, examiner and assessor who started her teaching career in 1971 at a South Auckland school, says she doesn’t have any set plans for retirement, but she and her husband Andrew have family all over the world and would like to travel.
She’s also determined to give some focus to her own personal art practice, an area of her life which has been somewhat neglected over the course of the past four decades, given her packed schedule of teaching, advising, assessing and guiding.
A roll call of some of our finest makers and creators
“What I’ll miss most are the conversations with students – I call them ‘Dio-logues’ where we discuss and exchange ideas,” says Shelley.
“That’s been my highlight of teaching – seeing the creative outputs of our young students, how they’re doing it and why.”
Reinvention the secret to success
So, what’s Shelley’s secret to longevity as an art educator?
“Constant thinking and reinvention,” she says. “We’re not here to train our students to be artists; we’re here to train them to ask questions, think, express themselves, be creative and explore that side of themselves.
“The standard of art education in this country is one of the highest in the world in terms of structure and results. That’s based on the understanding that we can teach everybody – and I’m really proud of that.
“Every year when you meet a new bunch of students in art, you’re reinventing yourself,” says Shelley.
“Every year is different, and every student is different. I’ll really miss that.”
Some photos of Shelley’s farewell event are below:
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