Art from the heart

At Vestavia Hills Elementary West, the bell to start the school day rings at 7:45 a.m. From then until the last bell of the day at 2:35 p.m., Jamie Kolb is going nonstop.

“The classes are back-to-back with little breaks in between,” she said. “It’s fast-paced and the days fly. I look up, and it’s 2 p.m. and the last class leaves. It’s go as fast as you can go.”

Kolb is the only art teacher at Vestavia Hills Elementary West and sees 810 students come through her classroom, Room 118, every week. She teaches 42 art classes — 11 each for kindergartners and first-graders, and 10 each for second-graders and third-graders.

“Teaching as many classes as I do is not common,” she said. “I teach more than anyone I know in the state.”

This, along with Kolb’s philosophy of holistic teaching — focusing not just on art, but on the child as a whole — contributed to Kolb’s recent win as the Alabama Elementary Art Educator of the Year. Kolb was recognized at the Alabama Art Education Association’s conference in Fairhope in October.

“I was giddy,” Kolb said. “It was humbling. I just kept shaking my head and saying, ‘Is this really happening?’”

Kolb said she was surprised by the win. The award is given out by the professional organization AAEA. Anyone can be nominated for the award, Kolb said, and the AAEA Board of Directors votes after nominations are gathered. Kolb was recognized at a banquet at the conference, and the award came at a critical moment in her career and in her life.

“It was a pivotal moment,” she said. “I’d been praying and asking for a sign that I was on the right track. I’m doing what I’m supposed to do.”

Kolb received her art education degree from Birmingham-Southern College, and her first professional job was at Vestavia Hills Elementary West, where she has been since 2001, save for a two-year break she took to be with her son, Hendry, now 10.

“It’s all been right here,” she said.

Her earliest students 14 years ago are now students in college, and Kolb has seen Vestavia Hills Elementary West almost double in size since she began teaching there — she had just 450 students in 2001.

Even though Kolb interacts with so many children every week and has for 14 years, she remembers her students, even if they have been gone from Vestavia Hills Elementary West for years.

“Last fall, I was at Party City of all places,” she said. “I saw a teen working, I saw his face, and I said, ‘Do you remember who I am?’ He said no, and I said, ‘I was your art teacher at West.’”

The young man had a difficult time socially in elementary school, Kolb said, and couldn’t believe she remembered him.

“How would I not remember somebody I truly cared about?” she said.

Kolb’s care for her students reflects her teaching philosophy.

“I teach the whole child, not just the artistic part,” she said.

Kolb said she loves when her classroom becomes a child’s safe space. Even though they might be struggling in other classes, in Kolb’s room, they shine.

“Seeing them in their element feels so good,” she said. “When a kid says art is their favorite class — I want them to reach for creativity and for this to be a fun zone. You can be yourself here; you can learn and have fun.”

Kolb said every project her students do is based in the art elements: color, line, value, shape, space and texture, which are delineated on the wall in her classroom for students to remember. 

Kolb said her classroom is based on consistency rather than uniqueness. She does many of the same lessons every year with each grade, trying something new now and again.

“Some become favorites, and some we’ll never do again,” she said. “You learn as you go.”

Students learn technique but also art history and vocabulary. Kolb said parents are impressed when their kindergartners learn Picasso invented Cubism. More than anything, Kolb teaches students how to tap into their creativity.

“I want them to find themselves, and I want to celebrate differences,” she said. “Art is your own and can be what you want it to be. I give an example, but students can make it their own way. What makes it unique is what is important to me.”

Third-graders in Kolb’s class recently had the option of choosing one of five seasonal portraits — a snowman, an elf, a reindeer, Santa or the Nutcracker — but they could interpret their selection any way they chose.

“We are very structured, but sometimes I let them choose the direction it goes in,” she said.

In addition to teaching art to children all day, Kolb also teaches an adult art class at her church, The Station. She is also an artist herself and does commission work while raising her son with her husband, Ivan, and taking care of her two beloved dogs. She has a sign hanging on the wall by her desk of a quote from the Pixar movie “Finding Nemo” that reads “Just Keep Swimming,” advice she herself takes on the busiest of days.

“The kids keep me going no matter how I feel,” Kolb said.

With her newly minted award, Kolb received nice recognition and a pat on the back for the work she does to enrich the lives of Vestavia Hills’ children.

“I don’t need the recognition, but golly, it sure is nice for my colleagues to say that I am doing a great job,” she said.