We recently had the chance to connect with Emily Kobayashi Woods and have shared our conversation below.
Emily, a huge thanks to you for investing the time to share your wisdom with those who are seeking it. We think it’s so important for us to share stories with our neighbors, friends and community because knowledge multiples when we share with each other. Let’s jump in: What is a normal day like for you right now?
I am a high school art teacher right now, so Monday through Friday from 8 to 4 I teach students from 9th-12th grade. I teach a mural class and yearbook currently, but I also teach drawing, graphic design, photography, and studio art throughout the year. This is my first year teaching yearbook and creating murals with students for the school. I am learning a lot, adjusting curriculum, and making mistakes. The school I am at has trusting administration that makes the world of difference, where I feel comfortable taking risks, asking for help, and trying new things.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I am a high school art teacher in Commerce City, Colorado at an alternative high school. I am also a professional artist. I graduated from Regis University where I received my bachelor’s degree in visual arts with an emphasis in education, and I recently received my master’s in K-12 Art Education from the University of Florida in August. I create my professional art through drawing and painting. I use a range of dry media to create my drawings, and use oil paint to create my paintings. The unrest in America and my participation in protests in 2020 have heavily influenced my current body of work. I continue to be active in local protests and keep myself up to date with what is happening in the United States to inspire my art.
In regards to art education, I believe it is crucial for art educators to have healthy professional relationships with their administration and colleagues. For my master’s degree, I wrote my capstone paper (which can be found on my webiste) about the interpersonal relationships I had to navigate which impacted my art curriculum at two schools. Art teachers having trusting relationships with their administrators and other educators in schools is crucial for a healthy work environment where art educators can grow and learn from their mistakes.
Amazing, so let’s take a moment to go back in time. Who were you before the world told you who you had to be?
I think about this question from the lens of my child self. I was imaginative, trusting, and ignorant. I was a little artist and a little baker. I loved decorating cakes and pastries, watching Scooby-Doo, and painting. When I was around 10 years old, I had the goal of being a psychologist (like my mom) to make a lot of money, until I was 50, save up that money, and open my own bake shop.
Starting in elementary school into middle school the world started to tell me who I needed to be. As a half-Japanese little girl in an almost all white K-8 school, I was very much an outsider. I did not feel represented or understood in school, in media, and I did not feel like I belonged. I wanted to be like the pretty white girls. This carried into high school as students would try and guess what race I was, where I was from, and gave me nicknames as foods like “egg roll” or “sushi”. I started to be hyper aware of how boys saw me as a young girl, as they would comment on my body and pressure me into situations I still have to learn to live with today.
Even now as an adult I am constantly aware of how I am judged as a young professional woman of color. At a previous school I worked at, my age was the target of an administrator who would tell me I had a “squishy brain.” I was not 25 yet, so they would make fun of me for my frontal lobe not being fully developed yet. As a person of color, microaggressions are frustrating, but seemingly something you have to learn to let go of. Like when a co-worker was talking about “Japs” during World War II or when a person gets you confused for a different Asian co-worker that you look nothing a like, it is situations like these that remind me of my appearance and other people’s biases.
Was there ever a time you almost gave up?
At a previous school I worked at, I questioned if education was something I could handle. I was so unhappy (because of administration and other educators at the school, not the students) and I had no idea if I could ever get out of it, or find somewhere better. The school was toxically competitive, with staff not trusting each other, and administrators giving teachers little to no autonomy if they were not close with the principal. I now know I was the victim of work place bullying after learning about what that is. Before becoming a teacher I had no idea how political schools and districts can be, in terms of trust. I was scared every day I went to work and it was one of the only times I thought about what my options were other than being in a school.
Next, maybe we can discuss some of your foundational philosophies and views? What would your closest friends say really matters to you?
They would say social justice issues matter to me most. These are core values that I do not believe have grey areas. I believe all human beings should be treated equally regardless of race, gender, sexuality, socio economic status, immigration status, or religion. My professional art is all inspired by current events in the US like Black Lives Matter protests in 2020, the overturn of Roe v Wade, and throwing immigrant children in cages. I plan on creating paintings and drawings about the concept of migration including animals, insects, and people.
They would also say teaching matters to me. I talk about my students all the time. I tell them about the good days and the bad, and they know that it is what I love to do.
Okay, so let’s keep going with one more question that means a lot to us: Are you doing what you were born to do—or what you were told to do?
I know I am doing what I was born to do. The first day of school with students is always anxiety inducing, but my first day with students this year was amazing. I was tired from not sleeping super well the night before, but students were working, creating art, I was catching up with students who came back from last year, and I just felt so fulfilled and happy.
From my senior year of high school I wanted to be a high school art teacher. I had a pretty bad time in high school, but it was a few teachers who got me through. At my first high school not only did the students dislike me, I knew the teachers did as well. Other high schools I went to had amazing teachers who were passionate about the subject they taught and seemingly liked their job. These were the teachers who inspired me and made me want to be that educator for my students. I aim to create a safe space where students are free to be themselves and express who they are.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.kobayashiwoods.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/303kobayashi_art/
