Triada Samaras
Art Form(s):Artist Statement
As an art educator, my goal is to empower both teachers and students to awaken their innate creativity. John Dewey wrote, “Art is not the possession of the few… it is the authentic expression of individuality.” I believe everyone can express personal meaning through art, connecting deeply to themselves and the world. Art fosters critical thinking skills like analysis, synthesis, and evaluation, enhancing academic success across subjects. As Elliot Eisner says, “The arts are ways of knowing, thinking, and communicating.” Art also nurtures emotional growth, resilience, and confidence, enriching students and educators alike. In my classroom, creativity is central to learning and growth.
Artist Bio
Triada Samaras is an artist and educator based in New York City and Standish, Maine. She holds an MFA in Interdisciplinary Art from Goddard College and an MA in Art/Art Education from Teachers College, Columbia University. With 30 years of experience, Triada has taught a wide range of students, from K-12 to adult learners, in diverse settings. She is dedicated to empowering educators and students by fostering creativity and linking artmaking to academic success.
As a mentor and teacher, Triada bridges hands-on artistic skills with critical thinking, sharing the creative process’s challenges and rewards and its broader relevance to learning across disciplines. She has extensive experience in arts integration, having worked as an Arts Integration Professor-in-Residence in Paterson, NJ, and in STEAM after-school programs. At William Paterson University, Triada taught early childhood and secondary art education and supervised future K-12 art teachers. She has taught studio art at Kean University in Drawing, Painting, 2D Design and Visual Thinking to art and art education majors, helping them connect studio practice to career opportunities in the arts.
Her current artwork, often created with acrylic paint on a variety of surfaces, explores the human relationship with nature as a path to self-knowledge. Triada has exhibited her work in the US and abroad and published articles on art education, including a chapter in Digital Learning in High-Needs Schools (Routledge). She regularly presents workshops at conferences on topics like AI image generators in the art classroom and the role of creativity and play in learning. Triada is currently an Adjunct Professor in the Fine Arts Department at Kean University.
Learn more on her website, blogs and Instagram. Blogs: https://professorsamaras.blogspot.com/ and https://triadasamarasartist.blogspot.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/triadasamaras/
