Feature Article »
By Jeff Young, Professor of Art, Art Education »
Congratulations to the following 2021-2022 Department of Art and Design alums who earned the B.A. in Art: Art Education Emphasis and secured teaching positions starting this fall:
Shelby Bennett, Lonoke Middle School, Lonoke, AR
Madison Fontenot, Maumelle High School, Maumelle, AR
Annie Freer, Landmark Elementary, Pulaski County Special School District, Little Rock, AR
Olivia Henderson, Pottsville Junior High, Pottsville, AR
Sarah Marr, Wynne Junior High, Wynne, AR
We wish them the best as they start off on their teaching careers!
In other news, the department was fortunate to hire Lisa Davis as a Visiting Assistant Professor in Art Education this past summer, following the retirement of Trina Harlow last May. Professor Davis’s twenty years of teaching art K-12 provides valuable experiences for art education students in the Art Education Practicum and Internship I courses this fall. Davis holds the M.A. in Art Education from Boston University, and most recently, taught high school art at the Rosslyn Academy, in Nairobi, Kenya.
Also, this October, the Art Education Club hosted its annual Dinner with an Art Teacher event at Jeff Young’s home. Dinner with an Art Teacher is held each fall and spring semester, and the club invites art teachers and others to a potluck dinner and to speak to art education students about teaching. While most guest speakers for the event are art teachers, the club has also invited school administrators to speak about the interview process, and physical therapists and art therapists to talk about connections to art education.
The theme for this fall’s dinner was “Fall Comfort Foods” Twenty-one art education students attended the event and brought soups, pot roast, grilled cheese sandwiches, pasta, cookies, and everything pumpkin, from muffins to bread to pie. Guest speakers this fall were Matt TerAvest, NBCT, Visual Arts Magnet Chair at Parkview High School in Little Rock; Thom Asewicz, Art Teacher at Central Elementary in Cabot; and Emily Clements, Art Teacher at Westside Elementary in Greenbrier. Each of the guests shared wisdom about classroom management and about how their teaching has changed since the pandemic. In relation to classroom management, TerAvest, Asewicz, and Clements shared experiences that were insightful, touching, and, sometimes, humorous. Everyone in attendance, including the professors and the speakers themselves, learned helpful information about working with students in a classroom setting.
