“A work-in-progress generates its own energy field. You, the artist or entrepreneur, are pouring love into the work; you are infusing it with passion and intention and hope.”
-Steven Pressfield
Mercedes M. Ingenito
Curriculum Vitae
2020- present
I am a retired art educator and museum consultant currently working on my own body of work as an artist. My work has an autobiographical focus as I am inspired by my own personal and cultural identity while incorporating my experiences as an art educator. I attribute my knowledge base and love for my craft to the influences of the many inspiring female mentors that I had the honor of knowing, learning from and working with throughout my professional career. This inspiration, in turn, informs my work conceptually, technically and aesthetically. In addition, I have also been inspired by the work of Audrey Flack, Giorgio Morandi, Louise Nevelsohn, and Frida Kahlo .
Education
B.A. Commercial Design, 1979
New Jersey City University, Jersey City, NJ
M.A. Art Education, 1998
Kutztown University, Kutztown, PA
Supervisor Certification, 1999
Seton Hall University, South Orange, NJ
New Jersey State Certifications
Supervisor, K-12
Teacher of Visual Arts, K-12
Teacher of Elementary Education
Languages
Spanish and English
Professional Experiences
Visual Arts Teacher
September 1992-June 2020
Randolph Township Schools, Randolph, NJ
September 1999-June 2020
Oradell Public School, Oradell, NJ
September 1994-June 1999
Roxbury Township Schools, Roxbury, NJ
September 1992-June 1994
Throughout my 28 years as an educator, I sought to teach studio and art history courses within cultural and socio-political contexts of different time periods. Visits to museums, cultural institutions and artist collaborations were key components of my instruction to enhance classroom curriculum and seek additional perspectives and points of view in the learning and art making process. My classes supported thematic, integrated instruction in the visual arts, social studies, science and language arts. In addition, writing was also embedded in all my instruction as a tool for self- reflection, literary responses, art analysis and critiques. My teaching philosophy was reflected within the myriad of grade levels and courses that I taught ranging from elementary school to Honors and Advanced Placement courses at the high school level and in all of the various curricula that I designed and wrote throughout the years.
Museum Instructor/Consultant and Curriculum Writer
The Newark Museum, Newark, NJ
1993-1995, 1998-2000
I presented the Early America, Native American, Egyptian and Art of Africa gallery talks to school groups and presented studio activities related to the gallery exhibits. In addition, I served as an educational consultant to the Newark Museum’s thematic restructuring of its American Art Collection (1998, 1999, 2000).
I served as a writer for the Newark Museum developing eight curricular models integrating the museum’s 19thand 20th American Art galleries with the social studies, language arts, and visual arts New Jersey Student Learning Standards. These models have been presented statewide and are available through the museum’s education department. The fourth grade curricular model entitled My Community, was implemented district wide as a means of facilitating a partnership between the Newark Public Schools and the Newark Museum.
Continuing Studies
In addition to the professional development that I received within my school districts I participated in the following coursework which I attribute to the knowledge base that I acquired through the years and that supported the interests that inspired me and that I sought to incorporate within my teaching.
Hand and Mind Institutes with educator Marilyn Stewart
Kutztown University, Kutztown, PA. (2000-2004)
Facing History and Ourselves Holocaust and Human Behavior seminar
Kean University, Union, NJ. (2007)
Advanced seminars in Holocaust Studies/Prejudice Reduction
Kean University, Union, NJ. (2005-2006)
Awards
In 2008 I was a recipient of the Honey and Maurice Axelrod Award, project of the Anti -Defamation League of New Jersey Commission on Holocaust Education awarded to educators who have provided outstanding instruction in the field of Holocaust and Genocide Education.