A Life
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Teacher Michael Pesselato redefines art education with his multi-dimensional teaching style and efforts to raising art awareness. BY ABBY SMITH EDITORIAL EDITOR
H
e releases a sigh of contentment as the clock approaches midnight and he is finally able to find the time and space to work on what he loves. His light blue eyes study the image of the red finch, visually memorizing the sharp lines and curves of the creature as he raises his brush to start painting. He compels himself to actually look, not just see, but to look beyond the surface. Growing up in St. Louis, fine arts teacher Michael Pesselato first realized his passion for art in the sixth grade. According to his father however, Pesselato had been showing signs of artistic abilities far before then, most likely from the influence of his creative mother. Throughout the next few years, Pesselato began pursuing his new-found love of art in the form of Saturday art classes. It was in these weekly three-hour classes that art blossomed into a lifestyle for young Pesselato. “It wasn’t until I received a scholarship for the second year of Saturday art classes that [my father] realized my commitment was there. He realized it wasn’t just a phase,” Pesselato said. According to Pesselato, his father’s belief in him was only more motivation to pursue what he loved. His hard work paid off when he was accepted into Carnegie Mellon, a private university in Pittsburgh, Pa. There he chose to study painting, although his love for sculpture has since remained present in his interest for 3D art. “My parents were very supportive of what I wanted to do even though a degree in art doesn’t necessarily warrant an immediate positive approach in terms of what are you going to do for a living,” Pesselato said.
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LE JOURNAL
December 2015
