Artwork, in all of its mediums, is one of the world’s most powerful forms of expression and therapy. At the very least, it provides children, teens and adults with mild entertainment. At its most engaging, art can act as a support-system that provides solace, insight and emotional connections to countless individuals who share in the experience.
Some believe that the true beauty of a person’s artistic abilities is extracted during times of hardship; it is through those sorrowful emotions that skills really shine, enabling us to connect with others in ways we weren’t able to before.
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On this episode of One-on-One with Steve Adubato, Jersey City art teacher and CEO of Markman Designs, Michael Markman, sat down with Steve Adubato, PhD., to talk about his passion for art and how he utilizes illustration to connect with his students. He also discusses his original graphic novel, Surviving the Storm, written about a family who used survival skills to make it through Super Storm Sandy.
Markman is praised for his dynamic, yet somewhat unconventional, teaching methods. He has even partnered with a fellow Jersey City teacher, Shazia Faisal, to develop a curriculum using his graphic novel. As he explains, he wants to show students “how art is a form of communication and how comic books can promote literacy.”
“It has been wonderful experience for myself, Mrs. Faisal and for the children,” he added, “because it has allowed them to express ideas and communicate thoughts in ways that they might not do in a normal setting in an educational environment.”
To learn more about Michael Markman, his teachings and his novel Surviving the Storm, check out this edition of One-on-One with Steve Adubato.
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