Meet your Teacher
Welcome! I'm Mr. Holdren and I am the K-12 visual art teacher. This is my fifth year teaching art at RMA.
I look forward to sharing the amazing world of art with your students while helping them learn how to improve their work and learn critical thinking skills. We celebrate mistakes in our work and learn from them to strive and make each piece better than the last.
About me
After art school, I became part owner of a graphic design firm, but really wanted to pursue fine art. While working in the nonprofit arena for over twenty years, I also worked as a freelance professional visual artist working in fine art and illustration with galleries and clients through my commercial studio.
I still work as a freelance professional artist today in addition to teaching.
I enjoy painting (of course) and traveling with my wife and two daughters. Both of our kids have attended River Mill with one graduated and one in high school.
I love creating and teaching art and seeing students make new discoveries in art class as their skills improve.
Mr. Holdren's Art
Cultivating Creative Mastery
My teaching philosophy is rooted in the belief that each student has a unique creative voice, and that with practice and study of the fundamentals each student can create art that is engaging and exciting. We work to learn skills while at the same time encouraging students to try new things with their art. Experimenting and trying new techniques or media and working outside their comfort zone can lead to great discoveries and help students learn where there strengths lie.