Russell Vanecek

I was born in 1953 and raised in St. Louis, Missouri USA. I am a twin and my brother, and I were the second children born. My parents had three other children, so there were 5of us. My grandparents where from Missouri and Illinois and came from raised poor/working class families. My parents were both working class. I was the first one in my family to graduate from college and went on to an acquire amaster’s degree.I attended a public school K-12 in the suburban area of St. Louis. I was not good at school academically, but from third grade on I was interested in the arts. In third grade I received my first art award for a painting that was displayed in a RegionalYoungPeople’sExhibition.I took music lessons, sang in several musical groups in and out of the school system. I participated in the theater arts program; acted, danced in plays and musicals as well as learning scene painting.My participation in the fine arts were both a positive influence socially and emotionally as well as the building blocks for my career as an artist.

My parents didn’t know or understood much about higher education or Art’s education.When I decided I wanted to attend College and pursue the Arts after High School my parents were confused and didn’t know how to back my decision or help to make it happen. My High School Art Teacher stepped in and helped me pursue my goal to be involved in the arts. It was challenging and I struggled the first few years.I kept at it and found some confidence to continue. I was determined and was raised with a strong work ethic that made me persevere and complete my higher education.In between my bachelor of fine arts and my Master of fine arts I took a year off and decided to go to Paris, France. I had a friend in St. Louis who was from France and they invited me to come and visit. That invitation made it possible for me to think about making the trip. My intention was to go for a month. It turned out that I was able to stay for nearly 9 months. This trip made a huge difference. Of course, the obvious was to discover, view and learn from the vast amount of the visual arts. The contrast between the Midwest, USA, and the French culture was dramatic. The understanding and the love of the arts seemed to be the foundation of their culture. That’s how I experienced my trip.It embolden me to pursue being an artist full-time. I came back to the United States to go to graduate school with this passion and vision about the rest of my life.I attended the Master of Fine Arts program at the Pennsylvania State University with a teaching fellowship. I taught drawing classes while completing my degree.The program was rich, rigorous and positive. The whole program push me in ways they were just right.I’ve valued the experience deeply. I returned to Missouri someone defeated about what I would do next. I had hoped to get a full-time teaching job at the university level. Due to economic and social issues I was not able to meet that goal. I went on to teach ataHighSchool in St. Louis. Even though it was not my first choice the experience went well,and I was an excellent teacher.

Throughout my teaching career, I prioritized making art. I pursued various opportunities and venues to exhibit and promote my art. In addition to my career as an art educator and an artist, I became interested in social and emotional learning. As a classroom teacher that training became essential to my success. It had an unintended influence on my work and life as an artist. In teaching and working with young people I had to become more adept at dealing with students' concerns and upsets. I went on to do some further training that would support my teaching career. The perspective and the ideas that I learned in the training has been invaluable to promoting my creativity and trusting my thinking. Which blended into my work as an artist. An underlying or maybe even a central concept of art is using the ability to access our flexible intelligence.Some personal information about me. I am single, live alone, and don’t  have any children. I love to cook, exercise and stay healthy. I am a cancer survivor so taking care of myself over the years has been a central part of my daily life. I am a social justice activist and care deeply about making change to abate the climate crisis. I have a loyal group of friends and close with my family.My paternal heritage is Bohemian and my maternal heritage is German. I was raised in a protestant church and no longer participate.I have traveled throughout the USA, Canada, Mexico, and Western Europe. Travel is my best way to have fun.I also enjoy reading, movies, and live classical musical performances. When I am in my Studio working,I listen to Jazz female vocalists.

Russell Vanecek