Every Child Needs These 4 Rules to Become an Artist
Schoolutions: Curious Educators. Evidence-Based Strategies. Classrooms Where Every Child Thrives.
03/23/26
•20m
About
Comments
Transcript
Featured In
Part 1 of my S5E30 @schoolutionspodcast conversation, Tonya Quinn from The Kindness Art Education shares her journey, emphasizing the role of visual art and art for kids in shaping worldviews. This conversation highlights how art classes for beginners can ignite creativity and provide healing, even far from home. Tonya illuminates how personal hardship has fostered her powerful kindness movement.
In this episode, you'll discover:
→ The 4 rules for being an artist (and why they work for every child in every classroom)
→ Why active learning and student participation skyrocket when kids feel creative ownership
→ How Portrait Pals bridges generations to fight low engagement
→ What inclusive teaching actually looks like when you hand a child primary colors and say, "You can do this"
→ Why inspiring students starts with teaching them to listen to themselves first
→ The research from Harvard's Project Zero that proves arts access improves academic performance
→ A pro-kid mindset that goes beyond survival toward whole-child thriving
Whether you're a teacher looking for innovative teaching strategies, an instructional coach searching for coaching strategies that move the needle, a school leader focused on school culture and instructional leadership, or a parent exploring the home-school connection and family partnerships, this conversation is for you.
Some Episode Mentions:
- Harvard’s Project Zero
- Theresa Booth Brown
- The National Gallery
- Ana María Hernando
- Faith Ringgold
- Portrait Pals
- Frida Kahlo
- Molly Piper Greaves
- The Kindness Art Education
📌 Part 2 drops Friday where we go inside the full Portrait Pals process.
If this moved you, share it with a teacher, principal, parent, or school counselor who believes every child deserves to thrive, not just survive.
CHAPTERS:
0:00 — Introduction & Tonya Quinn overview
1:45 — Harvard's Project Zero research on arts & student success
4:00 — How Tonya's parents shaped her pro-kid mindset
5:20 — 20 years in London: perspective, art galleries & inclusive teaching
8:30 — Launching a nonprofit during the pandemic
9:50 — The "How to Be an Artist" curriculum & 4 rules
13:00 — Every child deserves to thrive, not just survive
14:30 — The challenge sweet spot: frustration + growth in the classroom
16:30 — Making skin tone: the hardest and proudest moment
17:45 — Lightning round with Tonya Quinn
#schoolutionspodcast #forevergettingbetter #curiositydriven #PortraitPals
When coaches, teachers, administrators, and families work hand in hand, it fosters a school atmosphere where everyone is inspired and every student is fully engaged in their learning journey.
Previous Episode
In Part 2 of my @schoolutionspodcast conversation, Dr. Kris Nystrom (founder of Reading the World Inc.) connects the dots among global literacy rates, the world economy, and why what happens in a slum school in Nairobi has a profound economic impact. This discussion highlights the critical role of universal education in addressing poverty and fostering global awareness, underscoring the broader implications for finance and world news.
Kris shares:
🌍 Why student success in Kenya is directly tied to the global economy
📖 Project Ripple: a science of reading initiative in Nairobi slum schools with 100:1 student-teacher ratios
💡 The Good Hope Royalty Center, where "all children are royal" and street kids are given unconditional love and a future
🔁 The Sankofa philosophy: "You can go back and fix your mistakes"
👨👩👧 How one literate child creates a ripple of empowered educators, healthier families, and stronger communities
💫Make sure to watch Part 1 & donate here if you can.
📚 CHAPTERS:
00:00 Welcome & Sankofa: "You can go back and fix your mistakes"
02:00 Colonial history & why African literacy rates are low
04:30 Inside Nairobi slum schools: 100 students to 1 teacher
07:30 Project Ripple: science of reading training in APBET schools
09:00 Why global literacy matters to every economy
10:30 By 2050, 1/4 of the world will live in Africa
12:00 The ripple effect: one child teaches their parents to read
13:30 Good Hope Royalty Center & Faith Woge's unconditional love
16:30 "All children are royal" candles, soap & sustainable futures
17:30 How to support Reading the World Inc.
18:00 Closing reflection: the ripple is the whole thing
🔗 RESOURCES MENTIONED:
- Why Should I Care? Counting Up From Survival
- Reading the World Projects
- APBET schools (Alternative Provision for Basic Education and Training)
- SUNY New Paltz Science of Reading Center
🎧 New episodes every Monday & Friday with bite-sized Wednesday reel bonus content.
📧 Connect with me if you’d like a thought partner to help you cultivate curious learners who advocate for what they believe in.
🎵 Music: Benjamin Wahl
Don't forget to 🔔SUBSCRIBE for more teaching tips, and 💬SHARE with fellow educators!
Next Week: We are going somewhere equally unexpected and equally beautiful. Portrait Pals, founded by Tonya Quinn, is redefining what art class can be — pairing children across communities to paint each other's portraits, and in doing so, teaching them that every face tells a story worth seeing.
When coaches, teachers, administrators, and families work hand in hand, it fosters a school atmosphere where everyone is inspired and every student is fully engaged in their learning journey.
Next Episode
In this short, we discuss creating and painting portraits by focusing on three key areas: shape, light and shadow, and spirit. Tonya Quinn outlines how to paint a face by observing and interpreting human features, emphasizing that even simple shapes like parentheses can represent them. This approach provides valuable painting tips and painting techniques for artists of all levels.
By teaching students to read a face, not just draw it, children develop the skills to notice how a classmate is truly feeling, even when words aren't spoken. This is inclusive teaching and culturally responsive teaching in action. Students practice active learning by observing, interpreting, and responding to each other's emotional states, building empathy, classroom belonging, and student engagement naturally through the creative process.
When a child says, "He's smiling, but I think he's angry. I hope he takes a minute to calm down."
That's whole child development. That's inspiring students to care for one another. That's the kind of school culture that transforms classrooms.
Whether you're a teacher looking for innovative teaching and instructional strategies, an instructional coach seeking coaching strategies for professional development, a school administrator focused on school improvement and instructional leadership, or a parent exploring education at home and family partnerships, this clip will shift how you think about student motivation, student participation, and what effective teaching truly looks like.
🎨 Art becomes the doorway. Empathy becomes the lesson. Connection becomes the outcome.
👇 Save this. This is what education transformation looks like. Watch, reflect, and share Part 1 & Part 2 of our @schoolutionspodcast S5E30 interview with your team.
🗂️ CHAPTERS
0:00 — The Secret to Painting Portraits
0:05 — The 3-Part Framework: Shape, Light & Spirit
0:12 — Reading the Human Face
0:22 — What's Behind the Smile?
0:35 — Kids Teaching Kids Emotional Awareness
0:50 — How I Calm Myself When I'm Angry
📧 Connect with me if you’d like a thought partner to help you cultivate curious learners who advocate for what they believe in.
🎵 Music: Benjamin Wahl
Don't forget to 🔔SUBSCRIBE for more teaching tips, and 💬SHARE with fellow educators!
#Schoolutions #SchoolutionsPodcast #ForeverGettingBetter #CuriosityDriven #EvidenceBased #PortraitPals #TheKindnessArtEducation #ClassroomBelonging #StudentEngagement #EffectiveTeaching #InspiredTeaching #WholeChild #InclusiveTeaching #CulturallyResponsiveTeaching #EmpoweredEducators #TeacherCoaching #InstructionalCoaching #SchoolCulture #ActiveLearning #ProKidMindset #EquityInEducation #StudentSuccess #ThrivingStudents #EducationTransformation #TeacherImpact #SchoolLeadership #NewTeachers #ProfessionalDevelopment #ArtEducation #SELinSchools #EmpathyInEducation #PortraitDrawing #TeachingTips #InnovativeTeaching #SchoolImprovement #FamilyPartnerships #ParentInvolvement
When coaches, teachers, administrators, and families work hand in hand, it fosters a school atmosphere where everyone is inspired and every student is fully engaged in their learning journey.
If you like this episode you’ll love
Promoted