FSU Art Education Faculty and Alumni Earn Prestigious Recognition
Dr. Sara Scott Shields and Dr. Susannah Brown with their awards at the NAEA convention.
Two of Florida State University’s Department of Art Education professors, Dr. Sara Scott Shields and Dr. Rachel Fendler, were recognized recently for their contributions to the field of Art Education. Dr. Sara Scott Shields was honored at the 2019 National Art Education Association convention in Boston as the Southeastern Region’s Higher Educator of the Year and Dr. Rachel Fendler was recognized this month at the Leon County School’s Outstanding Partners for Excellence Awards Ceremony for her “Art for Life” mentoring program.
Dr. Shields received the Southeastern Region’s Higher Educator of the year award for her active professional participation within the field of Art Education. NAEA is a national organization for visual arts educators that promotes visual arts education and learning throughout the country. To receive this prestigious award, the awardee must demonstrate exceptional participation in the field through program development, publications, and artistic production as well as accomplished teaching experiences.
(From left to right) Dr. Christopher Small, Principal of Augusta Raa Middle School, Dr. Rachel Fendler, and Sam Thompson, Dean of Students, at the Leon County Schools Outstanding Partners for Excellence Awards Ceremony.
Alumni of Florida State University’s Art Education Department also received awards at the NAEA convention. Dr. Susannah Brown, associate professor of Florida Alantic University, received the National Higher Education Art Educator of the Year award and Dr. Jaehan Bae was awarded the USSEA Ziegfeld Service Award and is currently an associate professor at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh.
Dr. Rachel Fendler is another educator at FSU who was recently recognized for her “Art for Life” program at the Leon County Schools Outstanding Partners for Excellence Awards Ceremony. The Partners for Excellence ceremony recognizes volunteers that partner with local schools to promote educational efforts within the community. Dr. Fendler’s “Art for Life” program is a mentoring program that connects FSU’s art education graduate students with Augusta Raa Middle School’s Arts Magnet Program. The graduate students have the opportunity to work one-on-one with Raa middle schoolers and provide a deeper understanding of the arts through mentorship. Dr. Fendler was seeking a way to provide her graduate students with more field experience and collaborated with Sam Thompson, Raa’s Dean of Students and mentor coordinator, to establish this program that would benefit both FSU’s art education graduate students and Raa’s middle schoolers.
Both Dr. Sara Scott Shields and Dr. Rachel Fendler are valued educators of Florida State University’s Department of Art Education. The department congratulates our professors and alumni for their hard work and achievements!