Keri began her teaching career at Emerald over eighteen years ago. She proudly boasts that she taught in the original, tiny EMS art room on 8th street that was once the town morgue. Since then, she has transformed her art room in the current school building to an inviting space of creative dynamism and opportunity. She states, “All people are creative. Art is a way to solve problems, think critically and to express one’s self in ways that are otherwise impossible. People of all ages often claim, ‘I am not an artist,’ but I believe that all human beings have endless abilities to express themselves visually. I strive to make all students see the inspired visual gifts they possess.” Just as she enjoys continuously reinventing her own curriculum, Keri loves mixed-media, recycled and reused materials, sketchbooks, making messes, and working with her hands. She believes that no two art projects should ever look the same, that happy accidents are wonderful, and that art speaks to and about the other academic disciplines.

Keri earned her BFA in art history from the University of Colorado in 1993 and her Master’s in art and design from the University of Northern Colorado in 2015.