Retiring from a job of 30 years may not seem unusual but Charlotte DiGennaro is doing it for the 2nd time!
 
Charlotte had a full career teaching art in public schools for over 30 years before retiring to Florida with her husband Sam.  Soon after arriving in our beautiful community however, she began to teach again …. at the Beach Art Center – and that was 30 years ago!  Yes, Charlotte started teaching at the Beach Art Center in 1992 alongside founder George King.
 
When Charlotte talks about her students – be they past or present, she beams sharing what it was like to experience their creativity.  Charlotte isn’t an instructor that tells you what to create or specifically how to do it, she teaches you how to feel, how to let yourself go and how to be creative.
 
Charlotte grew up in the Finger Lakes Region of New York State.  Her own art education started in High School, then she pursued a career as an Art Teacher, graduating first from college in Buffalo, NY before going on to earn a Master’s Degree in Education from the University of Wisconsin at Madison – graduating in 1952.
 
Charlotte’s education focused on realism and detail, mainly using pen and pencil to achieve a life-like resemblance.  Charlotte says she found her current creative and free style as a teacher through her students.
 
Starting out as a High School teacher, Charlotte says she “did what was expected of me” and she taught her students as she had been taught…to achieve realism.  Later in her career, she taught in Jr. High and Elementary levels.   When asked how and when she developed her signature, creative, free, happy style, Charlotte credits the children, “My style developed by teaching the elementary kids, they were so free…. they taught me the fun things of art…and that was everything”.   
 
Never afraid to make a stand, when asked to give her Elementary students a grade for art, Charlotte refused.  She was teaching the children to find their voice and creativity and she did not feel this was something to be ranked.
 
Charlotte has inspired countless students and artists at the Beach Art Center in her 30 years.  In her current “Water Media” class, there are a vast diversity of students working on a variety of interesting projects, all learning from each other and from Charlotte.
 
“Make a stroke on a paper and it will talk to you.”, “There are no rules in art”, “Do what you like doing” …these are just a few of the quotes BAC students often hear from Charlotte.  She also often challenges her students to view their art upside down.
 
At age 90, Charlotte has so much to offer as a teacher but says she continues to learn from her students every day.
 
Charlotte DiGennaro plans to continue to offer her signature “Water Media” class at the Beach Art Center on Tuesday afternoons through March 2023.  Char will then move closer to her roots and family.  Her creativity will continue with her involvement in the Arts Center of Yates County in Penn Yan, New York.  
 
If you asked Char how to find the fountain of youth, she’d likely direct you to the business end of a paint brush.  "Just one more little thing..."