The fine art of pedagogy—not to mention a spate of other arts-related subjects—is on display in Barth Quenzer’s classroom at Denver’s Brown International Academy. Under his able guidance, Quenzer’s young masters develop a professionalism and maturity that belie their years.
Their imagination always at play, his students reflect, interpret and communicate their thinking and learning through written artist statements and oral critiques. In his 8 years of teaching in Denver Public Schools, Quenzer has collaborated with other visual arts teachers and leaders to share pedagogy and expand content expertise in the areas of curriculum, instruction, assessment, and resource development. But his favorite parts of his job as the visual arts teacher at Brown Elementary are the young artists that inspire and motivate him to perfect the art and science of teaching. Mr. Q, as his students enduringly refer to him, has transformed an elementary art room into a “learning laboratory” for ideas. He refers to his students as his colleagues, and they most certainly are. The curriculum Mr. Q and his students have designed together was an extensive, multi-year collaborative process of prototyping and revising good ideas through feedback. “It’s amazing what students can do,” says Mr. Q, “when given autonomy, agency and purpose.”
Described as "an ambassador for art in the school, the district and across the state," Quenzer is a member of the Denver Public Schools Visual Art Research Assessment Team and the Colorado Department of Education Content Collaborative charged with penning high-quality arts assessments aligned to Colorado's new academic standards. "An artist who thinks like a scientist," Quenzer was selected as the 2012 Elementary Visual Arts Teacher of the Year.
2023 Ph.D., Curriculum and Instruction, University of Denver
2006 M.A., Curriculum and Instruction, University of Denver
2003 B.A., Art, Fine and Applied, University of Denver
