Helen Iglar

ES Art

I was born in Northern Uganda, where my Irish parents and grandparents were teaching, and was raised in Kenya, on the edge of Nairobi National Park, along with my 3 siblings and a large number of animals. Our childhood was full of adventure and freedom to pursue our passions; for my brothers that was snakes and camping, and for me, travel and photography. I left Africa temporarily to attend the University of Oxford, where I earned my bachelor's and master's degrees as well as a post-graduate degree in education. Those years were pivotal in developing my love of architecture and European art. I have spent most of my teaching career back in Africa, where my husband and I have taught together at international schools in Zambia, Kenya, and Tanzania before we joined ICS. Jakarta and Maryland have also been home to us for a while. It was in Maryland where I spent 3 years pursuing art training, in photography, ceramics and stained glass, and displayed my work in a number of exhibitions. We returned to Africa with our daughter, Nadia, who is now in 2nd grade. This is our third year in Addis Ababa, and we continue to enjoy and appreciate living and working close to my brother and his family, also members of the ICS community.

I have taught art classes at international schools for over six years, and am thrilled to be back in the art room teaching elementary students at ICS. My hope is that every student becomes knowledgeable about art principles, techniques and materials, understanding of the relevance of art to our cultures and society, and confident of their own ability to produce and appreciate art. In short, I hope that every child I teach will love art as much as I do!