When Kamar Thomas saw the job description for Centennial College’s Fine Arts Studio program coordinator-professor role, he felt like it was written specifically for him. The College was looking for someone with international experience. Thomas, originally from Jamaica, studied and worked as an educator while advancing his arts career in both the U.S. and Jamaica. The position also called for mentoring faculty and students and coordinating the program’s day-to-day logistics. As a working professional artist himself, Thomas understood the type of mentorship required in the creative industry. Lastly, Centennial was seeking a professor who could help students develop their own creative visions. It’s something Thomas had been doing for a decade and which, this year, he turned into a book called The Artist’s Creative Vision: How to Create Art that Makes Change and Earns a Living.
For Thomas, who stepped into the coordinator-professor role in 2022, teaching and creating art are also deeply intertwined.
"I don’t think of making art and teaching as separate entities," says Thomas. "They are mutually interwoven. When I make a painting, I am getting someone to think something. So, I say, 'Let me pick this colour' or 'Let me paint this in a particular way.' I approach teaching the same way. I ask, 'Where would I like my students to be at the end of this?' and then I work backwards to get them there."
Balancing Teaching with An Arts Career
Thomas’s teaching career began shortly after he earned his bachelor in Studio Art – Painting from a Connecticut university and returned to Jamaica. There, Thomas became a high school arts educator. After heading back to Connecticut for his Master of Fine Arts, Thomas took on roles such as teaching assistant and graduate assistant during his studies before becoming a visiting assistant professor and adjunct professor.
After a trip to Quebec led to a move to Canada, Thomas taught part-time until he brought his expertise to Centennial, and to Ontario, full-time. All the while, Thomas has continued his arts career. Being a working professional artist, he says, allows him to connect deeply to students.
"In the back of the minds of everyone who you teach, there is a voice that says, ‘Why should I listen to you? What results have you achieved that I can get? When did you last sell a painting?'" he says. "The answer is, 'I did it at 9 am this morning, not nine years ago, and I did it at this price.' When students see you doing what you’re asking them to do, it’s much more difficult for them to not strive. They see themselves in you."
Inspiring Students’ Journeys as Professional Artists
Thomas says his ultimate goal is to ensure students graduate into an industry that buys into their art. At the same time, he also hopes Fine Arts Studio learners walk away with the idea that consistency and patience at their craft can change their material circumstances in a way that doesn’t require them to compromise their ideas when they become professional artists.
"A lot of students come in with a rather limited mind set when it comes to working in the creative fields," he says. "I try my best to open them up to the possibilities and connect them to those possibilities when I see them arise. I also have encouragement in endless supply. Being involved in the art world is the biggest amount of hope I can give them. I’m right there in the class with them and out there also working in their industry. I want my students to see that it’s possible for them to develop their own personal creative vision that people engage with and learn from."
By: Izabela Shubair
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