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Works of Art ···>
Passion is what drives
many people to excel. Lynn Flieger Countryman’s passions for
art and education have pushed her to refine her natural
artistic talents and to share with others her enthusiasm for
education.
Lynn graduated from Arapahoe Community College in 1974 with an
associate of arts degree. She continued her education at the
University of Colorado at Boulder where she completed her
bachelors in fine art, with distinction as Phi Beta Kappa. In
1977, she earned a commercial arts degree from Omaha Arts
School and soon after returned to the University of Colorado
to finish her master degree in arts education with an emphasis
in at-risk and gifted and talented education.
Lynn’s well-rounded education combined with her ever-present
passion has helped her become a leader in several arenas. As a
former art educator for the secondary levels in Cherry Creek
Schools, Lynn often served as a mentor and motivator for her
students. She reached out to at-risk students and had a knack
for building up fragile self-esteems. Lynn served as the
professor for the Teacher Education Program at the University
of Denver where she developed new and challenging course
offerings for elementary and secondary art education methods.
Lynn has published articles for Middle Ground regarding her
programs with at-risk students and the arts. She has also been
published with Dr. Elliot Eisner and Dr. Mary Stokrocki
regarding similar at-risk symposium topics. Uniquely, as an
artist she worked as a medical illustrator for a noted
neurootolarygologist and co-authored an article, “van Gogh &
Meniere’s Disease”, that was published in the July 1990
Journal of the American Medical Association. Additionally,
Lynn volunteered and taught evenings for Arapahoe Community
College’s Area Vocational School. Lynn designed and
implemented the commercial art program, ensuring that it had
real-world applications. The medical /tech illustration
portion of the program was the first of its kind in Colorado.
Lynn’s accomplishments have not gone unnoticed. She has been
recognized both locally and nationally for bettering her
profession and for improving the lives of many. In 1996, the
Colorado Art Education Association honored her as Teacher of
the Year at Prairie Middle School in Cherry Creek Schools,
District #5 and as Middle School Art Educator of the Year of
Colorado. Arapahoe Community College named her Alumni of the
Year. Also in 1996, Lynn was selected as one of 36 teachers
from across the United States, England, and Australia for the
Disney American Teacher Awards. Lynn has worked on the
Executive Board of Advisors for the Mizel Museum in Denver CO
for the last decade. Her duties over those years have included
performing on the education, exhibition and building
committees, as well as the annual “Wings Across the Rockies”
fundraiser. Lynn has also served on the Honorary Committee for
the “Fra Angelico Celebration of Art and Celebration”, a
non-profit organization that supports the vocations for the
Dominican Order. And in 2005, her business, Kaleidoscope
Creations, Lynn was selected to serve as Honorary Chairman of
the National Republican’s Congressional Committee from the
state of Colorado.
In her private time, Lynn displayed her artwork in numerous
galleries and tried to remain true to her real passion. Lynn’s
mentor was the late artist Pawel Kontny, whom she had
fortunately known for 26 years. He encouraged her to paint
every day. In 1996, Lynn retired early from teaching to give
full attention to painting and shows. In June 2002, Lynn had
70 paintings displayed in a one-woman show at the Museum of
Outdoor Arts entitled Myths and Legends. The pieces were
created in oil, pastel, gold leaf, marble dust and watercolour.
Each painting had a myth or legend. It was a show of
connections. The museum catalogued each piece and the research
was turned over to them for future education units. The
galleries that my work has been seen includes: Jun Gallery,
Philadelphia; Blue Heron, Chicago; Evan-Lewis, Denver; Aaron
Gallery, Denver; Boca Raton, Florida, and New Orleans. And
currently her work may be seen in Gore Creek Gallery in Vail. |
