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SALT LAKE CITY — The ambiguity of Mona Lisa's smile has been examined by art historians for centuries. Sitting among other works of fine art Tuesday in the Utah Museum of Fine Arts, Katie Seastrand's smile held no ambiguity — it was alight as she spoke of the art around her.
Seastrand is the manager of school and teachers programs at the fine art museum in Salt Lake City. She can craft engaging and wonderful histories behind works of art; but when the subject turned from art to herself, that smile dimmed to a modest one.
"The idea of working in education just really struck me — about how we can bring the museum and art to people all over the state and how we can really work to find those connections for people. I can share my passion of art with someone else so that maybe they can find their own passion for art," Seastrand said. "I also just love to talk about art."
Seastrand was named the Utah Museum Educator of the Year during the Utah Art Education Association's spring conference on Saturday. She called the honor "surprising" and "lovely" before quickly shifting focus to the teachers she works with.
"I just feel so incredibly honored to be working with Utah art educators and just educators all over the state. It has really been such an incredible experience," said Seastrand.
Seastrand was hired in September 2019 to travel and teach in K-12 classrooms throughout Utah. Much of Seastrand's work was reenvisioned as COVID-19 complicated museum outreach and engagement. Immediately, Seastrand looked to meet and fulfill the needs of educators and students.
The first project included art kits of supplies and images of several works of art in the museum. The kits began when students at Granite School District were struggling to meet requirements amid the 2020 Salt Lake Valley earthquake and the COVID-19 pandemic. The art kits were created as easy projects students could complete for credit with minimal supervision from educators.
And while the art kits were initially created to meet educational requirements, Seastrand believes it went beyond that.
"I think the importance with art-making is it's about having that experience. I think art can be very cathartic; it can be stress relief; it can be a lot of different things for different people, and especially the students," said Seastrand.
The art kits "did come out of a need for students to have materials and things, but also just recognizing that actual art-making is important," she said.
Seastrand and her colleagues distributed 1,500 art kits to Salt Lake area schools and Whitehorse High School in Montezuma Creek, San Juan County. From there, Seastrand expanded the museum's distance learning efforts into five new programs that have brought virtual tours and education to more than 6,000 students and 550 teachers statewide.
I think the importance with art-making is it's about having that experience. I think art can be very cathartic; it can be stress relief; it can be a lot of different things for different people, and especially the students.
–Katie Seastrand, Utah Museum Educator of the Year
While virtual learning and exploration have become a hallmark of the pandemic, Seastrand still looked for ways students could physically engage with the art.
"We have two paintings that are really good for the virtual tours because one is very structured and then another is very free," said Seastrand.
Using the different paintings, Seastrand invites the students to participate in a structured activity and then an open activity. The contrast allows engagement with students on two different levels, she said. Doing these types of activities is one of her favorite things.
"It's just really fun to get to use art as this form of exploration and creativity — it's kind of that thing where when I realized that that actually was a job, and that you could work in your happy place."
Despite being surrounded by works of art, Seastrand said she will be the first to admit she's not an amazing artist. In fact, she encourages everyone without an experienced art background to become comfortable in mediocrity.
"Art can really have this intimidating thing about it, where it's supposed to be the most freeing," she said. "Once you take off the pressures of creating something beautiful and perfect and ready for display, then you can actually go into the real importance of art-making, which is self-expression. It's exploring your own ideas and feelings about something."
