If you have ever been a Davidson Middle School student, you have most likely seen a tall man with glasses and vibrant red hair hanging out around the art room. This is Josh Powell, who is the well-known art teacher at DMS and has been for 15 years.   

The walls in Powell’s classroom are lined with many different forms of art made by current students, along with big open glass windows that spread light throughout the studio. Students sit in three long rows of desks with clipboards lined on top of them. Students are also equipped with any basic art tools they might need throughout the day, right in the middle of the desks, as different genres of music play around the classroom. 

He described himself as a “dedicator gator,” who has always known what he wanted to do in life: become a famous artist. He even used to sell a lot of his paintings, hoping for some recognition of his talents. 

He first attended San Francisco University and graduated ten years after his first term, while also attending many other art schools, such as OTIS School of Design and the Academy of Fine Arts in Florence, Italy. 

¨You only find out through going to college about how the mechanics work,” Josh said. “I didn’t go to a prestigious art university, so I didn’t make any prestigious contacts in art. It’s all about who you know.¨

What made his college experience so unique was having his two sons during this time. This made it difficult for him to pursue his dream, but it was a blessing in many ways. 

Powell has also worked in the service industry for around 21 years, as well as teaching at the same time. He currently works at a quaint restaurant named Picco located in Larkspur, CA, and has been an employee there since the COVID-19 lockdown. 

He never saw himself working as a teacher until he noticed his connection with children around 16 years ago. His first job working with kids was at a high school in Vacaville called Will C Wood High School. 

I asked Powell why he chose to continue only working with middle schoolers. He responded by saying, ¨Middle school is the front lines of art education. By high school, kids have decided that they’re good at stuff or they’re not good at stuff.¨

His curriculum includes specific modules that students complete, and halfway through, they can decide what they would like to specialize in. The options include: fine art, ceramics, printmaking, and painting. Towards the end, you can also decide to try other styles if you’re not satisfied with the one you picked. 

Originally, you could only choose fine art or ceramics, but he decided to change things up after he took a sculpting class and realized his newfound talent with clay. 

¨It all translates, you know, your ability as a sculptor, a printmaker, a painter, doesn’t make any difference. And that was a revelation,” he explained. 

Josh has a book that was recently published not too long ago called Drawing 101: Pocket Guide. He was approached by a former student’s dad, the owner of the publishing firm, Rocky Nook, who gave him the idea to start writing about his passion. 

His first book was about the first half of his teaching curriculum; he is now working on a second book, set to be released sometime in 2026, titled How to art anything ever!!!. The second book includes the rest of his curriculum that is taught in class and is said to be longer with more writing and images. 

Powell has had to contact many of his former students to get approval on the use of the cover art for the new book. He has had to choose six out of 50 art pieces so far. One student, in particular, San Rafael High School senior Avani Mahyavanshi, has contributed to one of the cover images. 

¨He’s different from my other teachers in the past because he actually tried to teach fundamental things,” Avani stated. “I feel like the class just differed from other classes because of his specific ways of teaching.” 

My sister, Nova Henry, is a current sixth-grader. She said, “He is an amazing artist because of his use of different, unique materials, and he has a very wide range of ability and experience with various art styles.” He is also said to push his students to be the best that they can be with his deep lectures and witty, dry humor. 

When I was in 8th grade, I would call Mr. Powell by his first name only. At first, he hated it and said that if I didn’t call him by his last name, I wouldn’t be allowed to leave the classroom.  

Now, when my sister does the same, he says only I am allowed to call him that.