Retirement of B-G Art Teacher Lucille Kinney

Lucille Kinney Retires

by Nancy Sue Burns

Tri-Town News, July 7, 1976

 

Mrs. Lucille Kinney

Bainbridge [Chenango Co., NY]:  Lucille Kinney never gave any thought to being an art teacher.  A native of Brooklyn, New York, she attended Pratt Art Institute, one of the best art schools in the country, and like her sister, a fashion artist, dreamed of the sophisticated world of art design. But Lucille Kinney found her niche where she least expected.  In the late 1930s, the Bainbridge-Guilford Central School needed an art teacher--"just to fill in until we can find someone on a permanent basis,"  Lucille was told.  And so Mrs. Kinney took the first step that was to firmly implant her in the school and eventually in the hearts of many students and fellow teachers. They soon learned that here was a teacher who wanted to not only help the art student develop his talents but wanted to help all students gain an appreciation for and an understanding of beauty as evidenced in the many art forms.

 

"I think I was really lucky," said Mrs. Kinney.  "I had a complete background in art at Pratt while many who were headed for teaching careers got bogged down with courses centered on teaching certification.  My certification as a teacher came after I had my courses in art.  After I took the 'temporary' job at Bainbridge-Guilford, I began to take courses for certification leisurely," she said "Somewhere along the way teaching became a real challenge for me and I never had any thoughts of leaving Bainbridge.  I've been lucky, the art program has been mine," she said.  "I've had complete freedom to do thing my way."

 

When Mrs. Kinney began teaching, she taught art at all grade levels.  In recent years she has had just high school students.  "I teach a very structured course with emphasis on the fundamentals," she said.  "We also take field trips and I believe in competition."  Among the areas where her students have competed have been at Roberson in Binghamton and at the Automobile Association competition in Oneonta where they swept away all the awards.

 

Mrs. Kinney is not just concerned with how well her students can paint or draw or succeed in any other medium.  "I like to bring out the fact that art is not just the work you put down on paper, but what you can enjoy and understand," she said.  "Even if a student can not do the work himself, he can appreciate what others do."  Mrs. Kinney continued, "Art isn't anything that should stay within the classroom.  It should be a part of each one's life.  I try to give my students as broad a view as possible.  I tell them be interested, be involved."

 

Mrs. Kinney is a delightful lady with a warm and spontaneous smile. She appeared for her interview at the Tri-Town News in a bright yellow culotte and hardly looked like a teacher about to retire and yet that is what she did at the end of the school year.

 

"Teaching has been very rewarding and I am pleased that so many of my students are in the field of art," she said.

 

Now with more time for herself, she plans to "do more painting myself and to pick up a couple of art courses.  "We never run out of things to do or learn," she commented.  She also plans to do some camping with her husband, Walter, and to spend time gardening.

 

In looking back over the years as an art teacher, Mrs. Kinney said she has no regrets about her choice of a career.  "It has been a marvelous experience," she said, "working with young people, seeing their talent develop has been a thrill."

 

In her years at B-G she has made friends with and been influenced by a great many people as well as having influenced many others herself. She said the person who has been the most inspiration for her outside of her own family was former B-G Principal Edward Andrews.  "He was a stimulating person who knew how to make you want to do your best," she said. 

 

One of her greatest thrills recently was having the new art gallery in the school named after her--the Kinney Art Gallery.  Olie Williams, who is entering art school next fall and other students in Mrs. Kinney's high school art classes were instrumental in having the gallery named after her. At an assembly program, Mrs. Kinney received flowers and a plaque.

 

While much of her life has been concerned with her students and her art, her personal life has centered around her husband, Walter, and their three children and now their five grandchildren.  Her daughter Eleanor "Duff" Conklin recently started work on her doctorate degree. She has an assistantship at Indiana Un. at Pennsylvania.  She teaches English at Mariest College in Poughkeepsie.  Eleanor has four children.  Stephen is now working on his second master's degree in business administration.  He is in charge of the Ithaca office for the Ithaca Concrete and Block Co.  He has one son.  Walter "Terry" Kinney recently earned his doctorate degree at N.Y.U.  He is a professor at Waterloo University in Canada.