Celebrating Women’s History Month through art

Rachel Rogerson, art teacher at W.W. Samuell High School, is impacting both her school and the global art community as she takes students through women’s art history, teaching them cultural art traditions.

Her journey to education came well after her career as a curator. Following her participation in the district’s alternative certification program, Rogerson became a long-term substitute at W.E. Greiner Exploratory Arts Academy during the onset of the pandemic.

“This experience brought back why art is so important to me. It was great seeing students engage in art and beingable to express themselves,” Rogerson said.

Rogerson has been at Samuell since 2021 when she became a full-time art teacher leading art classes and the school’s art club.

Rogerson is inspired by African American and Nigerian women artists, Lois Mailou Jones and Chief Nike Davies-Okundaye, often conducting research on West African textiles and quilting traditions of the American south. 

She uses this knowledge for her curriculum, centering student projects on these historical art techniques. This year, her students are honoring women artists by using a West African fabric dyeing tradition called Adire.

Rogerson guides them through learning how to sew, studying the science of using indigo dye and studying traditional quilt patterns.

She believes that it is important for her students to know the history behind the clothing items we wear regularly, and to understand how women have created techniques that we have used for centuries.

“I want to teach students about the historical knowledge that connects to the contributions of women, specifically black women,” Rogerson said. “I hope they can see the past as something that is a part of their daily lives. I hope that they’re starting to see there is more under the surface—that there’s something deeper.”

Recently, her impact has reached global audiences, as well.

In 2022, Rogerson served as art curator for an exhibit with Dallas artist Lucas Martell, alongside the international German art fair, Documenta. After an open call that year, Rogerson submitted the concept to the lottery drawing system and was picked to be an exhibitor.

As she continues to support women artists, Rogerson’s passion for lifelong learning inspires her work both in the classroom and in the Dallas art community.