About
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Welcome! My name is Sybella Ifland. After graduating from the University of Arkansas in December 2023, I am a freshly licensed K-12 Art Educator located in Northwest Arkansas.
I am an oil painter, educator, student, explorer, and much more.
Having a soft spot for creating, crafting, and experimenting has pushed me towards advocating for others creative abilities.
Dedication and passion are both notions that guide who I am as a person. In the same way as other artists, I perceive the world through a creative lens. My visions are sculpted, yet productive and ever-changing. Even though I concentrate on what I love most, oil painting, I tend to venture out into other visual arts from time to time. I am constantly creating new visions that frame and reform previous ones. Striving for moments of passion gives me the opportunity to appreciate my own life, the environment around me, and dedicate my acquired knowledge to others. As an artist educator, I aim to enhance inclusion, expression, and creativity within the art education community.
Teaching Philosophy
As an art educator, I believe art is not linear. There are multiple facets of creation where
learning is turned sensual and personal. There is a time and place in which a learning artist is
motivated through technique and practice, as well as experiments and craft. No matter how
technical or conceptual an artistic idea may be, I stand firm in my ability to encourage self
reflection, artistic process, and innovative approaches to art.
I aim to be flexible within my practice due to arts’ interdisciplinary aspects where every
artist encounters extremely diverse and complex disciplines. Art is more than just art. Artists are
more than just artists. Art educators are more than just art educators. With this in mind, my goal
is to create a classroom culture where learners feel empowered to create via self-exploration,
curiosity, and creative thinking. Learners are continuously sculpting and revising their artistic
lens during each creative venture that they encounter. Which brings me back to including both
technical and conceptual forms of art in my practices. Every artist will face proper technique of
materials, aesthetics, and subjects, but by no means does that solidify their artistic purpose. Just
like any other job, hobby, or activity there is a ‘proper’ way of executing it that has been
established throughout history. Since art is not linear, I do not believe in confining my students to
that specific process or any process for that matter.
Art is personal and open-minded. For many, it goes beyond the classroom and inhabits
everyday life whether they notice it or not. As an educator, I strive to make students notice. I
want to stimulate their artistic abilities that they were not aware of. I want to discuss and enable
art that matters in their own eyes, not necessarily what the art world has told them. I aim for
them to push their limits, yet find comfort in their ability to produce and experience art.