Sydney Galyean

Sydney Galyean is a middle school visual art teacher at Arab Junior High School in Arab, Alabama. Before becoming an educator, she spent eight years working as a graphic designer, an experience that continues to influence both her teaching and her own creative practice. Since entering the classroom in 2018, Sydney has focused on creating art experiences that encourage students to experiment, take creative risks, and see art as something that extends beyond the classroom.

She is also the co-founder of Art & Co., a community-based art initiative that provides art camps, classes, workshops, and creative experiences for children and adults. Her interests include community-based art education, outdoor and place-based learning, contemporary art practices, and finding ways to make art accessible to people of all ages. As a practicing artist and educator, Sydney hopes to continue connecting her own creative work with the way she teaches and serves her community.

Sydney is married to her husband, Ray Galyean, and they have 4 kids. 3 boys and ended with a little girl.

Pond – 30×30 – Acrylic Paint
I am drawn to painting places that feel quiet and somewhat removed from everything else. In this piece, I used the trees to frame the water and lead the viewer toward the light in the distance. I kept the brushwork loose, especially in the reflections, because I wanted to capture the feeling and atmosphere of the landscape rather than every individual detail. The small touches of light and color across the water keep an otherwise very green landscape from feeling completely still.

Hercules- 8.5 x 11 – Oil Pastels
Inspired by Hercules from The Sandlot, this oil pastel drawing started as an experiment with layering color and creating texture. I wanted the marks to stay visible and rough rather than blending everything into a smooth, realistic portrait. Using unexpected pinks, greens, oranges, and deep darks gave Hercules more personality and helped capture the exaggerated, larger-than-life dog I remembered from the movie.

Sail Away- 36×36 – Acrylic Paint , Texture Paste
This piece began more as an exploration of heavy texture, color, and movement than as a planned scene. As I worked, the blues began to remind me of water and some of the shapes started to look like boats and sails. I decided not to define them any further and let the image stay somewhere between an abstract composition and a view of boats moving across the water. I titled it Sail Away because of what I began to see in the piece, while still leaving room for the viewer to see something completely different.

Heron- 30×36 – Acrylic Paint
I was most interested in texture while creating this piece. Instead of trying to carefully render every feather, I built the bird through layers of small marks, allowing the texture to create the form. Against the dark background, those lighter marks become much more noticeable and almost begin to feel like individual feathers. I like that the closer you look, the more abstract the marks become, but from a distance they come together to create the bird.