N i c o l e [] Swiontkowski
ARTIST []I have always been interested in the visual arts. I attended private lessons as an elementary school student for two years and continued to excel in the arts from there. I was recognized as the class artist in the middle school and high school and decided to pursue a career in the arts in college. I first attended Felician College which allowed me to work with extremely gifted and passionate art educators. I transferred to Montclair State University in my fourth year. It wasn't until I enrolled in Montclair State University that I chose to apply to the teacher education program. The experience pushed me to strengthen my visual arts skills as I wanted to be fully prepared to teach others about the variety of art forms that exist in our world today. I just earned my Masters degree from Boston University for educational leadership in art and conducted a thesis on students with high functioning autism (HFA) in the arts. I have completed +30 graduate credits at Montclair State University in supervision and administration and hold a valid NJ principal certificate.
Personal WORK [] I am an avid painter working mainly with watercolors. I base my artwork around animals in human related situations. In my work, animals assume the role of humans in order to point the finger at human social issues in a playful way. Most of my work is strongly comprised of cartoons. I like to work to a larger scale with a concentration on line. Aside from painting, I am a recreational photographer. I use a telephoto lens as most of the photography I do are of subjects that are too far away and I admire the intensity of details in close-up shots. Last, I love to write and it is something I hope to make a second career out of in the near future. Language arts is my second favorite school subject and I may possibly consider taking college courses in it to earn another certification.
TEACHER [] Working with children has always been a passion of mine and I never felt I belonged anywhere else in the work field. I applied for my first job in my senior year of high school at a local YMCA. I was hired to work with the toddlers and instantly fell in love with it. When I started college I applied for a position in another local daycare center where I worked with toddlers again for a year. After transferring to Montclair State University, I worked at the campus daycare for several months. In between daycare employment I worked as a waitress for three years to help assist with school and then, upon graduating college, left to work for the Kindercare Learning Center until applying to Union City Board of Education. I am now in my eighth year of of teaching in Union City, where I was fortunate to work for 5 years in an arts-integrated elementary/middle school and have continued to work in a large elementary school for the past 3 years.
EDUCATION []
BA | Fine Arts Edcuation | Montclair State University
MA | Leadership in Art Education | Boston University
MA+30 | Supervision & Administration + Superintendent
Certified | K-12 Art Education | Supervision & Administration
ARTIST []I have always been interested in the visual arts. I attended private lessons as an elementary school student for two years and continued to excel in the arts from there. I was recognized as the class artist in the middle school and high school and decided to pursue a career in the arts in college. I first attended Felician College which allowed me to work with extremely gifted and passionate art educators. I transferred to Montclair State University in my fourth year. It wasn't until I enrolled in Montclair State University that I chose to apply to the teacher education program. The experience pushed me to strengthen my visual arts skills as I wanted to be fully prepared to teach others about the variety of art forms that exist in our world today. I just earned my Masters degree from Boston University for educational leadership in art and conducted a thesis on students with high functioning autism (HFA) in the arts. I have completed +30 graduate credits at Montclair State University in supervision and administration and hold a valid NJ principal certificate.
Personal WORK [] I am an avid painter working mainly with watercolors. I base my artwork around animals in human related situations. In my work, animals assume the role of humans in order to point the finger at human social issues in a playful way. Most of my work is strongly comprised of cartoons. I like to work to a larger scale with a concentration on line. Aside from painting, I am a recreational photographer. I use a telephoto lens as most of the photography I do are of subjects that are too far away and I admire the intensity of details in close-up shots. Last, I love to write and it is something I hope to make a second career out of in the near future. Language arts is my second favorite school subject and I may possibly consider taking college courses in it to earn another certification.
TEACHER [] Working with children has always been a passion of mine and I never felt I belonged anywhere else in the work field. I applied for my first job in my senior year of high school at a local YMCA. I was hired to work with the toddlers and instantly fell in love with it. When I started college I applied for a position in another local daycare center where I worked with toddlers again for a year. After transferring to Montclair State University, I worked at the campus daycare for several months. In between daycare employment I worked as a waitress for three years to help assist with school and then, upon graduating college, left to work for the Kindercare Learning Center until applying to Union City Board of Education. I am now in my eighth year of of teaching in Union City, where I was fortunate to work for 5 years in an arts-integrated elementary/middle school and have continued to work in a large elementary school for the past 3 years.
EDUCATION []
BA | Fine Arts Edcuation | Montclair State University
MA | Leadership in Art Education | Boston University
MA+30 | Supervision & Administration + Superintendent
Certified | K-12 Art Education | Supervision & Administration
Personal G a l l e r y
[] Paintings| Some from the Animal Kingdom
[] Paintings| For the Birds
[] Paintings| In the Know
[] Paintings| Just for Fun
[] Paintings| Places That Might Exist
[] Paintings| The Drawing Board
Photography
[] Photography collection with emphasis of the close-up. This album contains a few of my photographs with a concentration on birds.
Sculpture
[] Sculpture pieces are created with plaster and fabric. These sculptures are related to personal character illustrations created between 2003 - present.