Passion for Word and Image
by Betsey Norgard
Fall 2002

"Word and image are inseparable to me. They integrate two parts of the brain that the education system tries to keep separate ... I began working in book form because I have a passion for both word and image, and I teach from that passion."

Professor Tara Christopherson approaches art as a life sport. Like a good coach, she helps her students, many of whom are not art majors, overcome fears they bring to class, find abilities they may not know they have, and achieve something that will serve them and give them pleasure.

Christopherson's watercolor painting class is a case in point. She begins by asking students when they last took an art course. For some, it was elementary school.

With small class sizes, Christopherson is able to demonstrate techniques and then work individually with each student to see if they can do it, understand it, and apply it. But it's still up to them.

"The truth is, no matter what level you're at, you still have to show up and paint. And the extent to which you're willing to suspend disbelief and pick up a brush and brave the empty page determines what happens more than I do," she says.

What students take with them is a discovery of how pleasurable it is to mix colors, which can help them make choices in their personal lives, from clothing to house colors.

Christopherson finds it exciting to see students realize that "there is room for discovery in what art can do for you and how you can make art that is separate from our consumer culture." Christopherson's Fiber and Form class illustrates the interdisciplinary nature of Augsburg's education. Students learn to make paper by hand, to make a book form, and then to write the text and create the imagery for it.

"Word and image are inseparable to me," says Christopherson. "They integrate two parts of the brain that the education system tries to keep separate ... I began working in book form because I have a passion for both word and image, and I teach from that passion."

Students work in collaboration on their book forms, and Christopherson says that if she's doing her work right, by the end of the semester she's just watching.

Sometimes students are amazed at what happens. One student told Christopherson that this was the first time she felt she was making art with her whole person because she could integrate both her art and writing skills.

Two years ago, Christopherson joined with French professor Pary Pezechkian to lead an Interim travel course to France. Students studied six French master painters in their own milieus and created cultural collages of words and art in the form of artist books. The course came about because Chrisopherson audited a French course for her own personal improvement and began brainstorming with Pezechkian. (See story in Augsburg Now, Spring 2001.)

"The way we're interconnected for interdisciplinary opportunities is a real strength," says Christopherson. "The interdisciplinary connection is an adventure for students."

In January 2001, Christopherson returned to France with eight students to study watercolor techniques. In her own professional life, Christopherson is transforming herself from a longtime graphic artist to a visual artist working in watercolors, and finds that her skills serve her well. "I have to use the same marketing skills to establish myself as a fine arts presence and to get my work to reach the right audience, and price it, and write press releases," she says.

And, when her bright watercolor of summer flowers appears on the back cover of a gardening magazine, she knows it's working.