In defence of copying
Every master copied. The sin isn't copying — it's stopping there. How I use master studies to teach value before anyone says the word…
keep reading →Everyone can draw. Yes, everyone.
from the studio wall —
— Tara
I was the kid who drew on exam margins, and I had one teacher who graded the margins too. That settled my career at age nine, though it took an M.F.A. and a few gallery years to admit that the classroom, not the white cube, is where I do my best work. Eleven years on, I run art rooms the way ateliers ran: real materials, real critique, real deadlines, hung shows with printed labels. Six-year-olds take their retrospectives very seriously, and so do I.
Sixty-four of my students have gone on to art and design schools. The rest went everywhere else — carrying the one skill the art room actually teaches: how to look at something until it makes sense. If your school believes art is a subject and not a Friday activity, I'd love to see your studio.
Mediums & mileage
Drawing & paintingcharcoal to oils · the backbone
96Printmakingcharcoal to oils · the backbone
82Sculpture & ceramicscharcoal to oils · the backbone
74Digital art & animationcharcoal to oils · the backbone
70Art history & appreciationcharcoal to oils · the backbone
88Portfolio coachingcharcoal to oils · the backbone
90See first, then draw
Technique is teachable. Looking — really looking — is the lesson.
the crit circle · how every project runs
Tara's view: Every child draws until someone tells them they can't. My job is to be the adult who never says it — and to replace 'talent' with the only things that actually matter: looking longer, and trying again.
- Look — ten silent minutes with the subject before a single mark. Hardest part.
- Make — materials out, mistakes welcome, erasers rationed.
- Crit — we talk about the work, never the worker. Gallery rules from Grade 1.
- Redo — the second attempt is the real artwork. The first was research.
Where the eye was trained
2011 — 2013
M.F.A. Painting
Faculty of Fine Arts, M.S. University, BarodaFirst class · thesis show sold out2007 — 2011
B.F.A. Painting
Government College of Art & Craft, KolkataGold medal, final-year show2014
Art Education Diploma
Visva-Bharati, SantiniketanDistinction2021
Museum Education Certificate
KNMA outreach programmeCompleted with curatorial projectCredentials, framed
CBSE Painting (049) trained examinerboard portfolio assessment · 2022
Kiln safety & studio managementboard portfolio assessment · 2022
Stop-motion animation facilitatorboard portfolio assessment · 2022
Child art therapy foundations (40 hr)board portfolio assessment · 2022
Rooms I've hung work in
2018 — PRESENT
Head of Art · Sr. Art Faculty
Modern High School, Kolkata
Rebuilt the department around a working-studio model. Annual show moved from the corridor to a rented gallery; last year 700 visitors signed the guest book. 41 board-portfolio students, zero panic attacks (final year).
medium: chaos, well-organised2014 — 2018
Art Teacher, Gr 1–8
South City International, Kolkata
Started the print press club with one etching press bought at auction. Introduced 'crit circle' rules that the school still uses. Learned that Grade 3 gives the most honest critique in the building.
medium: chaos, well-organised2013 — 2014
Gallery Educator
Experimenter Gallery, Kolkata
Ran school walkthroughs and weekend workshops. Watching kids meet contemporary art convinced me the classroom needed me more than the gallery did.
medium: chaos, well-organisedSold-out moments
State Art Educator Award2024West Bengal art teachers' association
Student selected — Khoj Peers residency2024West Bengal art teachers' association
School show reviewed in The Telegraph2024West Bengal art teachers' association
CBSE national art exhibition — 3 selections2024West Bengal art teachers' association
Their walls, not mine
Replace these placeholders with real student work in the admin panel.
Grade 4 sunflower study wall — tempera
Board portfolio crit week, Gr 12
Cyanotype day — the whole field turned blue
Clay week — 60 kg, zero survivors intact
Annual show install, gallery night
Print press club — first editions
Wet paint, fresh thoughts
The eraser ration
Two erasers per term. Sounds cruel, works wonders: students stop hiding their lines and start steering them. The drawings got braver in a week…
keep reading →What a Grade 3 crit sounds like
'I like how the dog is bigger than the house because the dog is the main character.' Formal analysis, age eight. We underestimate them constantly…
keep reading →Visitors wrote
“Ma'am pinned my worst drawing on the wall and showed me why it was my bravest. I stopped hiding after that.”
Ritwika S.Batch of 2024, now at NID Ahmedabad“The art room waiting list is real. Parents ask for it at admissions. That is Tara's doing entirely.”
PrincipalBatch of 2024, now at NID Ahmedabad“She curates a school show like it's Documenta. The children believe their work matters — because she does.”
GalleristBatch of 2024, now at NID AhmedabadCommission the teacher
available for the right studio
NEXT INTAKE: APRIL 2027 · DEMO CLASS OFFERED — GIVE ME 40 KIDS AND A BOX OF CHARCOAL
Current employerModern High School, Kolkata
Current roleHead of Art
Open toHead of Art · senior art faculty · IB/IGCSE art · museum education partnerships
Expected salary₹9–13 LPA
Willing to relocateYes — Kolkata, Santiniketan, Bengaluru · anywhere with a kiln or budget for one
Notice period60 days (after the annual show, non-negotiable)
Principal, Modern High SchoolCurrent employer · Shared on request
Director, Experimenter Gallery2013–14 · Shared on request
Studio door's open
Current address31, Southern Avenue, Kolkata 700029, West Bengal
Phone / WhatsApp+919666666666
Note for recruitersRecruiting? Visit during class, not after. An empty art room tells you nothing; a working one tells you everything.