Celebrating the Student Learning and Expression Experience

7/23/2021

From the 2020-2021 school year Word Magazine, published in summer 2021.
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Retiring Fine Arts Faculty Jill Reginato Pitterle, DSHA ’72, is not only a talented visual arts teacher, but has also been nationally recognized for her fibers and weaving work. Despite her personal success, teaching is in her heart. She has a passion for the arts that she passes on to her students, while focused on making their work shine. While DSHA is home for Pitterle — where she learned her love for fibers and weaving as a high school student and where she “grew up” as a teacher — she is now ready to “graduate” and enjoy life outside of DSHA.

Q: You are an alumna of DSHA and graduated shortly after DS and HA merged. Did you start at DS or HA, and what was the transition into DSHA like?

A: I started at Divine Savior High School and my junior year we merged with Holy Angels into DSHA. It was difficult—I’m not going to lie. It was really sudden. But both schools had good gifts that the school carries on today. It made the school stronger.

Q: What was the visual arts department like when you were a student at DSHA? How did DSHA inspire you to become involved in the arts?

A: The visual arts department was on the fourth floor, where the science department is now. The arts curriculum covered most everything we teach today. My teachers were amazing. DSHA is where I learned fiber arts, one of my passion areas now.

Q: You have taken your weaving to a professional level, entering in and winning weaving competitions. How do you marry up this professional work with your students’ work?

A: In 2018, I wove the altar cloth for the Mother of Our Savior chapel. It was reversible; one side had a Lenten pattern, and the other side had an Advent pattern. I submitted it and won a national award. That same year, I had looms set up in the hallways, and around 100 kids worked on an altar cloth. I entered it into the Wisconsin Handweaver’s Loominosity show. The show isn’t supposed to give students awards, but did anyway.

I enter students’ work into exhibits or competitions because when students’ work is viewed by other people, they receive validation. They need to understand that their thoughts and artwork are meaningful to somebody else. The kids do such amazing work.

Q: What is your favorite medium to teach in?

A: The medium I enjoy the most became fibers. Students often have this “ah-ha” moment, when they discover how much fun it is to take a pile of strings that look completely disorganized and make it turn into something beautiful, wearable, or useful with a few simple loom techniques.

Q: What do you hope students receive from the visual arts department at DSHA?

A: Art uses a different hemisphere of the brain. It helps students become smarter, and there are studies that allude to that. I hope they learn a little more about what critical thinking really means and how to apply those skills in a real-world kind of way.

Q: How does all girls make all the difference to you?

A: I think that an all-girls education is so important in fostering the confidence levels that girls need to compete in the world. I look at my own daughters (who went to DSHA) and how much confidence they have, and the skills they learned in high school that gave them that confidence.

Q: What does it mean to you to teach at a school where the Salvatorian mission is at the forefront?

A: It means the world to me. I used to teach at a public school and when I started teaching at DSHA, I felt like I was coming home. Not just because I was an alumna, but also because I was free to express my Catholic background. At a public school, I had to refer to Jesus in Leonardo da Vinci’s The Last Supper as “the guy in the painting.” I was in heaven knowing I could express my faith here.

Q: What is your favorite DSHA memory?

A: Artwork by Catherine Quirk, DSHA ’09, and Lucy Kohlenberg, DSHA ’13, won national competitions and they went to Carnegie Hall in New York City in 2009 and 2012 respectively to receive awards. My one regret is that I didn’t go with them.

Q: Is there anything else you’d like to mention?

A: I am so happy to have been a part of DSHA. When I started working here, I felt like I grew up and now I’m ready to graduate! I’ve been here a long time and it’s been a great experience. I wouldn’t trade it for the world.

JILL PITTERLE AT-A-GLANCE:

Years teaching at DSHA: 19

Classes taught:

• Fibers

• Jewelry

• Design

• Discovering Art

Clubs, activities, and trips moderated:

• Art Club

• Asian Club

• Fibers and Knitting Club

• Coordinating student submissions to Scholastic Art Awards and other competitions

• Parent Fine Arts Association Faculty Liaison

What she will miss most at DSHA, besides her students: The administration who allowed her to explore and have the freedom to develop her own way of teaching; collaborating with her co-workers who taught her about teaching art to high school girls; saying “God bless your day” at the end of class.

Favorite quote: “God bless your day.”

Family: Husband, Daniel; Daughters Marissa Pitterle, DSHA ’05, and Carlyn Pitterle, DSHA ‘06

Education:

• BA in Fine Arts and Art Education, St. Norbert College

MRS. PITTERLE, THANK YOU FOR…

“... encouraging and fostering my love of art and weaving. Your openness to creativity and new project ideas has allowed me to explore many new ideas and create many cool pieces. You have made art at DSHA an incredibly welcoming and fun environment and an experience I will cherish for the rest of my life.”

- Wrenly Porter, DSHA ’22

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