Many of us have taken an art class in the L-Wing, and when we do, we walk into an art room full of creative projects in all shapes, sizes, and colors. We sat down with Mr. Hreha, an art teacher many of you know and love, for this month’s teacher spotlight. After nearly 20 years at CHS, Hreha continues to find new projects in the classroom that students appreciate, as he helps students master creative skills.
“I feel like when people ask me what I do, I tell them I teach art at high school, and I say, ‘Best job in the world,’” Hreha said. “I love coming to work every day. I’m like, ‘This is awesome.’ Now, not every day is great, but it’s very rewarding.”
Hreha’s path to teaching began with two people who encouraged him to pursue art and education. His older brother, whom he describes as “a very, very talented artist,” attended the Rhode Island School of Design. Growing up, Hreha admired his brother and eventually decided to explore visual arts himself. Later, while working as a graphic designer in New York City, Hreha was encouraged by his wife, a middle school teacher, to share his knowledge with students. After earning his master’s degree, he began teaching college classes as an adjunct instructor before deciding to pursue high school education.
“She said that I should impart some of my knowledge, or try being an instructor,” Hreha said. “And I was an adjunct teacher teaching college classes because I had my master’s, and then I really enjoyed the environment, and she said, ‘You should look into becoming a high school teacher.’ So it was a little more permanent, I guess you could say, as a career. Adjuncting was a little more, you know, just like piecemeal. So I just fell in love with it. I love it here.”
Hreha joined CHS in 2006, after spending a year teaching at a charter school in Plainfield. Nearly two decades later, one of his favorite parts of the job is observing how students develop both individually and as graduating classes. Having taught students across multiple generations, he has noticed that each class brings its own interests and personality to the classroom. But the moments that stand out most are often the individual breakthroughs, especially when students begin to recognize their own potential.
“On a group level, I love to see how students are as a trend or just what their interests are,” Hreha said. “Since I’ve been teaching for a while, I’ve been able to see how students are in their group personalities, right? Like, this class tends to be maybe more artistic or more athletic or more academic. Like, they all have their kind of flavors.”
At the individual level, Hreha especially enjoys helping students overcome the assumption that artistic ability is something a person either possesses or lacks. Rather than treating drawing as an innate talent, he approaches it as a skill that students can develop through practice.
“When you get that student, that moment where it clicks and, you know, it’s just you see improvement and you kind of overcome that misnomer of ‘Oh, I can’t draw a straight line,’ I’m like, ‘No, you can. Let’s sit down and learn how to draw a straight line,’” Hreha said. “It’s not this magic, right? Drawing, in particular, if you’re talking about that skill, it’s not magic. It’s like any other skill, you know? It just takes a little bit of time to hone the craft.”
For Hreha, these moments extend beyond artistic improvement. He hopes students leave his classroom with a greater willingness to challenge themselves and a recognition that persistence can lead to progress.
“When I see someone learn that and say, ‘You know what? I gave it a try, and I actually got better,’” Hreha said, “that’s like a growth mindset that I can instill in a student, and that’s like a skill you’ll have for the rest of your life. You know? I think it’s just determination.”
That emphasis on individual expression is especially evident in Hreha’s pre-AP art class, which he teaches to juniors. As students approach the end of high school, he sees them becoming more intentional about what they want to accomplish and how they want to represent themselves.
“It essentially goes from me giving projects to students developing their own projects,” Hreha said. “It becomes very independent. And so there’s this shift in that class.”
One project, centered on identity, is particularly meaningful to Hreha because it encourages students to consider how their understanding of themselves changes over time.
“When we talk about identity as being something that shifts, and it’s very flexible,” Hreha said. “The person that you were when you came as a freshman is not necessarily going to be the person that you are when you’re a senior. And you’re going to have these rebirths, and it’s this sort of myth of humanity that I like to discuss, and then they have to create an art piece that has to do with identity.”
The resulting projects, he said, are meaningful precisely because they differ so widely. Although students work from the same central concept, their finished pieces reflect their individual interpretations of it.
“What I find is that this project is so authentic because it really has to do with something that is their own perception of identity, and it’s divergent and everyone is absolutely different,” Hreha said. “It’s not like, ‘Oh, we’re all going to draw the same thing today.’ Everyone is completely different, but the concept is identity, and it just holds it all together. So that project always really surprises me, which is exciting.”
For Hreha, this variety also illustrates what makes art classes different from more traditional classroom environments. A studio-based class requires students to manage their own work, make decisions and collaborate with classmates, often while working on different stages of different projects. Some students may be researching artists or gathering references, while others are sketching, photographing finished pieces or organizing materials.
“It’s a sense of responsibility that students are learning,” Hreha said. “You have these multiple different skill sets of just being able to, you know, execute the full experience of art, whether it’s research or planning or making the art or documenting it.”
Rather than following one uniform process, students learn to make choices about their work and take responsibility for bringing their ideas to life. Hreha sees the independence that develops through this process as one of the classroom’s greatest strengths.
“It does have a sort of independence that is bestowed onto the student to act in their own interests as opposed to being told to do the same thing over and over again,” he said. “And just like, as I said this before, you give one project, and you get 24, 25 different solutions, which is kind of cool, you know?”
That collaborative atmosphere also changes how students interact with one another. Hreha encourages students to learn from their classmates, share materials and discuss each other’s work, viewing these interactions as part of the creative process rather than distractions from it.
“I told two kids today, I said, ‘No, you guys can copy off each other.’ It’s like, ‘Just copy,’” Hreha said. “In no other class could you say that, you know what I mean? Because they’re going to steal the best stuff from each other, and that’s how you get better.”
Beyond the classroom, Hreha sees art as a way to bring together the broader Chatham community. The district’s annual art show, which features work from students across kindergarten through 12th grade, provides an opportunity for families and community members to experience students’ creativity together. Art displayed throughout the school, from senior murals and mosaics to the Cougar statue, similarly gives students opportunities to connect with their surroundings.
“We do the art show at the end of the year, and it’s probably the most heavily attended event in the entire district,” Hreha said. “So we’ve got K to 12, and it really just brings people together on all different, you know, age levels. And so putting that event together, I think really showcases that community aspect that art can have.”
He believes the impact of art depends not only on the person who creates it but also on the people who encounter it. A mural can become a familiar part of a student’s daily routine, while another artwork might spark a conversation between classmates or families.
“Art’s not a thing. It’s part of when only when someone experiences art, that’s when the action of art happens, I feel,” Hreha said. “And so it can happen on that group, community level, or on an individual basis.”
Hreha also sees art as contributing to students’ social and emotional development. These experiences can make art valuable even for students who do not plan to pursue it professionally.
“I feel like art is very unique, and it does support these soft skills, I guess you want to call them, right? They’re these social-emotional skills,” Hreha said. “And I think art supports that. I think that’s one thing that really kind of assists in that aspect of our world. So, you know, it’s good for your health.”
Outside the classroom, Hreha’s curiosity about different perspectives extends to food. However, there is one exception.
“I just love different cuisines. Like, I will eat anything,” Hreha said. “I’m just fascinated with food as culture, you know? And so I’ll try it out. You give me something, and I will eat it—except for a durian; I will not try. I will not eat a durian.”
After nearly 20 years at CHS, Mr. Hreha continues to approach teaching with the same enthusiasm as when he started. Whether helping a student gain confidence in drawing, encouraging juniors to explore their identities, or bringing the community together at the annual district art show, he sees art as an opportunity for discovery. In his classes, students are encouraged to experiment, learn from one another, and find their own ways to express what matters to them.
