Hi, Everyone!

My name is Ray. I was an art teacher and the department chairperson for art and music at Lincoln-West High School from 1986 to 2006. I recently retired from that position and have moved on to pursue my own artistic interests and do some free lance work.

Academic Background: In the fall of 1967 I attended Cooper School of Art for one semester on a small scholarship. I then transferred to Kent State University where I earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in drawing and painting and a Bachelor of Science in art education. I did post graduate work at Cleveland State University where I earned a certificate in elementary education, half a masters in reading, and a teaching certificate in reading for grades K-12. Most recently I finished additional graduate work for professional development from Ashland University .

From 1996-1998 I worked as a volunteer speaker for the Gay and Lesbian Community Service Center of Cleveland. I spoke to classes at John Carroll University, Lake Erie College, Cuyahoga Community College and Cleveland State. I became a member of the Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network (GLSEN) and began coming out to my classes. In 2000 I helped two students (one gay boy and one straight girl with lesbian parents) establish a Gay/Straight alliance club at Lincoln-West. This progressive step was short lived, however, as homophobia among some staff members raised its ugly head.

In June of 2002 I contributed a chapter for a book entitled From Our Voices: Art Educators and Artists Speak Out About Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgendered Issues, edited by former Cleveland State art education profession Laurel Lampela (now at the University of New Mexico) that chronicles my experiences as a gay person and teacher.

If words are food for thought, do you eat to live or live to eat? Whatever you decide, click the books to read some of my favorite poems and quotations.

Click the painter if you would like to see some of my own artwork.