Artist and children's art educator Jennie Harriman earned both an MFA in Interdisciplinary Arts and an MA in Early Childhood Education from Goddard College in Plainfield, Vermont. Her work includes photography, collage, poetry, self-portraiture, children, body image and the objectification of women, and mothering. Jennie recently collaborated with a seven-year-old child on Waiting for Daddy, a picture book illustrated with black and white photos that chronicles the feelings and healing activities a young child undergoes while her father is in prison. Waiting for Daddy is currently seeking a publisher!

In the fall of 2000, a digital, multimedia art project of Jennie's entitled "The AOL Project" was part of an international art show entitled "International Human Space 2000" that toured Korea, including: September, Sohyang Gallery in Pusan; November, Yelim Gallery in Chinju; and December, Shinhae Gallery in Kwangju. Jennie's work was also put into a show called "Digital Feeling" during the last week of November at the Gallery Visual Arts in Pusan.

Jennie also sees her work with children as an art in itself. She has been teaching art for over sixteen years through directing summer recreation programs for children, offering art camps, teaching in one-and two-room schoolhouses and a Montessori school, and more.

Creative Education Philosophy

Jennie sees herself as a guide, rather than a teacher, who fosters creativity, nurtures individuality, and celebrates diversity. In her experience, she has noticed that as early as first grade children become tighter in their artwork and want it to be exact and representational. Jennie helps her students keep their creative freedom, opposed to losing it and becoming restricted in their artwork. She is sensitive to the natural and unique growth and development of children and gives them the opportunity to freely and creatively express their feelings, helping children find and become comfortable with their unique ways of creating art. She understands that often the process of making art is more important than the product. Sometimes projects have no tangible product, or if students want to throw away their work, that is acceptable. Although Jennie’s approach in early education normally is process-oriented art, her philosophy has evolved over the years. She also teaches children basic drawing techniques and introduces the artistic processes of famous artists in an age appropriate way.

Creative Curriculum

Jennie is passionate about using an interdisciplinary, anti-bias approach to art. She enjoys using a theme and integrating many areas into it, such as visual art, movement, music, drama, and literature. She has also been known to include cooking, science, math, and poetry. With older students, she sometimes incorporates digital art, which can be an exciting combination of images, text, and audio. To make an experience even more holistic, sometimes she dresses to her lessons, and has been compared to Ms. Frizzle of the Magic School Bus series. She views this as a high compliment!

Sometimes Jennie's projects are socially-engaged or community-based. An underlying part of her style includes educating children about media literacy, gender equity, diversity, and body image. She does not allow name calling in her classes, and she treats the students with kindness, gentleness, and respect, and expects them to treat each other, and each other's artwork, the same. Jennie understands that a safe, secure atmosphere must exist for students to feel physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually secure in their creative expression.