Teaching is the best job ever, and Amanda Stutes can’t be convinced otherwise.

She is an elementary art teacher at Our Lady’s Catholic School in Sulphur. There, she molds elementary students (pre-K to fifth grade) into art lovers, art aficionados, and artists themselves.

“I get to teach children about famous artists, look at famous artworks and the process of making our own, of course. So much fun!”

Stutes knew she would be working in the art field when she was a kid. And though she didn’t know at the time she would become an educator, she would often adopt the role of art teacher when playing pretend.

Though in retrospect, she said she was ultimately inspired by some “stand-out” teachers in elementary and middle school, and her dad, who was a teacher and a coach.

“I remember feeling inspired by and wanting to be like them,” she recalled. “I don’t think I realized then that I’d be in education, but I think about them often now.”

A Vinton native, she attended both Vinton High School and the Louisiana School for Math, Science, and the Arts. After graduating from Vinton High, she attended McNeese State University.

Motivated by her deep love for art, her original plan was to major in graphic design. She realized along the way that she was not a fan of digital art and wanted to participate in the “hands-on stuff” (an opinion she still holds). So, she made the switch to education.

“I feel like it just hit me! I wanted to do something more meaningful!”

She earned a Bachelor’s in art education with a concentration in ceramics. She has taught for a total of six years. Over her career, she has taught at Combre-Fondel Elementary, Ralph Wilson Elementary and Lake Charles Charter Academy. Following five years of teaching, she stepped down for nine years to own and operate The Sloppy Taco.

This is her first year back in the classroom. One of the many things Stutes enthusiastically believes in is the importance of art education for the individual and the community. Art teaches people about the importance of having perspective, she said. The subject teaches inclusivity and ignites sparks of creativity.

She added that strong community members are created with a healthy combination of self-expression and open-mindedness.

While fun, art education is about more than looking at and making art. It’s a practice that encourages creativity, self-expression and communication in students.

“They’re also able to see that they can create something totally different than the person that’s sitting right next to them, and see the value & beauty in both. That’s a big, new concept for a lot of them!”

Stutes’s personal art preferences might lean more modern (Yayoi Kusama, Keith Haring, & Henri Matisse), but the art created by her students are some of her favorites to view. She spends independent work time building relationships with each of her 200 students.

Our Lady’s elementary students learn art in a laid-back and flexible environment that allows for artistic agency. She is not the type to tell a student to paint a blueberry blue because it is supposed to be blue – unless they are studying color theory, she noted.

“I love watching them create and be proud of their work!” she expressed. “I love giving them creative freedom and allowing them to experience their mistakes and grow from all of it.”