The shades are drawn and students are talking, seated in groups of tables around the room. Tan walls and tan floors, cream cabinets, brown tables, black chairs. Aside from the huge painting of a bug, the room itself seems pretty bland and uninspiring. But as soon as she starts class Jill Oliver’s bubbly personality engages her students and brings color to the room
“For our next project we are going to look at the drama that is created with light and shadow.” Oliver projects a black and white photo onto the screen. Students start to whisper.

“Ahem. Guys look! How cool are these shadows? Look at the shadows…so cute.”

Oliver taught art at East for fourteen years alongside art teacher Courtney Dougherty. She left in 2002 to spend time with her kids.

“I did a lot of painting and commission work [in that time],” Oliver said.

This year she came back to teaching to be the long term sub for photography teacher Pat St. Louis.

“[Teaching in a high school] is so fun because there are so many different types of students and it’s so cool when you come across someone who didn’t know they were good [at art],” Oliver said.

Finding inspiration from art history, Oliver pushes her students with unique art projects every couple of weeks.

“They have unlimited potential. [My teaching style is] pretty informal, lots of positive reinforcement. What they want to do they can do. I like [my classroom] to be fun, creative, positive, and inspirational.”

Oliver enjoys working on personal projects in her free time. For example the large paintings of bugs you may have seen at the front of her classroom.

“Haha, right now people probably think I only love painting bugs. But my work is mostly oil paintings. I like to isolate objects and watch how the light hits it… [as far as creative process] I just kind of go with how I feel.”

Her biggest advice for students:

“Don’t be afraid to make mistakes… Look to the art of other people. Use others for your inspiration.”

“I think she has had a really positive impact here. She is very laid-back and has a fun attitude. The kids really enjoy her. She’s been a great addition to our program,” Dougherty said.