Kevin Richert
Media Arts & Animation
Instructor
The Art Institute of Houston
There is never a traffic jam on the extra mile. Kevin Richert , Instructor , The Art Institute of Houston
Academic Credentials
M.F.A., Art, Stephen F. Austin State University
B.F.A., Media Arts, School of Visual Arts
More than 40 years' experience as an artist, freelance illustrator, and art faculty member. Clients include Pennzoil, Methodist Hospital, Dallas Cowboys, Houston City Magazine, Houston Arts Magazine, Welex, Financial Trend, Bishop Quintana & Roy, The Focus Group, Ogilvy & Mather, Fogarty & Klein, Kelman Design, and Michael Strickland Design. Exhibitions include Environments and Faces, One Man Show, Bering & James Gallery; Landscape: Past and Present, Group Show, Bering & James Gallery; Sinco, Group Show, Bering & James Gallery. Gold, Silver, and Merit Awards from The Houston Society of Illustrators and the Dallas Society of Illustrators.
What would you say is the defining moment in your life when you knew you were destined to become a creative professional?There is no “defining moment.” Since I was little I’ve always drawn because it was something I just liked doing. The gravitation to the creative field was as natural as breathing.
How do you weave your professional background into the classroom experience to provide an industry veteran's sense of the realities / challenges / opportunities of the profession?
I have projects that involve different skills to be utilized. I very often tell students where, how, and why I’d used the very skills taught in class to illustrate why they need to work so hard to refine their skills.
Is there a class assignment that exemplifies your approach to teaching and mentoring? Similarly, how does your approach inspire each student to push themselves beyond their own perceived limits?
I do a great deal of demonstrating the basic fundamental structure, form, and shape of all the objects we are tasked to visualize and create.
What role does collaboration contribute to students' success, especially when students from other programs contribute to the same project?
This is something that rarely presents itself in my class, but I include collaboration as a way of life for all of our students.
In your opinion, what is the single most important thing you impart to your students to help them succeed in your class and in the real world? Alternatively, what is the most critical advice you would offer any student as he / she embarks on a creative career?
First Effort! The adage "It's 90% perspiration and 10% inspiration" cannot be truer. Students can overcome all obstacles with just pure effort. Doing work “good enough” will only get you part of the way to any goal. There is never a traffic jam on the extra mile.
Is there anything else you'd like us to know about you, your experience, or your role as a faculty member at The Art Institutes?
So many years ago when I was asked to teach I thought, "This is too cool a thing to get to do!" And it still is.