Nelson W. Armour & Lazaro Cardenas Elementary School
Project Overview
This CPS Lives project examines teaching and what it means to be a teacher. I
see this photographic essay as a homage to the challenges, triumphs, and hard
work and effort of teaching, from the small details to the big picture. This project
will help the public better understand teachers and teaching.
The idea is to photograph a teacher in the process of teaching. This includes the obvious times within the teacher’s classroom, but also during preparation time
before and after school. In addition, it will be important to join the teacher at
“meetings” with team or grade level colleagues, special education staffing,
meetings lead by administrators, along with after school activities and parent
meetings — all the aspects of being a teacher.
Currently, I am collaborating with a teacher at the Lázaro Cárdenas Elementary
School in Little Village, Chicago. I am working closely with this teacher, students
in the classroom, other teachers, and staff, etc. In addition to spending time in
the teacher’s class, I hope to photograph the teacher outside of school as well.
Meet the Artist
Nelson W. Armour
Armour’s photography includes landscapes, environmental portraits, social documentary and constructed works. His work has been shown locally, nationally and internationally, and has appeared in numerous publications including LENSCRATCH, which featured Surface Tension: Beauty and Fragility in Lake Michigan, a collaboration with Ted Glasoe exhibited at the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum, the Evanston Art Center, artNXTlevel, and the Saugatuck Center for the Arts. He is a member of Perspective Gallery, Evanston, where he had a solo show (The Art of Viewing…Art). Other solo shows include Firecat Projects (The Identity Project), ARC Gallery (Beyond), and Cultivate (Peering into the Rainforest). In 2019 Armour was awarded an artist residency from the Brush Creek Foundation for the Arts, Wyoming. In addition, he co-founded Artists for Action Chicago, a group of area artists that stand for progressive values. His BA in history is from the University of Wisconsin, MAT from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and Ed.D. in educational psychology from Loyola University of Chicago. He was a Superintendent of Schools and Principal in his educational career.
Visit their Website
Armour’s photography includes landscapes, environmental portraits, social documentary and constructed works. His work has been shown locally, nationally and internationally, and has appeared in numerous publications including LENSCRATCH, which featured Surface Tension: Beauty and Fragility in Lake Michigan, a collaboration with Ted Glasoe exhibited at the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum, the Evanston Art Center, artNXTlevel, and the Saugatuck Center for the Arts. He is a member of Perspective Gallery, Evanston, where he had a solo show (The Art of Viewing…Art). Other solo shows include Firecat Projects (The Identity Project), ARC Gallery (Beyond), and Cultivate (Peering into the Rainforest). In 2019 Armour was awarded an artist residency from the Brush Creek Foundation for the Arts, Wyoming. In addition, he co-founded Artists for Action Chicago, a group of area artists that stand for progressive values. His BA in history is from the University of Wisconsin, MAT from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and Ed.D. in educational psychology from Loyola University of Chicago. He was a Superintendent of Schools and Principal in his educational career.
Visit their Website
