Go Tell It on the Mountain: Excellence in Teaching at Penland

In this article, the author describes a four-day teaching artist workshop at North Carolina's Penland School of Crafts. Led by Dr. Madeleine R. Grumet of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, participants of the seminar undertook the pleasurable job of examining the ins and outs of teaching visual art. Their morning was modeled on a concentrated version of the basic Penland summer workshop experience: high-quality instructions and hands-on "doing." Dr. Grumet led the afternoon seminar sessions. Participants also dove in with two of Penland's long-standing and highly cherished teaching artists: Paulus Berensohn, a self-described "amateur artist, professional fairy godfather, and deep ecologist," and Meg Peterson, Penland's joyful, revered educator who works in the county schools. Paulus and Meg guided the participants in paste-paper making, a process full of the childlike delights of tactile pleasure and thrilling color. Along with these activities, participants join for a discussion on excellence in teaching moderated by Robin Dreyer.