Maggie Dee Godfrey

Artist Statement

Art has always been a second language for me. Only through art have I found the voice to communicate the thoughts and feelings for which I have no verbal translation. My imagination is my true best friend, and I have always relied on it to get me through the ups and downs of my human existence. Art is the conduit wherein my inner world can find a connection to the inner worlds of others. There is no other human invention that can achieve this degree of empathy. In addition to communal benefits, art can be an outlet for introspection and developing compassion towards oneself.

All this flowery language is to say that I love art, I love making art, talking about art, and teaching others that they too are artists.

My family is largely the reason why I am in the field I am today. My grandparents first introduced me to the world of the arts, so to them I credit my lifelong devotion. As for my passion for teaching, that I credit to my mother, who taught generations of kindergarteners how to be lifelong learners and kind human beings. I resisted the call to teach at first, seeing it as my mother's path and not my own. Over time, however, the pull became too strong to resist, and I fell in love with teaching just as my mother did. I am thankful for her guidance and I am excited to make this parallel path my own.

I believe that every human being shares a similar desire to create. I consider all people to be artists in their own way. It is a somewhat hackneyed idea, but nonetheless, I believe it wholeheartedly. To me, art is simply expression, creation, the attempt to connect to another human being through something unique that they bring into the world. It is my goal as a teacher to nurture the innate creativity of my students and to provide a space where they feel safe to play around and explore multiple avenues to fulfill that creative drive. Every child deserves a platform to express themselves, to share their own inner world, and the art classroom is just the place to do so.