Displaying items by tag: Arts Ed

The Department of Art & Art History was prominently featured at the Utah Art Education Association’s 2023-24 state-wide awards ceremony. Congratulations to the department chairperson, Prof. V. Kim Martinez, and art teaching student Carlos Miranda-Rodriguez.

Professor V. Kim Martinez received the Utah Distinguished Service Outside the Profession Award. This award is open to any person or organization demonstrating significant support of visual arts education.

"I love art education because it allows me to aid students in expressing themselves creatively and explore multiple forms of artistic expression. As an art professor, sharing my artistic research experiences and processes with students can effectively inspire and motivate them. My goals are to support young artists in developing their unique artistic voices by giving them insight through their creative journey to develop critical thinking skills and invite them to analyze and interpret visual information."

—V. Kim Martinez

UAEA 2023-24 | Utah Distinguished Service Outside of the Profession Award to Prof. V. Kim Martinez from U of U College of Fine Arts on Vimeo.

Art Teaching student Carlos Miranda-Rodriguez received the Utah Preservice Art Educator Award.

"I was born and raised in Kearns / West Valley area and pretty much have lived there my whole life. I began my artistic journey in high school at Hunter High. My educator at the time, Rock Frampton really pushed me to stay engaged in his class. 8 years later with the support of mentors, family, and friends, I am a few weeks from graduating and becoming a full-time art educator myself!"

—Carlos Miranda-Rodriguez 

UAEA 2023-24 | Utah Preservice Art Educator Award to Carlos Miranda-Rodriguez from U of U College of Fine Arts on Vimeo.

To learn more about UAEA, please visit their website: https://www.utaharteducation.org/.

Excerpted from original story by Judd Bagley for Utah Business

How Whitehorse High School visual arts educator Georgiana Simpson is bridging the equity gap in arts education

Most friendships are the result of happy accidents. The bond that connects Georgiana Simpson and Anna Davis, on the other hand, was premeditated. The bond was forged in an Indianola, Utah, cabin during the annual retreat for Utah Art Educators Association (UAEA) board members, Davis recalls.

“I’d briefly met Georgiana once before and immediately knew she was someone I needed to get to know better. I also knew there were more people than rooms in that cabin, so some of us would need to find roommates. I walked right up and told her she was going to be mine,” Davis remembers, laughing. “We started talking and couldn’t stop.”

The pair had much to share because their stories were so vastly different. Their births are separated by more than two decades. Simpson has long hair she’s allowed to go gracefully gray, while Davis has short hair dyed fiery red. For Davis, the route to a career in arts education was as deliberate and directed as a career path can be, while Simpson practically stumbled into hers at an age when most begin thinking about retirement.

As significant as those differences are, their professional experiences contrast even more.

Davis teaches art at Orem’s Timpanogos High School, in the middle of Utah’s largest school district with a student body that is, according to data compiled by U.S. News & World Report, almost 70 percent white and less than one percent Native American. Nineteen percent of students there qualify for free lunch.

Simpson teaches art at Whitehorse High School in Montezuma Creek, a town of about 300. Whitehorse sits within the borders of the Navajo Nation in one of Utah’s smallest school districts, with a student population that is 98 percent Native American and less than one percent white. Nearly 100 percent of students there qualify for free lunch, and only 30 percent have home internet access, according to Whitehorse Principal Kim Schaefer. 

Read the profile on UtahBusiness.com

By Pam Davis, reposted from UOnline

Are you looking for a master’s program that would allow you to not only keep working, but gives you immediate tools you can utilize in your classroom? What would a magical program like that look like?

Let me introduce you to that exact program: UOnline’s Master of Arts in Teaching—Fine Arts (MAT-FA). Do you want to know if this program is right for you?

Read on to get the inside scoop and see!

“I would say, well, to do it... it's already helped me reinvigorate my own outlook, my own motivation.”
- Nick, MAT-FA student

What is the Master of Arts Teaching- Fine Arts?

The MAT-FA is a two-year, 30-credit, primarily online program, with a short on-campus residency each summer. It is an interdisciplinary degree that prepares and trains educators to work authentically alongside children, youth, and adults in a variety of educational, community, and artistic contexts. It emphasizes research and methods-based arts teaching techniques across the fine arts.

This unique program brings all the art forms together. Students within the program, as well as the faculty, have a variety of artistic backgrounds across the fine arts. This includes music, theater, dance (movement), visual arts, and film and media. Students can learn both from each other and from the expert faculty working in the same medium. This broad spectrum of expertise is used to build the curriculum, implement it, and support students as they complete the program.

The curriculum of the MAT-FA was meant to be utilized immediately and in real-time by students as they work on both their degree and their real-life jobs. With this goal in mind, it’s been refined and polished down to the essentials without fluff or filler so that students can get the highest quality information and have the best experience in the most efficient time possible.

A lot of online programs were created with the in-person experience in mind and then, when the pandemic hit, there was a scramble to create an online version. That isn’t the case with the MAT-FA program. It was envisioned as a hybrid online course from the beginning and created to take advantage of that platform while still creating a community among the students enrolled. This hybrid format allows students all over the country to enroll and fit it in around their current jobs.

Who is MAT-FA meant for?

The short answer: anyone with a background in the arts who has a passion for students, teaching, and the arts!

The longer answer is, well a little longer. You’ll need at least one of the following:

• A bachelor’s degree in a specific art form.
• A state arts endorsement in theatre, dance, visual arts, film, or music.
• A cognate education degree suitable to the study of arts teaching; or
• Commensurate arts teaching experience (meaning you’ve taught in the field and gotten real-world experience!)

If you have one of the above, the next thing you need is a commitment to the demands required of a graduate program. One of the benefits of the MAT-FA is that you can utilize everything you’re learning in your classroom immediately. You don’t need to be a licensed teacher or even a full-time educator to be accepted to the program.

It helps if you want to find a community of like-minded people; the friends, mentors, and colleagues you’ll come across in the MAT-FA program will support you while you’re taking the classes and long after. Speaking of mentors, do you want to learn from the best of the best in fine arts that the University of Utah has to offer? This program has tenured faculty that are still active in their field and from a variety of backgrounds.

This program is meant for you if you’re ready to dig a little bit deeper and build yourself. Who are you as an educator and a creator? You’ll find that out as you actively participate in the curriculum and implement it. This isn’t sitting behind a desk and watching, this is getting your hands dirty and learning.

So, is the MAT-FA meant for you? If you’re a seasoned artist and teacher and you’re ready for a new adventure of self-discovery to expand your skills, then the answer is a resounding YES!

What does the application process look like?

Ready to apply? Applications for UOnline’s MAT-FA program are accepted between August and March (for exact dates please visit the UOnline Master of Teaching—Fine Arts webpage) with an application fee of $55. To apply you need to go to this webpage to fill out the information and send your application materials.

The application materials required for UOnline’s MAT-FA program are:

• Statement of Purpose: a written statement where you describe your background, interests, and goals in the study of arts education. This is where you let the program know why you want to be there and why you belong.
• Resume or Curriculum Vitae: listing your educational background and experience within the arts.
• Letter(s) of Recommendation: one letter of recommendation is required, with a second one being optional. This letter will be requested by the MAT-FA program after you supply their information and they’ll submit the letter directly to the program.
• Arts Teaching Portfolio: this includes three lesson plans, a 5- to 8-minute video of you teaching within your medium, images of youth work and/or performances conducted alongside various community members, and (optionally) any other creative work that you want to include that relates to your teaching in the arts.
• Current Background Check: students must submit documentation of a cleared background check prior to recommendation for admission into the program.

After submitting everything via the application website above, top applicants will be interviewed by the Arts Education Committee.

Putting everything together for this application can feel a little daunting. But if you infuse it with your passion for your art, the passion for teaching, and show that you know what you’re doing, you’re sure to create something spectacular.

What are you waiting for?

If you’re looking for a way to move up in your career, become a better teacher, and find a community of fellow artists then UOnline’s Master of Arts in Teaching—Fine Arts could be exactly what you need! Check out the website and start working on your application today.

Questions? Reach out to the UOnline team at .

Congratulations are in order for the University of Utah Art Teaching Club! 

The club was recognized as an Exemplary Student Organization at the annual Registered Student Organization Award ceremony organized by Student Leadership Involvement.

Art teaching student Aubrey Ellis was also recognized as an Outstanding Student Leader for her role in the club. 

This year, the Art Teaching Club has hosted a variety of events, including sticker-making, zine writing, black-out poetry, bracelet making snd community-based artwork under the bridge. These workshops were made possible by the phenomenal Art Teaching student leadership team that work in collaboration with the club advisor, Professor Joshua Graham. 

Educators are always looking for ways to help their students succeed, especially if their students have special needs or cognitive challenges that interfere with their ability to participate in a general-education class. Jonathan Hale, CFA Alumni and Beverley Taylor Sorenson Arts Learning Program Visual Art Specialist in Canyons School District, and one of his fellow research partners, Kelby McIntyre-Martinez, Assistant Dean of the College of Fine Arts at the University of Utah are working together to investigate how students can help each other in and through the arts. Their research validates that if inclusive arts teaching methods are implemented consistently and thoroughly,  one of the most effective ways to help all students progress is by pairing them with another student.

“It’s what little children do. They sing, they dance, they create. We have a responsibility to help these children reach their full potential, and that can only be done by keeping the arts in education.” said Beverley Taylor Sorenson. Throughout her life, Beverley Taylor Sorenson was a tireless champion for the arts. She began developing an integrated arts teaching model in 1995 by collaborating with arts education professionals, state organizations, and higher education institutions throughout Utah. In 2008, the Utah State Legislature adopted the model, named it the Beverley Taylor Sorenson Arts Learning Program in Beverley’s honor, and has since provided the funding needed to place the program in a portion of elementary schools across the state. Right up until her passing at the age of 89, Beverley was a fixture at Capitol Hill, and she committed her time and efforts to lobbying the legislature for more funding to ensure that every elementary child in Utah receives the benefits of an arts-rich education through this program. Learn more about Beverley Taylor Sorenson’s generous contributions to arts education in the state of Utah.

Together, students from all backgrounds participate in the same art projects, each learning important lessons and growing in ways that are achievable only by peer interaction.  They have found that an art setting can provide more latitude and flexibility for accommodating a variety of cognitive levels, but after seeing the monumental growth in students while learning art techniques in a peer setting, the team is eager to see how peer partners could be beneficial in other class settings outside of the arts, as well. After presenting their findings at the 2018 Kennedy Center VSA Intersections: Arts and Special Education Conference, other programs in the country have followed their lead, using peer partnering as a way to help both special education and general education students succeed.  Channel 4 ABC News and Canyons School District recently reported on the program successes, solidifying the program's importance within the community and for student success. To learn more about the visit here.