doc. art. Ida Loher

She graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts, majoring in teaching. She has worked in several primary and secondary schools, and at the Vinko Bek Center for Blind and Visually Impaired Children. She has been employed at the Academy of Fine Arts since 2016. She is engaged in research in the field of art education, which she regularly presents at national and international conferences. She has published two series of textbooks for visual arts in elementary school with accompanying manuals for teachers: Visual Culture 5 – 8, Knowledge, Zagreb (with I. Devernay Cimić and G. Košćec Bousfield), and Dot, Line, World 1 – 4, Profil, Zagreb (with and G. Košćec Bousfield). She has worked on two series of digital educational materials as part of the e-Schools project of the Croatian Academic and Research Network – CARNET. She participated in the development of the Curriculum for the subject of Fine Arts for primary schools and Fine Arts for gymnasiums in the Republic of Croatia. She is continuously engaged in the education of art teachers and primary school teachers; so far, she has held about eighty workshops. She is also engaged in pedagogical work through non-institutional socially engaged activities. She is a co-founder of the OPA association, founded to combat the marginalization of visual arts. Within the association, she organizes forums, gatherings and projects that take place in cooperation with numerous professional associations and individuals (DAZ, Zagreb, HKA, HDD, KONTEJNER, etc.). She founded the theater for children and young people Tigar Theater, in 2004 with I. M. Bitang and L. Vukelić. Within the Tigar Theater, she is engaged in production, art design and conducting educational workshops. She has participated in the realization of fourteen plays, and for ten she has created set and costume designs. She has exhibited at several solo and group exhibitions. She is a member of the Croatian Association of Fine Artists (HDLU) and the Croatian Association for Educational Research, a branch of the European Association for Educational Research EERA.

Her basic professional interest is to explore the possibilities of artistic activity in the community as a driver of subtle but constant change. Therefore, her work is marked by the interweaving of artistic, pedagogical and activist activities, and artistic expression by the exploration of different forms. Through her theatrical activities, she primarily addresses children and young people, participating in the creation of small-format plays; as an author of texts and visual elements, as well as a producer. Such a form allows her to reach audiences in all parts of the country, so the plays she works on participate in a number of festivals and initiatives for audience development, such as the Vukovar Puppet Spring or the Backpack Full of Culture program. It also works through educational artistic multi-year projects that use the medium of theater to develop creativity and acquire skills applicable in everyday life (the project "I Act, Therefore I Am!" by the Mala Scena Theater, the Tirene Theater and the Tigar Theater, the project "Click with the Theater" by the Tirena Theater) or as a prevention of risky behavior, such as the project "With a Doll Against Addiction" by the Blue Phone. She explores the possibility of active action in the community through other forms, problematizing everyday life - exploring how to change it using artistic expression as a way to stop and reflect on the moment, as well as to activate others to do the same. She uses different media; drawing, short animated forms, graphics, photography and elements of video games - media that communicate with the audience in different ways. She often places these forms in (theatrical) ambiences, additionally creating a space that is interactive and introspective at the same time. Through her works, she communicates with people in her immediate environment, family and friends, exploring the power of everyday rituals. In the exhibition set-up, she always leaves a part for the inclusion of the audience with the aim of encouraging the creation of everyday micro change in the individual, and thus in the long run in society.

The methodology of teaching art is a group of subjects that deal with designing, preparing and implementing the teaching process for the development of creativity and by linking didactic methods and strategies with knowledge art history, art theory, psychology and sociology, as well as creative processes of their own artistic and expressive practice students.

2024 – "Željka – Memory and Permanence", gallery 90-60-90, Pogon Jedinstvo, Zagreb, solo exhibition 2023 – "Women's World", Art Gallery of the Križevci City Museum, solo exhibition (with J.Bračun) 2023 – "Sketch for (video) play", gallery 112, Zagreb, group exhibition, work "Box of Memories" 2022 – project "Click with Theatre", Tirena Theatre 2022 – "Own Artistic Practice as a Part of the Professional Development of Art Teachers", professional paper, conference proceedings Perspectives of Art Education / FLU, Belgrade 2021 – "Women's Things", Karas Gallery, Croatian Association of Artists, Zagreb, solo exhibition (with J.Bračun and M.Bosnar) 2020 – "Pause", VN Gallery, Zagreb, solo exhibition 2018/19 – project "I'm acting, therefore I am!" Mala scena Theatre, Tirena Theatre and Tiger Theatre 2017 – "New Forms of Art Communication – The Role of Cultural and Artistic Mediation in the Lifelong Education of Fine Arts Teachers", professional paper, proceedings 2. International Scientific and Art Symposium, AUKOS, Osijek