My name is Helen Rindsberg. I have been a teacher and administrator in Cincinnati since 1971. I have a Bachelor and Master of Fine Arts in Art Education from the University of Cincinnati. I began writing curriculum for Cincinnati Public Schools in 1982. In June 2002 I retired from administration and now I'm teaching art again.

I love art and have loved art since I was about four years old. My goal is to help you enjoy it, too. I took my first art courses at the Cincinnati Art Museum beginning when I was nine years old. My high school art teacher was terrific and I was blessed to be able to take art courses all four years there. About my sophomore year in high school, I knew that I wanted to be an art teacher. My training was at the University of Cincinnati where I earned a Bachelors and a Masters of Fine Arts in Art Education. I taught art for eight years then took a little detour in my career to teach economics and computer literacy before becoming an administrator for fifteen years. I retired as an assistant principal in 2002, taught part-time as a high school art teacher for three years and now I've been an adjunct professor at the College of Mt. St. Joseph since 2006.

My chosen media are photography and drawing. I built my own darkroom when I was 17, taught photography as a graduate assistant and married a photographer. I never worked as a professional photographer, but I did sell some of my work through an art gallery. I plan to illustrate the book that I am writing about Japanese culture and art history with my own photographs.

My photography work since college has been on our trips around the Eastern U. S. and on our trips to Japan. We just took our tenth trip there in October 2008. I have many beautiful images of the Japanese people, their temples, festivals and landscape. I also collect Japanese toys and kimonos, love Japanese gardens and have over 200 books on Japanese art and culture. The period I love the most is the Edo Period, from 16105 - 1868 AD and my favorite medium from this time is the woodblock print. I play Japanese drums with the Cincinnati Dayton Taiko Group; we perform around the Tri-State at festivals and private events. I now teach Japanese Art History, Non-Western Art History and Contemporary Japan and Its Roots (including a trip to Japan) at the College of Mt. St. Joseph..

I have been a docent at the Cincinnati Art Museum since 2004, after a rigorous year of training. I lead over 50 tours each year and thoroughly enjoy touring school groups from grades 2 - 12, college students and adults. I am also on the committee to train the docents for upcoming special exhibits.

My husband's business evolved into software development. We have no children in our thirty-three years of marriage. But we have had thirteen Japanese college students living with us since 1989. They've stayed from one to five years. We're very close to them and they call us their American parents. I'm also a mentor to a young man who just graduated from Ohio State Unversity. I grew up in College Hill and have lived in Fairview since 1977. I relax by gardening, biking and yes, visiting art museums.

Helen Rindsberg
381-0234 from 7 - 10 PM