I believe children are natural artists who are inherently curious, creative and capable of constructing their own understanding of the world through imaginative experiences and expressions in visual, verbal, written and varied forms. My role as a teaching artist is to create a safe environment to support students discover their creativity and their natural talents through fun and meaningful exploration. I like to create lessons that are able to balance science, facts, imagination and creativity. I also enjoy working closely with teachers to meet curricular goals and develop visual arts-integrated residencies to meet Common Core State Standards and Next Generation Science Standards.
As a visual artist, I encourage students to observe closely, pay attention to details, and respond to what they observe and what their peers create. My passion is to teach students foundational drawing skills as well as help them to develop many other life skills, such as observation skills, critical thinking, problem solving, language development and more. It has been my desire to inspire every student through unconventional methods and endless exploration. I love embracing “happy accident” in my own art and often encourage students to let go of perfection and embrace the joy in their creative process. To me, each teaching opportunity is unique and it enriches my own understanding of the world. With my diverse cultural background and bilingual skill, I enjoy teaching English Language Learners (ELL). My teaching goal is to help each student feel valued and to learn from a variety of perspectives and to become a more well-rounded individual and artist.
Zoe Liu was born and raised in Hong Kong and currently resides in Honolulu, Hawai‘i. She received her Bachelor of Fine Art degree from University of Hawaii at Manoa, along with two Outstanding Student Awards in Drawing and Digital Imaging. Her creative practice is rooted in Drawing and Painting. Her mixed-media works investigate existential questions, and education styles between the East and the West. She has exhibited widely in the US and abroad: Oahu, Chicago, Portland, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Taiwan.
Zoe has taught the Young Artist Program and the Visual Art Integration outreach Program at the Honolulu Museum of Art School since 2016. She also has facilitated the art and tech integration programs at Oahu Art and Tech, and taught creative camps that focused on integration between visual arts, architecture and taste at PMQ Hong Kong. She currently works as a teaching artist at the Montessori Community School and in the Art Bento program at the Hawaii State Art Museum. In her free time, Zoe actively participates in children and art ministry.
The Artistic Teaching Partners (ATP) Roster is an adjudicated directory of Hawai‘i professional teaching artists qualified to conduct in-depth residencies in educational settings. Each artist or arts organization has a page in the directory with contact information, a short bio, and an artist statement. The State Foundation on Culture and the Arts draws from this roster for arts education programs including Art Bento at the Hawaiʻi State Art Museum and Artists in the Schools.
