Michelle Lustgarten
Until 5th grade, Mrs. Lustgarten lived in West Seattle when they moved to Bainbridge Island. Not surprisingly her favorite elementary school memories center around the fantastic art projects & opportunities with art teacher Sissel Feroy. She had her again in Middle School and High School when she taught there. The kind and caliber of art projects were amazing: make paper & mold it, plaster of paris masks, batik, etc. Other fond Elementary school memories include learning Polish in 5th grade, square dancing, earning the title of “Queen of the Jacks” (the game with the metal playing pieces & a ball-not playing cards!) and our school being the test pilot for triangle shaped milk carton (because they fit more compactly in the milk crates). Mrs. Lustgarten attended Western Washington University, Seattle Art Institute before graduating from the University of Washington.
This is Mrs. Lustgarten’s second year as Bell’s Art Experience leader and she loves the supportive and downright fun staff, parents and kids we have at Bell. Having fun is a big part of being creative! Her daughter attends Bell and her son attends a LWSD Junior High. They are active in soccer, tennis, swimming & basketball. She and her husband like to run and play tennis and he introduces the family to new music and they often attend concerts as a family. They all like to garden, especially vegetables, which their new baby Hermann Tortoise enjoys. They felt lucky to enjoy the antics & energy of their dachshund, Harpo, for over 16 years!
In addition to working at Bell, Mrs. Lustgarten continues as a graphic designer which she has been for almost 20 years. When time permits, she reads, starts but often doesn’t finish crossword puzzles, loves Scrabble and playing games with the family.
Her heroes are her parents, and any parent, for enduring the journey of children and especially those battling life threatening illnesses which makes that job even more demanding. She also admires writer Maya Angelou’s wisdom.
“Go to your studio and make stuff!” and “Time becomes meaningless in the face of creativity” Fred Babb