By Grayson Cuevas-Kohout
Photo of Oates with award, courtesy of Ashley Oates
Ashley Oates has joined our high school art department in teaching CAVA 1, CAVA 2, and foundations. She recently moved from St Louis, Missouri where she was working at an independent school. There from 2017-24, she was teaching grades 8-12 drawing, painting, printmaking, and photography level 2. While she is originally from Memphis, Tennessee, this is her second time living in New Orleans. Oates had previously worked at Isidore Newman from 2015-2017. Oates couldn’t help but miss those NOLA vibes, including the culture and environment. With her time back, she hopes to connect further with kids and their creativity for art. If you have yet to meet her, go ahead and welcome Ms. Oates to our Willow community! I already did so myself, and here’s what I learned.
Cuevas-Kohout How are you enjoying your first couple of weeks at Willow?
Oates I am enjoying it. It’s a great place, a lot of energy, and the kids are very curious and interested in art and I’m excited, I’m happy to be here.
Cuevas-Kohout Are you excited?
Oates I am excited, but it is definitely a learning curve because I didn’t get kids for this much time for art, so it’s really great. It is more fast paced than I’m used to because I only met with my former students at my other school for like an hour and a half a week total.
Cuevas-Kohout Is there anything that specifically made you want to teach and be a teacher?
Oates Yeah, I think it’s really seeing kids get excited about either their own ideas for making art or just learning a new technique that they love. Like that to me, it’s about giving and having kids get excited, you know? Get excited about a medium or an idea or something like that.
Cuevas-Kohout So passion for the kids and passion for the art?
Oates Yes, it’s rewarding. It’s super rewarding just to see people get excited about art and their art. You know their voice, finding their voice. It’s so cool.
Cuevas-Kohout I know I talked to you about this personally, but for this, what art do you focus on?
Oates Yeah, so mine is sort of at the intersection of sculpture and two-dimensional work. I’m always kind of drawn to things that are photographic because I’m interested in the light. Like how light hits paper. Kinds of like old, older processes. I’m always intrigued by film photos. And you know this community, I feel like New Orleans, people enjoy art at an earlier age it seems like than some other cities I’ve lived in. They just have more, just the way they talk about the world. Makes me feel like they’re super visual from an early age. Maybe I’m wrong, I don’t know. It just seems like people have a sense of beauty here that I appreciate.
Cuevas-Kohout Do you still see yourself at Willow in the next five, 10 years?
Oates I hope so. I really like it here. You know, it feels like I’ve been here longer, and some days I don’t even know what was mentioned, and I’ve got to go figure it out. Everyone is nice, and I really appreciate it so much about it. From the administrators to the students to the maintenance folks, people are pretty great.
Cuevas-Kohout Any other fun facts about you that you’re willing to share?
Oates I used to be an ice skater. I would compete when I was a teenager in Memphis and Knoxville, around Tennessee.
