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Madison Land
Hi there! I’m Mrs. Madison Morris, and I’m incredibly proud to teach Media Arts, Studio 6 and Sketch Lab at Freedom Intermediate School!
My connection to FIS runs deep. I grew up right here in Franklin, Tennessee, and am a proud alumna of both Freedom Intermediate and Freedom Middle School, circa 2002. After graduating from Middle Tennessee State University with a Bachelor’s degree in Art Education, I returned to the school that helped shape me. What started as a full-circle moment has grown into a caree ... read morer and community that I am incredibly grateful to be part of.
Over the years, I’ve had the opportunity to grow and expand the FIS Art Department in ways I could have only imagined when I first started teaching here in 2014. My goal has always been to create an art room where students can do more than simply complete assignments—they can explore, experiment, problem-solve, collaborate, take creative risks, and discover what they are capable of creating.
Our Media Arts curriculum is designed as a two-year experience, allowing students to explore a broad range of artistic processes and creative technologies. Because of the limited instructional time available for Media Arts, that curriculum is intentionally paced and stretched across two years so students have the opportunity to truly experience and develop skills in each area rather than simply rushing through projects.
Students explore: drawing, painting, printmaking, photography, sculpture, fiber arts, mixed media, digital art, animation, graphic design, and more. We also incorporate technology, engineering, and design into our creative process, giving students opportunities to work with tools and ideas that extend far beyond a traditional art classroom.
I believe that Art Education is about so much more than creating a “perfect” final product. Art teaches students how to think creatively, work through frustration, make decisions, solve problems, accept that mistakes are part of the process, and keep going when something doesn’t turn out the way they expected. Those skills matter far beyond the art room.
I also believe that every student has some form of creativity waiting to be discovered. Not every student will love drawing or painting, and that’s okay! My job is to expose students to enough different mediums/materials, processes, technologies, and creative experiences that they have the opportunity to find something that DOES spark their interest. Sometimes that happens through a paintbrush sort of speak. Sometimes it happens through a camera, a sewing needle, a tablet, an animation, a 3D project, or a completely unexpected idea.
One of my greatest joys is watching students grow—not only as artists, but as confident, creative, capable humans. I love seeing the student who initially says, “I can’t draw,” eventually surprise themselves with what they create. I love watching students collaborate on something bigger than anything they could have made alone. And I especially love when students leave my classroom years later and still remember something they created, learned, or discovered about themselves in my art room, not to mention will bring me to tears most likely!
Because I am an FIS alumna myself, there is something especially meaningful about giving today’s students the opportunity to leave their own mark on the same school that was once such an important part of my childhood. I want my students to know that their ideas matter, their creativity matters, and they have the ability to make a difference in the spaces and communities around them.
I am incredibly thankful to teach all of my Art classes at FIS and to continue building a program that gives students opportunities to create, collaborate, explore, experiment, and leave their mark.
Thank you for taking the time to visit our gallery and learn a little more about the person behind the art room!
Mrs. Madison Land Morris
Freedom Intermediate School
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