Patti Bierley: A Career In The Art Classroom

Patti Bierley was more than just a teacher. She was an at school mom, a role model, a confidante, and an all-around wonderful and admirable human being. In high school, my classes with her couldn’t come soon enough in the day and they were over far too quickly. Bierley, or as I called her- “B”, inspired me in many ways. Even though she doesn’t believe it herself, she was incredible. She taught me more than just art, she taught me about life. I have always enjoyed art, so when it came time to sign up for freshman year electives, I signed up for every art class offered. There was still and empty slot left on my sign up paper, so I filled it in with Theater Arts assuming that I would never get put in that class since it was my last choice. Well, you know what they say about assumptions. I was placed in Theater Arts my freshman year and this only made me try harder to be put in an art class my sophomore year. I was placed in Ceramics my sophomore year and I’ll admit it even though it was not my strength regarding art, I was still very excited to be in an art class. This class finally introduced me to Mrs. Bierley. She was a short-haired, …show more content…
Bierley also taught me the very important lesson that it is okay to fail. If I had an art project that wasn’t turning out the way I wanted no matter what I tried, she told me to let it go. If I wanted I could always go back to it at a later time, but if I didn’t go back to it, that was okay too. Being fixated on finishing failed projects simply stole time away from other great ones being started. She knew this would be hard for me, being a perfectionist, Type-A person. “Paige, one screwed up project is not normal. I’ve had hundreds of them. It just makes the successful ones more of an achievement.” I don’t think she realized, but her art lessons applied to so much more than art and I remember in my everyday life. Even though I don’t see her multiple hours a day anymore, she still remains such an important figure in my