By: Mylinda Hoover
9/30/2004

Friends University adjunct professor Charles Baughman has long felt underpaid as a teacher, so he recently pursued his lifelong aspiration in art by starting his own business, Monart School of Art on East 13th Street.

“Second grade…that’s when I knew,” Baughman said. He fell in love with art while taking a math test.  Flipping the paper over, he began to draw a tree on the back. “I learned how to get lost in art,” he said.

Math and reading weren’t strong subjects for Baughman, partly because as a child, he fought his dyslexia, which challenged his problem-solving skills.

After graduating from University of Nebraska, Kearney, he found himself teaching --math and reading at a juvenile detention center in the 1980s.

Inevitably, Baughman combined his love for art and teaching when he became an adjunct teacher at Friends in 1995.

“It just doesn’t pay the bills,” Baughman said.  “I really love to teach and share my passion with students, but this is my career.”

About a year ago Baughman discovered the Monart method of teaching developed in 1979 by California artist Mona Brookes, which led to him opening a branch in Wichita four months ago.
The Monart method is a model from Brookes’ first book, “Drawing with Children.”  In this book Brookes describes her ideas about teaching art. 

She believes that because art hasn’t been an academic subject, children can safely do it without the fear of being graded and will do it for pleasure, while building skills needed for school without even knowing it.

Baughman and his wife Kate are currently enrolling adults and children, ages 3 and up, in their new school. The classes offered are age-based to help kids in different developmental stages.

“I can teach anyone to draw from three to 93.  Just like learning to dance or play an instrument, art is a form of communication that can be learned,” he said.  “Many times people give up drawing at age eight or nine because they didn’t have someone to show them how to transition to draw realistically.

“We emphasize that there is no right or wrong way.  Each person has their own opinion of what is good, so it is more important for the artists to create for themselves.  It is not a competition,” he said.

His wife Kate mentioned that there are no mistakes at Monart.

“There are just things you’ve made that you don’t like,” she said.
Baughman also takes an interest on the effect this school will have on society.  He hopes to continue the legacy of culture instilled in Wichita.  Chris Cherches, former city manager of Wichita, helped promote the construction of CityArts and the remodeling of the Wichita Art Museum.  Baughman hopes to carry out the same leadership qualities through the promotion of art enrichment in after-school programs.

After teaching in this new style, Baughman said, “Teaching at Friends becomes an act of love.”  He doesn’t use the Monart method of teaching at Friends University, but it has influenced him to use more demonstrations.

He enjoys teaching and feels that the students have also taught him.

“I want them to have fun, while I teach them to draw. Each person has their own style, and I enjoy watching them develop their own handwriting,” he said.

When asked if he’d ever go back and change his career, he thought carefully before answering.  “No,” he concluded.  “I have other passions and loves, like gardening and forestry, but art allows me to do both.” 

He is now offering internships to Friends University students at his new school as well as advice: “Always look and explore because you don’t know anything until you learn that everything’s possible.  You don’t know if it can’t be done; you just don’t know yet.”
 
For More Information on day and night classes:
call: (316) 683-2500 or visit Monart’s website at www.monart.com
or drop by the school located at 6119 E. 13th, Wichita, KS, 67208