theartdept. - Artists and Art Educators - is the brainchild of two creative New Zealand women, Pamela Brown and Kerry Mackay

The establishment of theartdept is a direct result of the restructure of teacher education programmes. When they were informed that the existing art dept was no longer considered a dept in the university system, Kerry and Pamela reclaimed theartdept as a ‘two woman revolution’ to keep art education alive and growing and also “to keep the wolf from the door” by keeping themselves employed in the work they enjoy.

theartdept was established to meet the need for rich visual art experiences for young children and continued professional development in visual art for their teachers. theartdept is an independent initiative that aims to work directly with teachers and children in schools and community settings on exciting and innovative visual art projects. 

Kerry and Pamela are artists and art educators who are registered teachers.  All artdept programmes are related to the New Zealand Curriculum and are classroom friendly.

Biographies

Pamela Brown  DipFAA, DipTchg, MFA (Distinction)

• Registered Teacher
  
• Artist, Educator, Mother 
  
• Born in Southland, lives and works in Dunedin
  
• Partner, theartdept. - Artists and Art Educators

Pamela has worked as a secondary and intermediate art teacher and at tertiary level as a lecturer in visual art. 

Creator of the Wallpaper House Installation, Pamela teaches public Visual Diary workshops at the Wallpaper House.

Pamela is currently working with collage, wallpaper, maps, aprons, ballerinas, horses, dogs and much more!

Kerry Mackay   DipTchg, BED, MFA

• Registered Teacher
• Educator, Artist, Cat & Chook Owner
• Born in Southland, lives and works in Dunedin
• Partner, theartdept. - Artists and Art Educators

Kerry has worked as a primary school teacher, art advisor to Otago and Southland, and lecturer in art education for initial teacher education programmes at Otago University's College of Education. In each of these educational settings Kerry has had input to curriculum development in visual art at a regional and national level.

As an artist Kerry is currently working on ‘homemade taxidermy’ continuing her obsession with ‘re-skinning’ domestic objects with found textiles.

The support team

theartdept doesn't just run on the smell of art supplies; we also have a stellar support team who help make our many projects come to life. 

Reuben and Leonard are theartdept's resident building and installation consultants. Faced with all sorts of creative challenges, the dynamic duo are seldom fazed. 

 

Murray is our social media maven and webmaster. Admittedly he can get distracted by the odd mouse or two, so his uncle in Wellington is often called in to assist with web updates.  

Testimonials

At theartdept we're proud of what we do and the feedback we receive. See what some of our previous workshop participants have to say:

"Wonderful and gorgeous"

Testimonial from Bernadette Newlands, Principal of Macandrew Bay Primary School:

We thought 'Spot the Bay' was a wonderful project for our children and teachers. 

Kerry and Pamela inspired the children to become art detectives and to think and respond to the work of artist Yayoi Kusama. 

The children loved researching her work and creating their own gorgeous 'painted spots' in response. 

We are now able to create our own art installations in our school environment and 'Spot the Bay' with all their beautiful artworks.

Bernadette Newlands, Principal
Macandrew Bay Primary School, Dunedin

"Renewed confidence, thoroughly enjoyable"

Testimonial from Whetu Cormick, Principal of Bathgate Park School:

At our recent staff retreat we had the absolute pleasure of working with Pamela and Kerry! 

Kerry and Pamela guided our whole staff in a creative, teambuilding activity and one that we all thoroughly enjoyed. 

We came away from this experience with a renewed confidence in our own abilities as teachers to continue to be creative with our students...and the art works we created now form an installation in our staffroom.

Whetu Cormick, Principal
Bathgate Park School, Dunedin

"Inspiring, invaluable and outstanding"

Testimonial from Debbie Smith, Principal of Musselburgh School:

Kerry and Pamela provided Musselburgh School staff and students with an inspiring and creative visual arts programme during 2011. 

Through their passion, enthusiasm and vast knowledge the children learned painting techniques, researched famous artists and created colourful and delightful artworks.

Pamela and Kerry worked their magic across the school, modelling excellent teaching and learning strategies. They identified and met the varying needs of each age group. The professional development component for our teachers within the programme was invaluable. 

Kerry and Pamela also worked with a group of gifted and talented children using mixed media. The processes they explored and the final products the children created were outstanding. 

Throughout the programme our children were totally engaged with their learning, excited about the new painting techniques they investigated and proud of their final artworks they created. 

The staff of Musselburgh School would endorse any programme that Pamela or Kerry facilitated.

Debbie Smith, Principal
Musselburgh School, Dunedin