Chicago's Hidden Gems: Art teacher shares passion with kids at park district, around the world
CHICAGO (CBS) – Many may remember a teacher or two who really had a positive impact on their lives, and they may not have always met them in school.
CBS 2 met a Chicago Park District teacher who has instilled her love of art in students in the city and across the globe. She is one of Chicago's Hidden Gems.
There's a lot more than painting that goes on in Patricia Perez's Monday afternoon class.
"I want them to be able to engage in the art-making process using good quality materials, familiarize themselves with all the different things painting entails, and build that confidence to just do it!" Perez said.
She added, "Art is just a language on its own and it's nice to see kids communicating just with brush strokes, being able to understand this whole new process of communicating not just with each other but with the outside world."
Miss Patricia, as the kids call her, has been teaching art classes for the Chicago Park District for years. When CBS 2 visited during a recent class, she was at Mayfair Park on the city's Northwest Side.
She strives to give the kids what she didn't have: a chance to use good, quality materials to create art in a classroom setting.
"I'm pretty much self-taught," Perez said. "There were no funds to send me to art camp or art classes. They were not affordable at that time for what I needed. So I learned the process of painting through a show called 'The Magic of Painting' on PBS."
Perez said her father saw her passion and talent and decided to get her art supplies. She said she started with oil paintings at age 9, "and I never stopped."
Her joy and commitment to kids has taken Perez around the world. Last year, a nonprofit invited her to take on a special teaching assignment.
"They asked me to do a mural and I was like, 'Sure! Let me know when,'" Perez said.
They wanted to send her to Honduras.
"I was like, 'Oh! OK!'" she said.
They ended up painting a 12-foot by 40-foot mural over about one week. Perez said the project was "to engage youth."
The project was so popular that some students traveled eight hours to take part.
"As a child, I never in my dreams imagined myself in another country, in another part of the world sharing the gift of art and doing what I love," she said.
Perez told CBS 2 of another project dear to her heart that begins in March.
"I will be returning [to Guatemala] this March during Holy Week and I will be painting a mural on my family's mausoleum where my mother's ashes will go," she said.
Reporter: "Your mom appreciated your talent, I'm sure."
Perez: "She helped to create it."
Back at Mayfair Park, 10-year-old Olivia was teaching CBS 2's Joe Donlon how to get it done.
"Right here, we're doing like it's winter going into spring," Olivia said. "So there's going to be snow on the mountain."
Olivia gave Miss Patricia rave reviews.
Reporter: "How much have you learned from Miss Patricia?"
Olivia: "So much. She teaches me different kinds of paints to do, like different kind of paint, textures, and all stuff like that."
And Perez said the pleasure was all hers.
"When they leave satisfied, or when they leave the classroom, like, 'I can't believe I did this!' or 'I didn't know I could do this! That is where I find my joy," she said.
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