Practice what you teach. That's the principle by which Michael Hudock tries to live.
In addition to his full-time job as teacher and chairman of the visual arts department at Sandia Preparatory School, Hudock still makes time for his own painting and photography, even though motivation is sometimes hard to come by after hours of working one-on-one with students.
"I think it's difficult with any job, but I know it's difficult with teaching to go home at the end of the day and get down into your studio and work," Hudock said.
Pamela Michaelis, who founded Downtown's Artspace 116 gallery with her husband, Don, understands the obstacles art educators face when pursuing their own creative endeavors.
That's why she dreamed up "Five Who Do: Sandia Prep Art Faculty Exhibition." The show, featuring Hudock and his fellow Sandia Prep art teachers Steve Ausherman, Peter Fitzpatrick, Lynn Kozikowski and Mary Anne Modzelewski, starts today at Artspace 116. The opening reception will be held from 5-8 tonight.
"I saw (Hudock) at one of our shows, and it suddenly occurred to me that Sandia Prep has all of these wonderful art teachers who are always just busy teaching," said Michaelis, whose daughter Annie graduated from Sandia Prep in 1999. "They don't have too much opportunity to display their own work."
"Five Who Do" falls well in line with Artspace 116's community-service mission, Michaelis said.
"We choose artists who we think need and deserve to have some visibility," she said, adding that she holds the Sandia Prep art faculty in high regard.
She said her daughter "has a very marvelous sensitivity and sensibility of the visual world, and I think a lot of that comes from her experience at Sandia Prep."
Because of the teachers' varied backgrounds, the artwork in "Five Who Do" runs the gamut, Michaelis noted.
Hudock is a painter and photographer whose work often focuses on time-worn objects. He has taught at Sandia Prep since 1989.
Ausherman is a photographer, poet and artist who's been taking photographs since 1982. He joined the Sandia Prep faculty in 1999.
Fitzpatrick, who works primarily in paint and clay, has been an art educator for more than 30 years— the last seven at Sandia Prep.
Kozikowski, a painter who is also working on a novel, has taught in Virginia and New Mexico for 20 years, including the last seven at Sandia Prep.
Modzelewski is also a longtime educator whose career includes serving as the Washington University School of Art liaison. She has cut paper and collage pieces in the show.
"It's a challenge to hang because the work is very different from each other," Michaelis said. "But we've just hung it (Wednesday) and it looks quite beautiful."
If you go
WHAT: "Five Who Do: Sandia Prep Art Faculty Exhibition" featuring the work of Steve Ausherman, Peter Fitzpatrick, Michael Hudock, Lynn Kozikowski and Mary Anne Modzelewski
WHEN: Today through Oct. 12. Gallery is open from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Friday and by appointment. Opening reception is 5-8 tonight.
WHERE: Artspace 116 gallery, 116 Central SW, Suite 201
