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S. Nivens
Welcome to our Artsonia Art Page! About your teacher:
I knew on the first day of Kindergarten that I wanted to become an artist when my teacher explained what an artist does for a living. That year I was included in an art show, where I won an award(second place), and I continued to make artwork throughout my life.
Some of the highlights of my artistic journey include taking AP Art in High School, being voted most creative as a senior superlative, and scoring all A's in my art classes throughout colleg ... read moree. I attended the University of Texas-Austin for my Fine Arts degree and my professors included Scotty Peek(USC-Columbia), David Voros(USC-Columbia), Caprice Taniguchi(SWTexas State), Melissa Grimes, Bob Anderson, Dan Sutherland, Bill Lundberg, Margo Sawyer, Jill Bedgood, Michael Smith, and Troy Brauntuch. I was chosen for a solo exhibition my senior year by Michael Ray Charles. I also wrote an essay that earned the opportunity to study the roots of Social Work and Art in London for a month my senior year. My professors encouraged me to move to New York so that I could have more exposure to the art world. They told me that my most interesting work included video art and painting- and that I needed to hire a graphic artist to work with me on my paintings! My most memorable moments while immersed in making art in college include Troy Brauntuch offering the keys to his office so that I could read every book he had in there, and receiving a standing ovation for a video I made in my advanced video art class by my peers. I had no idea that they would do anything like that, and it was one of the best days of my life. While in NYC, I worked as an elementary school special educator with Teach for America in Brooklyn, interned with Channel Thirteen on Wednesday evenings, and also interned with the artist Dean Monogenis on Sundays. My art studio was across the street from MoMA PS 1, inside the building known as 5Pointz, and I went there afterschool to make artwork.
Now that I am older, my friends that I went to school with are making a living as artists. Some who have made a splash include Nathan Randall Green, Tanea Richardson, Xochi Solis, Melissa Rocha, Lee Vanderpool, Sarah Vogelwede, Mindy Briggs, Sandra Martinez, Alex Villareal, Kate Scherer, and Jake Borndal.
I moved to Charlotte to be closer to family, but the spark in my heart is to follow what is happening currently in galleries in NYC and to follow new openings in museums in major cities and across the country. I am very interested in learning coding because I see this as a pathway to innovation and creativity. I believe it is something that every person should learn to do as soon as possible. In my free time, I stay very active, going to Yoga daily at Y2 Yoga in Cotswold. Another fun fact about me is that I always have a second job to pay for my student loan debt.
I hope that you enjoy the art we create. My email address is normar.nivens@cms.k12.nc.us
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