Logo
Follow Us on FacebookFollow Us on InstagramFollow Us on YouTubeFollow Us on LinkedIn
Phone: 757-466-7555
  • HOME
  • ABOUT US
    • Our Board of Directors
      • Our Board of Directors 2024-2025
      • Our Board of Directors 2023-2024
    • Meet the A4L Staff
      • Contact Us
    • Employment
    • Access, Belonging, Inclusion, Diversity, and Equity (ABIDE)
    • Impact Report
      • Impact Report 2023-2024
      • Impact Report 2022-2023
    • 990 and Audit
      • 990 Form 2023-2024
      • Audit 2023-2024
    • Strategic Plan
    • YA National Network
  • Cheers to 70 Years!
  • PROGRAMS
    • Calendar of Events
    • Schedule a Program
    • Find A Program
    • Find An Artist
    • Arts + Learning Snacks
    • Coastal Virginia Wolf Trap
  • SUPPORT
    • Our Partners
    • Our Supporters
      • Our Supporters 2023 – 2024
      • Our Supporters 2022 – 2023
      • Our Supporters 2021 – 2022
    • Individual Giving
    • Give Back Through Rewards
  • GET INVOLVED
    • Become an A4L Artist
    • Become a Board Member
    • Internships
    • Program Observer
    • Volunteer
  • Our Stories
    • Our History
  • Virtual Arts

‘Make Comics Now’ with A4L’s Matt Harrison

October 15, 2020 By Cindy Sherwood

https://arts4learningva.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Make-Comics-Now.mp4

Norfolk-based artist Matt Harrison is new to the Arts for Learning roster this year, teaching a popular workshop called “Make Comics Now.” Matt comes from a teaching family—his parents are retired elementary school teachers and his wife is a middle school English teacher, and he says conversations about classroom theory and its practical applications have been a constant throughout his life. Mentoring students is one of his favorite things, whether in his role as a comic artist or in his pay-the-bills job as a web developer.

Although Matt enjoyed drawing when he was a kid, he didn’t become interested in comics until he was a young adult and stumbled on a friend’s box of old comic books.

“I started with X-Men and Spider-Man. The way those shows worked, it wasn’t episodic, it was a continuous story from one to the next. It made me very curious about continuity, so once you start down that path about caring about comics and which way the story goes, it can quickly spiral out of control. So I wound up collecting way more comics than I knew what to do with.”

Eventually Matt transitioned from an interest in traditional mainstream comics to indie comics, where he says he’s now developed a “simple, cartoony, humorous aesthetic.” He’s published more than a dozen mini-comics of eight to 48-pages long and regularly exhibits his work at comic conventions. He also works as an illustrator using a different style, which he describes as somewhat realistic straight-to-ink contour drawings of people from photos. Clients include the Naro Expanded Cinema which features his posters at their cult movie nights.

When you look at Matt’s website, www.rootbeercomics.com, you see an eclectic variety of topics and styles in his comic books, zines, and comic strips. Titles range from “Ninja Turtles with Guns” and “Lincoln versus Booth” to “Harrison Ford is Old.”

“I like to do short projects because that lets me experiment with a lot of different themes and styles of drawings. I can knock out a comic in a month and then move on to the next idea of interest.”

So why Root Beer Comics? First came the impossibility of finding a domain name when you’re named Matt Harrison. Second came the need to choose something unique, memorable, and easy to spell. But root beer also has a deeper meaning to Matt.

“I love root beer. It sets the tone for the humor stuff.  Also, there’s beer, which is an interest that a lot of people have, and then there’s root beer, which is kind of tangentially related to that but not really. And that’s kind of like what my comics are. If mainstream comics are beer, my comics are root beer.”Matt describes what he calls a “pivotal moment” in his life when he realized that comics don’t have to look a set way, that they can look like anything.

“That barrier falls away and you realize anyone can make a comic, I can make a comic, it doesn’t matter that it won’t look like the Spider-Man comic that I saw, it will look like my version of that,” he says. “I realized that I didn’t have to wait until I’m an amazing draftsman, which is a day that may never come, before I put pen on paper and put it out there for people to see.”

That pivotal moment still resonates with him as he teaches.

My objective with teaching is to recreate that moment in other people’s lives so the chains come off and they can get started in this creative hobby that can benefit them in a lot of ways.”

Matt led two Make Comics Now residencies in-person at summer camps and is currently teaching students virtually through Alternatives Inc’s after-school program. Although he’s found COVID-19 safety protocols have made establishing relationships with students more challenging, he hasn’t let that stand in the way.

“Ultimately, I think you just jump right in and treat them like they’re already old friends and eventually they’ll come along for the ride.”

Are you interested in learning more about Matt leading a workshop? Contact us at scheduling@Arts4LearningVA.org for more information.

Filed Under: Artist Spotlight, ArtsEd Tagged With: cartoons, comic books, comics, graphic novels, teaching artists, virtual learning, Zoom teaching

A Salute to Teachers

May 27, 2020 By Cindy Sherwood

Anna Frassmann-Swadinsky works with studentsAs the end of this most unusual of school years comes to a close, we want to recognize the educators who are vital partners in our mission of arts-integrated education. Teachers have experienced challenges they never could have dreamed of, as they were forced to leave their classrooms and teach students via video technology.

Special education teachers have had extra challenges in connecting with their students when they can’t see them in person. Anna Frassmann-Swadinsky is a program specialist for Norfolk schools, but she also works as a teacher of deaf and hard-of-hearing students at Mary Calcott Elementary School. Her caseload includes a first-grader who is profoundly deaf and two third-graders—one is profoundly deaf but has a cochlear implant that allows access to sound and another who is hard of hearing. Frassmann-Swadinsky offers her students a weekly Zoom check-in, where they may read stories or do math problems together. But the normal techniques she uses when she teaches her students face-to-face, such as tapping on a desk to get their attention, don’t work on video.

“For my students who are deaf and hard of hearing, the biggest challenge is being able to engage them through video chat technology when you don’t have the ability to physically redirect their attention.”

Like many other teachers, Frassmann-Swadinsky is concerned about her students in this distance-learning environment.

I miss knowing that they’re okay. I worry about their mental health and being isolated.”

“I have one student who doesn’t have any siblings so she’s the only little girl in her house and doesn’t have anyone else to play with. I really worry about her,” Frassmann-Swadinsky says. “I miss being able to actually teach. I’m so terrified of how much we will have lost and where we’re going to start when we finally return to in-person class.”

Despite the challenges, Frassmann-Swadinsky has praise for families who are trying to educate under difficult circumstances, mentioning one family whose home-schooling includes fun science experiments and trips to places like the Norfolk Botanical Gardens. Still, just about every parent now has a greater appreciation for their children’s classroom teachers. Teachers may not be risking their lives during this pandemic, but they’re showing up every day for their students and facing unique challenges.Anna Frassman-Swadinsky

Every teacher is trying to find a creative way to keep their students engaged and learning and to remind them that we’re still there for them.”

“The idea of calling ourselves essential workers almost sounds arrogant, even though when you look at it from an abstract perspective, we are essential,” Frassmann-Swadinsky says. “You almost feel bad about saying it—‘Oh I’m not a doctor, I’m not a nurse, I’m not on the front line.’ But I am essential, because there are millions of kids in the United States that need to learn.”

Arts for Learning wants to salute hardworking essential workers in our state in the way we know best—through art. Children can draw, write a story or poem, play music, dance, or use any other art form they choose as a way to say “thank you” to our essential workers. Click here for full details of how to enter our Artful Thanks contest!

 

Filed Under: ArtsEd, ArtsED for Exceptional Students Tagged With: 757 nonprofit, art contest, Arts Ed, Arts for Learning, Arts for Learning Virginia, arts-in-education, deaf students, essential workers, Mary Calcott Elementary School Virginia Beach City Public Schools, Norfolk Public Schools, Special Education, Teachers, Zoom teaching

Follow Us on FacebookFollow Us on InstagramFollow Us on YouTubeFollow Us on LinkedIn
Phone: 757-466-7555

Join the A4L Mailing List!

Sign up to receive the latest news on arts integration from Arts for Learning! Thank you for supporting arts-in-education.

Select list(s) to subscribe to


By submitting this form, you are consenting to receive marketing emails from: Arts for Learning Virginia. You can revoke your consent to receive emails at any time by using the SafeUnsubscribe® link, found at the bottom of every email. Emails are serviced by Constant Contact

Main Office
Arts for Learning
420 North Center Drive
Suite 239
Norfolk, Virginia 23502

Phone: 757-466-7555

Main Office

Arts for Learning
420 North Center Drive
Suite 239
Norfolk, Virginia 23502
Phone:
757-466-7555

IDEAL 2025: Identity, Collaboration, & Community

“I feel like I grew a lot in my artistic skills and socialization skills, as a person in general. It’s really helped me express how I feel.” Sophia Sharp, Bayside Sixth Grade Campus, Virginia Beach “I learned that I can express my feelings through my artwork. That’s what I’m most proud of. Now I’m able […]

Join the A4L Mailing List!

Sign up to receive the latest news on arts integration from Arts for Learning! Thank you for supporting arts-in-education.

Select list(s) to subscribe to


By submitting this form, you are consenting to receive marketing emails from: Arts for Learning Virginia. You can revoke your consent to receive emails at any time by using the SafeUnsubscribe® link, found at the bottom of every email. Emails are serviced by Constant Contact
At Arts for Learning Virginia, we’re proud to be part of the Virginia Commission for the Arts’ Passport Program. While Passport holders typically receive free admission and 50% off classes at participating organizations, all our programming is always free—no discount needed. To learn more about our public events, check out our calendar of events page here.

Copyright © 2025 · Young Audiences | Arts For Learning | Virginia

Website Maintained By TechArk

×