About

                                                                 

Teresa Ooton Preston is a retired Professor of Art from Hutchinson Community College, where she taught Art History and Metalsmithing for twenty years.  Before she earned her Masters of Fine Arts degree, Teresa also taught Art to primary and secondary students for sixteen years. Additionally, she has volunteered thousands of hours as an Arts advocate.

Teresa's artwork is a contemporary interpretation of objects and icons that reflect the beliefs and customs of indigenous people throughout the world.  She is particularly fascinated by universal objects and symbols that emerged across continents and cultures ubiquitously.  Her proclivity for the warm earth tones of stones and metals, as well as her signature technique of lashing her twig-like elements, are rooted in her formative years as a Girl Scout. 

It was Teresa's intellectual curiosity that took her to the west coast of Africa for the first time in 1998.  Teresa has had immersive experiences in the Ivory Coast, Mali, and 20 years of travel to Ghana.