Ms. Olson draws on diverse experience

Ms. Heather Olson is the new art teacher in Milton with classes in both the high school and middle school. Originally, she is from Chautauqua County in New York. She discovered Milton on the route she takes to Ocean City, Md. for vacation.  

Ms. Olson said she was happy to join the staff after learning there was an opening for an art teacher. 

Before coming to Milton, Ms. Olson attended Clark University near Boston. She originally studied art therapy but then changed to Studio Art, she added. She also completed geography and archaeology courses, she said.  Later she earned her first master’s degree at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. Recently, she earned her second master’s degree in art education from Edinboro University. 

Ms. Olson said she was a teacher’s aide and a substitute teacher in Erie County prior to being hired by Milton.  Ms. Olson said she also worked many years for several architecture and urban planning firms on the west coast and in Montana. It was very fun, but Montana was very cold, she added.  

In her current role, she said she is most looking forward to specifically how to apply art in different ways as students transition into college and careers. She added she was least looking forward to the early drive to work. 

 “I have this theory that no one wants to wake up and drive to work in the dark, especially in winter,” she said. Ms. Olson said when she was deciding to work for Milton, she was most nervous about the pandemic.  

She wanted to be a teacher because she had some inspiring visual art teachers and professors, and she has always wanted to teach high school art, said Ms. Olson. 

She said that her favorite kind of art is oil painting, “earth art” and architecture. 

(According to the Utah Museum of Fine Art’s website (umfa.utah.edu), earth (or land) art is a movement that began in the 1960s and involves working with a natural landscape and natural materials to create an artistic statement. ) 

“Miss Olson is a great addition to the Fine Arts Department here at Milton,” said Art Teacher Ms. Lauren Richie. Ms. Olson comes from the architecture world and brings that real- world experience into her classroom, she explained. Ms. Olson energetic and excited to share her fresh ideas and artistic points of views with her students, Ms. Richie added. 

Ms. Olson has some advice for students. “Map out a great plan-–for now and for the future.  If that’s not working, step back and ask yourself why,” she said. “Then, if you cannot answer that-–ask your dog, your best friend and a teacher. One of them will give you the input you need to figure it out!”