Ms. Nichols: the New Art Teacher Who Can Whistle Four Ways

Born in Stowe Vermont, Ms. Nichols, the new art teacher, grew up skiing. Growing up, she attended Stowe High School, Williston-Northampton School in Massachusetts, the University of Vermont and MICA, the Maryland Institute College of Art, for graduate school. At UVM, Ms. Nichols majored in studio art and art history, and one of her favorite experiences was living in Italy during her junior year. She went on to earn a graduate degree in art education at MICA. Before coming to teach at NCCS, she worked in New York fashion industries such as Saks Fifth Avenue and Jimmy Choo, and for the past five years she taught at a school in North Carolina.

Ms. Nichols’ hobbies include skiing, traveling, cooking, reading, people watching, and listening to music, especially live. Two of her favorite activities show the reasons she is interested in art. She loves being outside and in nature, which are two characteristics that are shown in some of her artwork. Ms. Nichols’ favorite type of art is abstract expressionism. Abstract expressionism involves putting ideas, feelings, and emotions on canvas. It is an emotional art where the object has no form or figure. Helen Frankenthaler is an abstract expressionist, and she is Ms. Nichols’ favorite artist. The painting at the top of the article is one of Frankenthaler’s most famous pieces, called Mountains and Sea. Some of the reasons that Ms. Nichols loves art include that it is expressive, relaxing, and fun. She feels that art can help work out emotions, and she has always been a visual learner. The subject of art history also fascinates Ms. Nichols. She finds it interesting to study a piece of artwork, learn the year it was made, the background of the artist, and its historical context. Using this information, she is then able to decipher the piece of art. Ms. Nichols is an interesting person and will definitely be an awesome art teacher. I can’t wait to see what she brings to NCCS!

       -By Charlotte Zonis

       

Interesting Facts about Ms. Nichols:

   -  Can whistle 4 ways

   -  Loves to sing

   - Was delivered at home

   - Her favorite word in Italian: Sottotitoli, which means subtitles

   - She has a “done dance” for when she finishes a big project

   - She recently went to see the beach where the movie The Goonies was filmed