Visual Arts

Check out our winter virtual art shows.

Meet our department

Joanna Jenkins

My name is Joanna Jenkins and I started my teaching career at Remington Elementary school in 1999 and I had the privilege of painting many murals to adorn the walls there. I also taught studio art classes at Ilion high school during that time. After the merge of Ilion and Mohawk, I returned to teach art at Jarvis Middle School and now I am the high school art teacher at CVA.

I have taken college courses at HCCC, MVCA, Suny New Paltz, and Suny Cortland, but the majority of my college art courses were completed at Munson-Williams-Proctor-Arts Institute (MWPAI) and The College of Saint Rose. I am a member of New York State Art Teachers Association (NYSATA)and I have taught classes at MWPAI during summer session as well.

I have painted murals throughout the state and enjoy all the mediums I get to teach – drawing, painting, printmaking and ceramics, collage, sculpture, and even photography.
I have had the pleasure of traveling to Florence, Italy several times and enjoy their art, sculpture and architecture.

Outside of school, I enjoy outdoor activities like gardening, camping, and fishing – including ice fishing! I also enjoy singing and play several instruments including saxophone, guitar, and flute. In the summer of 2018, my husband and I toured the United States singing and entertaining in nursing homes as well as visiting as many national parks as we could! It was a great adventure!

Cheryl Hicks

Hello, I am Cheryl Hicks, an art teacher at Barringer Road Elementary and 6th grade at Jarvis Middle School. I received my formal training in Art Education at Dutchess Community College, SUNY New Paltz, and Utica College. One thing that I would like you to know about myself is that I practice what I preach. I am passionate about the visual arts and enjoy making art in my free time. I have my own clay studio at home where I focus on functional ceramic pieces and also dabble a little with mixed-media. While being a practicing artist myself, it allows me to make stronger connections to the materials being used in the classroom and in turn, the students receive a passionate education in my classroom. My classroom functions on respecting the studio, being responsible and safe, but also a little goofiness. Thank you for taking the time to read this. I look forward to teaching your children!

Amy Roepnack

I received my Bachelors of Fine Arts from Purchase College and Masters of Art in Teaching frome SUNY Oswego. I have taught a variety of styles of art and have had students ranging in ages from 3-80. After years being an assistant professor at Herkimer College, I decided to return to teaching youth art. My hope is to educate and inspire Central Valley students….while having fun along the way!

Melissa Kirk

Hello! My name is Melissa Kirk and I am the Elementary Art teacher at Harry M. Fisher Elementary School. I earned my Bachelor’s of Fine Art from Green Mountain College before getting my Master’s of Teaching-Art from SUNY Oswego.

In the art classroom, Kindergarten and 1st grade are focused on building simple skills and learning about the Elements of Art, the basic building blocks of art. We focus on process over product with our Pre-K artists, lots of play and exploration of materials. Students, regardless of their age, are taught citizenship and responsibility by following the process of creating art, then maintaining the art classroom/studio through cleaning their own mess, plus helping others when they can. We have a lot of fun learning and making together!