Sellers recounts how his history shaped his teaching career
By: Elijah Braswell, Staff Writer
Cory Sellers’ interest in art started at a young age.
“I think I was about five or six years old,” he recounts. “My dad was a dirt stock car racer, and every Saturday night we would go to the races in Highland, Illinois. I used to take apart the red and white popcorn boxes and draw race cars on the inside of the box. … I would also make up stories and write books about sports, only to be able to draw illustrations for the books. It was the only thing I knew about art at five years old.”
Now, Sellers teaches Figure Drawing and other art courses at the Meramec campus. And with a stunning “5/5” rating on the website RateMyProfessor, he’s obviously doing something right.
So what makes him a good teacher? Sellers attributes a lot to his professors at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York.
Of his graduate professor, Ross Neher, he says “We would often have long talks about painting and the art world in general. I very much cherish those talks and still think about them.” He was influenced toward teaching by his two Art History professors, Majorie Welish and Robert C. Morgan.
He continued, “It seemed like they knew everything in the modern and contemporary art world. I wanted to do the same and this led me to read everything I could get my hands on … I hope that information and inspiration is something I share with my students no matter what course it is.”
While Sellers got his Master of Fine Arts at Pratt Institute, it was at McKendree University where he got his Bachelors in Fine Arts.
“It was/is a small program,” Sellers said. “We only had two professors in the department. Jim Drake and David Ottinger. Those two inspired me to work hard and become an artist. It made me want to inspire others to reach their highest potential as a person, not just an artist.”
And that’s exactly what he went on to do. He continues to be a working artist, maintaining and improving his own skills as well by working in the studio for upcoming gallery shows.
When asked what the hardest aspect of Figure Drawing to teach is, Sellers says, “I wouldn’t say anything is easier or harder. To communicate an idea to students on different levels is all hard work.”
This semester, specifically, that work has become a little more challenging. Due to COVID-19, he has had to transition to teaching online. On the transition for Figure Drawing he says, “The online transition has been a little challenging for this course because we usually depend on the nude model as a subject. Drawing from life, from observation is where you learn the most. It becomes so much more than a mechanical exercise.”
But through hard work the transition has been a mostly positive experience, he says.
“We can try new things that are still effective and parallel with the class objectives. Doing this with all seven of my classes at three schools is what was challenging, but that’s the adjunct way,” says Sellers.
From getting a bachelor’s, to a master’s, to a long career in teaching art, Cory Sellers has done a lot. And “doing a lot” is the advice he’d give young art students today, in regards to affording a college education.
“My advice is go to a community college first and save what you can on tuition. It will make a difference in the long run,” says Sellers. “I also worked two jobs during my undergraduate studies. It’s hard work, but if you want it, you will make it work.”
