Whispers of inspiration at Bowdoin first suggested to artist Ouda Baxter ’11 that she might find teaching a rewarding extension of her talents.
My path to art is meandering but clear in retrospect.
I made art as a kid and would come home to draw or paint while I ate my after-school snack. When I finally took art classes at Bowdoin, I loved the textures of artmaking, the scent of the studios, and the atmosphere of focus and making.
I took an amazing class my senior year with Kathryn Byrnes called Mindful Education. It inspired me for the first time to think about teaching. My favorite show for my art was Uganda: Winter at the Museum of African Art and Culture in Portland, when we had a live band play in the street. The pieces were photography of a trip I took to visit family in Uganda and some sound recordings of memories that went along with them.
I moved to Islesboro to teach K-12 art at a very special island school of about a hundred students. I’ve also taught at Berwick Academy, a few different Waldorf schools, and now The Ecology Learning Center in Unity, Maine.
I am always trying out new projects to share with my students or getting inspired by what I put into the curriculum to then go and make more work. I love being hands-on and sharing my passion for the arts.
This story first appeared in the Winter 2026 issue of Bowdoin Magazine. Manage your subscription and see other stories from the magazine on the Bowdoin Magazine website.
